Graham Gauld on Gordini

By Graham Gauld

Does anyone remember the Fodor guides to hotels, restaurants and the like? Back in 1957, Fodor sent me a review copy of their then-new guide to Italy. It arrived just as I was planning my first trip to Modena, so I looked up the area. I came upon a small hotel, the Albergo della Rocca, in the tiny village of Bazzano to the north of Modena. It was a great choice because it was run by the Rochi family as a typical Italian family hotel. Occasionally Enzo Ferrari came there to dine, but many years later I discovered that Bazzano had another role to play in the history of motor racing. It was the birthplace of Amedeo Gordini.

Amedeo’s father was a horse dealer but died in 1902 when Amedeo was only three years of age. However, it was not long before cars entered his life as Modena was a hot bed of motor sport and was one of the towns used on the Giro d’Emilia car event. (I say car because in 1909 the first Giro d’Emilia cycle race took place and also visited Modena.) Gordini was enthralled and that was it; he was going to become a mechanic, and at the very young age of 10 he took up an apprenticeship in an engineering shop in Bologna.

At 11 he moved to a Fiat dealership where he swept the floor and cleaned up spare parts but he was on his way. The foreman of the garage saw the potential in this young enthusiast and started to teach him the rudiments of becoming a car mechanic. That foreman went on to forge his own independent career making carburetors, for his name was Eduardo Weber!