AUTOELITE FIORANO: the experience from races

Ismo Sabattini, first founder and soul, together with Claudio Orlandini, of the AUTOELITE of Spezzano di Fiorano (MO), is today one of the few to be able to boast over thirty years of experience in the racing world, plus at various levels and in very different categories between them.
A story that we could define almost at 360 degrees, that of Ismo Sabattini and of AUTOELITE, which begins with the races, to arrive again, after many different experiences, to express themselves today on the circuits trodden by the various championships of history.

But let’s go with order: the experience of Ismo Sabattini began, still very young, in the early 70s, with Formula Ford and Formula 3, together with the already expert Gozzoli. Then comes the experience of Formula SuperFord and again, since 1975, as a mechanic for Team Sala and Marverti, Ismo Sabbatini has thus begun to make a valuable experience on circuits all over the world, working on the De Tomaso Pantera Gr.4 of the same name Team. Until 1980 he worked almost exclusively, on the track and in the workshop, on the Pantera, even participating in the Le Mans 24 Hours in 1979, still part of the official team of the Team.
In 1980 the big leap: Sabattini started his own business, founding AUTOELITE together with Claudio Orlandini and above all starting immediately to exploit the precious experience already acquired.

It is no coincidence that, among the very first experiences of the AUTOELITE, there is precisely the realization of a very special Pantera Gruppo B, completely distorted in the bodywork, until it becomes aesthetically almost unrecognizable (in comparison with the standard De Tomaso Pantera) and of course designed to participate in the new championship reserved for Gran Turismo prototypes, called Group C, which at the time was born from the ashes of the defunct Silhouette category. Clearly, at the AUTOELITE the official De Tomaso license is immediately granted.
The car participates in several races in 1980 and 1981, always officially registered as Ford-AUTOELITE: so even the manufacturer’s “leap” with regular license had been done!
Then, however, some years of relative pause follow, where Sabattini and Orlandini above all privilege the work of the workshop, starting to satisfy the increasingly numerous requests of private customers who appreciate their already considerable experience. From this period it is in any case also to remember the activity of preparation in the workshop and of direct assistance on the track to the various private pilots who ran with the De Tomaso Pantera: from Faraci to Govoni.
But the recall of the track and the active presence at the races is not long in coming: already in 1986 at the AUTOELITE they find themselves “putting their hands” on Lugli’s Lancia 037, together with which they participate in various Italian competitions, including the Rally of Modena and the Bettega Memorial.

But this experience is only “the appetizer” for a much more substantial collaboration with Lancia in the rallies, to the point that the AUTOELITE will come to officially follow the various Delta, from S4 Gr.B onwards, from 1986 until 1991 , still part of the official racing team, following the various official drivers: from Fabrizio Tabaton to Miky Biasion.
In the meantime, the workshop work evolves, to the point of even embracing transformations and special projects, for important cars of special customers: as is the case of the F1 driver Nelson Piquet, to whom they upgraded, with a specifically designed turbo kit , in sequence first his BMW 320 4×4 and then the off-road Mercedes 280 GE!
Still in 1991 the Lancia experience in the rallies had not ended, which already began a new adventure with the Maserati in the Ghibli Cup, where the AUTOELITE followed the drivers Beppe Schenetti and Renzo Raimondi.
With the early closure of the Ghibli Cup by Maserati, the AUTOELITE soon finds itself involved in historical races, with various categories of cars: an activity that continues today, again parallel to that of the workshop, where now the mechanical kits have been attracting attention for years.
Among the tasks of particular responsibility, borne by the AUTOELITE in recent years, we can certainly put the almost complete reconstruction of the Serenissina Birdcage 12-cylinder engine by Nino Vaccarella: where the drawings and even the samples of the various parts were non-existent , only the great experience of Sabattini, could lead to an excellent final result.
An experience that is certainly priceless and above all truly precious, that of Ismo Sabbatini, who, even today, is divided between the workshop, the engine test bench and the various direct assistance on the track. While Claudio Orlandini has now become the reference point for the specially designed mechanical kits, upon customer request; especially with regards to a topic not always available to everyone, such as electronic control units, which at AUTOELITE, can also be completely reprogrammed on customer request!
Undoubtedly only the experience of so many years, among other things in situations and with cars so different from each other, in an environment that is always difficult but highly formative like the one of the races, can give the real guarantee of assistance at the highest levels!