🚗🖌️ How I Met One Of The Most Important Auto Makers Of Our Time. Twice.
Published 4 months ago • 7 min read
There are always certain people you admire and you think you will never meet. You go on with your life, like they do, until maybe some day your paths cross.
I will share the story of how I went out of my way to meet one of my most admired people alive, Pagani Automobili founder Horacio Pagani, what I expected and how these interactions went.
I also asked you on Bluesky last Monday "What important car related personality have you met and how?" and got several responses I will share as well! Stay to the end for that.
But why would one want to meet these people?
This of course depends on each other's personality and goals.
Maybe you would like a short chat.
Some would like to gift them something.
Others might want a picture, an autograph or something signed.
You might want to tell them how much you appreciate them, or how they impacted your life. This can be in a literal sense or something more abstract, like inspiration.
And some even would like to open some doors for themselves in the future (work-wise or else).
Whatever the reason would be for you, all are valid.
How would one meet such people
This is by no means a "guide" or a "how-to" more than it is a "these are the ways I heard people managed to do it", and a bit of my own experiences as well.
That said, feel free to draw inspiration from these stories and they might help you achieve your goal of meeting your person.
Ways to cross paths
Through work
It depends on what you work with, but sometimes your work helps you meet these people.
I will share more details below, but for example friend of the house Peter Taylor (his name might ring a bell from the 🚗🖌️ Wheel designs. Have you been paying attention? issue) met Bernie Ecclestone (founder of the Formula One Constructors Association) since his company worked with one of Bernie's at one point.
Another example of work helping you with this is Antony Ingram's, whose work as an automotive journalist positions him in some places where a lot of these people are.
I will share these and more examples from readers down below.
Work does not take you where you want to be? Then you have to make the effort. If you want to see Fangio's house and garage, you need to go to Fangio's city, Balcarce.
Through your own efforts
This is my situation. I don't have a line of work that puts me in the same room with these people, so I have to work my own way into meeting them.
Of course, the disclaimer is as follows.
Always be respectful and aware of the situation. Try to reach out with good energy, at least just to say hi, chat some lines or even get a picture if they are open to. But don't get mad if they say they don't have the time. Most probably even if you are not at that time, they are working.
Don't force people to meet if they also are not open to. It may happen that they have no time, or are not in the mood to meet strangers at that time, and you have to respect that. It's not worth making them mad at you for being pushy when they are going through something else.
Don't be a creepy stalker. Stay in the know as much as they want people to know about it. Don't overstep into their private life.
With that said, it's good to know when someone will do a "public appearance".
This might sound silly and obvious, but some might need to read it to get some motivation: You have much more chances to meet them if you are in the same place and at the same time, than if you are not.
This last thing is how it happened for me, and the full story comes next.
My meetings with Horacio Pagani
Chances are, if you are reading this, you already know who Horacio is. But for those who don't, here's a brief introduction.
Who is Horacio Pagani?
Horacio Pagani is the founder of Pagani Automobili. You may like his cars or not, but you can't deny that they are instantly recognizable.
Horacio was born in Casilda, a small city of roughly 35.000 inhabitants, located in Santa Fe, Argentina. He is a brilliant car designer who worked at Lamborghini including the legendary Countach 25th Anniversary ("The Wolf of Wall Street" one).
When he felt limited by the opportunities provided by the company, he decided to start his own, Pagani Automobili, which we all know was a huge success.
My first contact with "anything Pagani"
In 2014 Horacio brought his Zonda F (the one he used personally back then) to Argentina (where I lived until 2022).
He used it and filmed a bit with it in his home town of Casilda, as well as lending it to a Mercedes-Benz dealership in Buenos Aires for some days to show.
Its final stop was the Juan Manuel Fangio Museum in Balcarce, and there I had my first real world contact with anything Pagani related.
Balcarce was Fangio's home town and where I would meet Horacio for the first time years later.
I literally spent 2 hours alone with the car. Admiring every bit of detail, every corner, every bespoke piece, and taking pictures. A LOT of pictures.
It was a weekday and I was on holiday's, so the museum was basically empty.
I couldn't have asked for a better, more private or intimate context with such an important car.
Being born in the same country as me and absolutely admiring his work, I made it a goal of mine to meet him in person. And luckily, I managed to do it. Twice!
2021: Juan Manuel Fangio Museum
On November 10th, 2021 the remains of Juan Manuel Fangio were moved from the cemetery in Balcarce, to a mausoleum inside his museum.
Since Fangio was so important to Horacio's story, he was present for this event.
Fun fact: It was also Horacio's birthday.
He was not the only important person around, mind you.
3 times F1 champion Sir Jackie Stewart, and Oreste Berta Argentinian engineer and racing car designer who was a key player in the 84 hours of Nürburgring were also present as friends of Juan Manuel.
I was on holidays at the time, in a city around 75 km away from there, so I had to do the drive and try to meet him.
I was lucky enough to not only be able to do so, but to have him sign my book "Pagani Hypercars: More".
2024: Goodwood Festival of Speed
In July 2024 I drove from the Netherlands where I currently live in, to the UK, to visit the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
There were some celebrations in place for the 25th anniversary of the first car from Pagani Automobili, the Zonda C12. So there was a small possibility of him visiting the festival, which I was very attentive to.
On Friday I got a message on my phone "I've been told Horacio is at the festival.". I dropped everything and almost sprinted for 10 minutes towards the Pagani stand.
I missed him, but asked around if he planned on being back, and a very nice employee from the company, called Andrea (thank you!), said he might be the following day around noon. So I waited and went there again.
Luckily for me, not only was he there, but he was actually taking pictures with people around the stand.
Of course this means that now I have two pictures with him. And he even signed my camera bag, which now holds a very special meaning and value for me.
I wonder when will I meet him next, and if I will be able to have a quick chat with him.
QOTW#1 What important car related personality have you met and how?
This week I asked the first "Question of the Week" (QOTW) and the idea is to get some of you featured in the email as well.
I said that this could be an auto maker, a racing driver, personality, journalist or anyone car-related that you admired.
And here are some of your answers (each image links to the original post if you'd like to follow them or the conversation).
There are some very impressive names here! And the importance of these meetings even go up after the protagonist sadly passes away, like Richard Burns.
It makes the anecdote just much more special.
Bonus: The time I met José María "Pechito" López thanks to art
Pechito López is an Argentine race car driver I admire.
Some of his achievements include:
Three-time World Touring Champion with Citroën in 2014, 2015 and 2016
Two-time World Endurance Champion with Toyota Gazoo Racing in 2020 and 2021
Second Argentine driver to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans since José Froilán González in 1954. This leads me to the conclusion that if you are Argentinian and want a chance at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, you have to be called José.
The story of how I met Pechito, gifted him some artwork and got him to sign one for me, is a great one.
And since we touched the topic of the Opportunities You Can Get Through Art, it sounds like a great moment to mention HOW you can EASILY start as well.
Don't wait until your new years resolution to start doing something you wanted.
Start learning TODAY with my FREE course for absolute beginners and get results before 2025.
I'm serious. You can go through it end to end, with just your laptop trackpad or computer mouse in just a couple of days.
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