MACCHINA. Dialogo con Giampaolo Dallara: Engineering, Imagination and the Art of the Automobile
October 8, 2026
A new book by Sandro Binelli, published by Automotive Masterpieces, explores the vision behind Giampaolo Dallara’s one-off creation through a dialogue with the Engineer and the words of Fortunato Depero.
“La fantasia umana, lo sviluppo della tecnica e della scienza, le incontentabili e sconfinate esigenze del capriccio e dell’estetica hanno creato nel campo automobilistico campioni di macchine di una originalità sorprendente; tipi anticipatori di razze macchinistiche future di forme iperboliche e prodigiose.”
“Human imagination, the advancement of technology and science, and the insatiable, boundless demands of whim and aesthetics have created, in the automotive field, examples of machines of astonishing originality; forerunners of future races of machines, of hyperbolic and prodigious forms.”
Written in 1935 by the Italian Futurist artist Fortunato Depero in Prospettive fiabesche di macchine rare, these words provide the cultural starting point for MACCHINA. Dialogo con Giampaolo Dallara, a new volume by automotive historian Sandro Binelli, published by Automotive Masterpieces.
Almost a century ago, Depero imagined extraordinary automobiles shaped by technology, speed and human imagination. His vision extended to the very relationship between form and air:
“La velocità, le materie, la solidità ed elasticità, la sicurezza, il gusto e la moda esigono forme sempre più nuove, più volanti, più elicoidali, più appuntite e fendenti, atte ad eliminare attriti, a scivolare nell’aria con maggiore leggerezza e velocità.”
“Speed, materials, strength and elasticity, safety, taste and fashion demand ever newer forms: more airborne, more helical, more pointed, more piercing, designed to reduce drag and to glide through the air with ever greater lightness and speed.”
These reflections find an unexpected resonance in the MACCHINA POSTO SINGOLO, the unique automobile conceived by Engineer Giampaolo Dallara, where aerodynamic research, engineering excellence and beauty converge.
This connection explains the title MACCHINA. Rather than a conventional automotive catalogue, the book offers an author’s cultural interpretation of the automobile, exploring the relationship between function and form, technical knowledge and imagination.
At its heart is a dialogue with Giampaolo Dallara, whose memories and reflections reveal the personal vision behind the project. The narrative follows the Macchina from its origins and development to its acquisition by Azimut AHE and its inclusion among the AUTOMOTIVE MASTERPIECES.
The volume returns to Depero in its final pages, bringing the narrative full circle without suggesting a direct historical connection between the artist and the Engineer. What unites them is a shared fascination with the possibilities of the automobile and the pursuit of forms not yet imagined.
MACCHINA. Dialogo con Giampaolo Dallara was presented at the Dallara Academy in Varano de’ Melegari during One of One – A Private Reveal with Dallara, in the presence of Giampaolo Dallara, representatives of Azimut AHE and author Sandro Binelli. The book was produced in a limited edition exclusively for Azimut AHE.
“La fantasia umana, lo sviluppo della tecnica e della scienza, le incontentabili e sconfinate esigenze del capriccio e dell’estetica hanno creato nel campo automobilistico campioni di macchine di una originalità sorprendente; tipi anticipatori di razze macchinistiche future di forme iperboliche e prodigiose.”
“Human imagination, the advancement of technology and science, and the insatiable, boundless demands of whim and aesthetics have created, in the automotive field, examples of machines of astonishing originality; forerunners of future races of machines, of hyperbolic and prodigious forms.”
Written in 1935 by the Italian Futurist artist Fortunato Depero in Prospettive fiabesche di macchine rare, these words provide the cultural starting point for MACCHINA. Dialogo con Giampaolo Dallara, a new volume by automotive historian Sandro Binelli, published by Automotive Masterpieces.
Almost a century ago, Depero imagined extraordinary automobiles shaped by technology, speed and human imagination. His vision extended to the very relationship between form and air:
“La velocità, le materie, la solidità ed elasticità, la sicurezza, il gusto e la moda esigono forme sempre più nuove, più volanti, più elicoidali, più appuntite e fendenti, atte ad eliminare attriti, a scivolare nell’aria con maggiore leggerezza e velocità.”
“Speed, materials, strength and elasticity, safety, taste and fashion demand ever newer forms: more airborne, more helical, more pointed, more piercing, designed to reduce drag and to glide through the air with ever greater lightness and speed.”
These reflections find an unexpected resonance in the MACCHINA POSTO SINGOLO, the unique automobile conceived by Engineer Giampaolo Dallara, where aerodynamic research, engineering excellence and beauty converge.
This connection explains the title MACCHINA. Rather than a conventional automotive catalogue, the book offers an author’s cultural interpretation of the automobile, exploring the relationship between function and form, technical knowledge and imagination.
At its heart is a dialogue with Giampaolo Dallara, whose memories and reflections reveal the personal vision behind the project. The narrative follows the Macchina from its origins and development to its acquisition by Azimut AHE and its inclusion among the AUTOMOTIVE MASTERPIECES.
The volume returns to Depero in its final pages, bringing the narrative full circle without suggesting a direct historical connection between the artist and the Engineer. What unites them is a shared fascination with the possibilities of the automobile and the pursuit of forms not yet imagined.
MACCHINA. Dialogo con Giampaolo Dallara was presented at the Dallara Academy in Varano de’ Melegari during One of One – A Private Reveal with Dallara, in the presence of Giampaolo Dallara, representatives of Azimut AHE and author Sandro Binelli. The book was produced in a limited edition exclusively for Azimut AHE.
