The actor is passionate about open cars, especially his Volkswagen with a Fender stereo system
– Milan
We will see him as a tennis player in the film Fifteen-Love and in the new work by Gabriele Muccino. We met Lorenzo Richelmy at the Saturnia Film Festival where he told us about his passion for open cars. In fact, he drives a special edition Volkswagen Beetle convertible (which he showed us). His dream? James Bond’s Aston Martin Vanquish movie.
Lorenzo are you passionate about vintage cars?
“I developed a fascination for vintage cars by participating in various rallies around Rome. Let’s say that I like the combination of modern and ancient. After having melted the engine of my 2010 BMW series 1 cabrio, returning from the set of the film The man on the street, I had an epiphany. It was a great loss overcome thanks to a 2019 Beetle that went out of production. A model that didn’t fare very well compared to the Fiat 500 and Mini.”
Where did you find it?
“I found it at a dealer passionate about Beetles in Monticelli Brusati: he had 5 or 6 very different ones and all interesting. I bought a Karmann edition imported from Germany, so with the writing Kafer and not Beetle. It’s a spectacle: it has mirrored rims without spokes, a Fender audio system, a metal hook where I hang my hat and the DSG automatic transmission.”
Were you used to the manual gearbox?
“Yes. It was a traumatic transition. Not having the manual is madness, in corners not being able to play from second to third for restarts and it seems absurd to me. But I’ve gotten used to it. My Kafer has a sports set-up, it’s a 1400 turbo not too brilliant, but it makes me have fun and above all it’s a convertible. When they took me for a ride and I felt the air on me it was like going in a car and being on holiday. I’m in love with my Beetle.”
A trip you took with the top down?
“As soon as I bought it, my partner and I left Milan for Croatia, Istria, Dalmatia and Montenegro which has incredible roads. The mountain ranges look like miniature Dolomites. We arrived in Albania and continued up to Corfu. The places were so beautiful that I photographed the Beetle with the maritime panorama behind it and the angry vegetation around.”
What was your first car?
“My mother’s Peugeot 206. I destroyed it. I took my first trip when I was 19 with three friends to Amsterdam. We left Rome with the TomTom Europa, I felt like the king of the world. We had a mind-blowing journey : on the way back we were stuck in Germany because the car was powered by LPG, but the connection to the pump was different both in Switzerland and in Germany. Only in Holland and Italy could we refuel. On the way back we had no money for petrol I had to have my father load the PostePay to get home.”
Do you have a dream car?
“Perhaps thanks to my passion for cinema as a boy, James Bond’s Aston Martin Vanquish left an impression on me. Not because it is a perfect car, perhaps because of its old and modern lines, and its elongated nose. I suffer a lot for the modernization and canonization of forms. Today the character of cars struggles to come out, they all have the same lines. I also like the DB9, but I prefer the old Vanquish.”
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