32 auto italia
1984, when my uncle took his Dino to him. Osvaldo
spent all his time in the shed, working on his and on his
customers’ cars. His place was an institution in Mirafiori- an old-time workshop for electrical repairs. The last
time I saw him was in March 2018. He had changed a
lot, but his determination remained the same. I asked
him if he had something to sell, and he offered me two
Fiat 500s, one with a special engine. In his way, Osvaldo
was a hero from another time, for me – genuinely and
truly passionate about cars.”
The contents of the hidden shelter were uncovered
in November of last year, some three months after
the owner had passed away. There were vain
attempts to remove the locks to enable the cars to
be extracted from the bunker. After chopping downmarked the end of a successful, promising career, and
brought to an end his brother Mario’s sporting
ambitions. That was it: no more racing.
Osvaldo Avalle, who was born in 1942, sadly died in
August 2018 at the age of 76, leaving no will and
having no heirs. The Italian government immediately
took possession of his car collection – but more on
that later. One man who knew Avalle well is 25-year-old
Simone Ingrassia, a real car enthusiast who was a
regular at Osvaldo’s shop ever since he was a child.
“This area of Turin became more and more dangerous.
That’s why Osvaldo decided to build a bunker. Access
was only through a narrow staircase from his house, or
through an elevator located in his backyard, well out of
the public eye. The Giulietta SZ was already there in
“
Covered in layers of dust, it looked slate-grey when it
was pulled out. Under it all was metallic light blue paint
”