One of the nicest things about writing a series on Motorsport Legends is spending time with the subjects, listening to them reminisce about races past, Championships won and share their personal stories.
It’s especially nice when the subject happens to be a family friend and co-competitor! This month’s Motorsport Legend is Franco Di Matteo, aka “The Italian Stallion”, a fellow Benoni resident whom I’ve known since my WesBank V8 racing days.
Franco is a true Italian, with a passion for pasta and Italian cars, Alfa Romeos in particular. Although his late Dad was not involved in cars or motorsport, Franco was born with a fascination for fixing things and making them work better. Born and bred in Benoni, he attended Willowmoore High and soon became the “go to” guy for friends who wanted their 50cc bikes to go faster. Franco had aspirations of becoming a computer technician, and worked at Foto Cats on weekends, repairing anything that needed fixing.
Franco’s Dad taught him to drive at the age of 8, and by the time Franco got to high school, he was “borrowing” his Dad’s Rambler Hornet at night and cruising the streets of Benoni and Boksburg. In Standard 9, he bought his first car, a Fiat 128, which was obviously improved and modified and then promptly bought by one of his teachers.
The Fiat was followed by the first of many Alfas, a Giulietta, and by the time Franco was in Matric, he had built his first race car: an Alfa GT Junior. With help from his school friends, Franco started racing in the Clubmans series, where he enjoyed great success during his last year of high school. The Junior was soon sold, and by Franco’s first year of army training, he had built another Alfa to race in the WesBank Modified class: a Guilietta. This car was equally successful and popular.
This story is from the Edition 103 edition of SA Hot Rods.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the Edition 103 edition of SA Hot Rods.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
“My Pretty One” 1972 Opel Manta 1900
Owner: J.S Orlandini
Twin Turbo 350 Small Block Chevy
Designed and built by Nico at RS Performance
Building A Cal Look VW Beetle Part 1
There are few cars quite as cool as a souped-up VW Beetle that can easily kick the asses of more expensive car during a street race or on a drag strip.
Sema Battle Of The Builders
2020 Winner Brady Ranweiler 1963 Chevy 2 Door Wagon
Behind The Scenes At Disc Brakes Wildwood
Wilwood's new facility adds an additional 100,000 squarefeet to its manufacturing arsenal. The barrage of CNC machinery is run for two shifts each day, up to six days a week, with tooling designed in-house. That adds up to 10 tons of shavings spit out of the CNC machines each month!
The 100 Horsepower Upgrade: Cam Only 5.3L Test
What’s a cam swap really worth?
THE HISTORY OF RODDING SOUTH AFRICA THE FIRST GENERATION PART 3
In this issue, we follow the story of Eddie Jardine and friends during their rodding days.
Custom autosound
JAYCE’S CLASSICS SPARES OLD AIR PRODUCTS
E-STREET 2 EFI SYSTEM AFFORDABLE UNIVERSAL THROTTLE BODY ELECTRONIC FUEL INJECTION
Convert your V8 from a carburetor to the E-Street 2 EFI system in a single day with only basic mechanical skills and minimal tools.
AEROMOTIVE RELEASES NEW TRUE VARIABLE SPEED FUEL PUMP CONTROLLER
The state-of-the-art speed controller is designed to improve overall fuel system efficiency, reduce fuel temperatures and is compatible with Aeromotive’s line of brushless gear pumps.
