experience
Between Ettore & Gabriel, we have over 50 years
of experience in working with Italian marques.
It all started many years ago, with Ettore as an 8 year old child growing up in Milan literally two doors away from the Alfa Romeo factory in Arese. Any spare time he had was spent wandering around the workshop and his intrigue found him asking the mechanics questions and getting involved however he could. It didn’t take long before he was given a broom and told to start cleaning the workshop. In the space of seven years, this passion saw Ettore become a qualified mechanic by the age of fifteen.
By his early 20s, Ettore had completed a mechanical engineering degree at the Milan Poly-Technical University. Ettore then spent a few years as workshop foreman at an Alfa Romeo dealer near Florence, before leaving Italy. He arrived in Australia in 1974 and worked at MW Motors in the CBD and Riverside International Imports in South Yarra before establishing “Il Bolide Rosso” in 1977.
As for Gabriel, he started his apprenticeship at 18 at a prestige new car dealer where he gained experience in various European marques, including Alfa Romeo. It was here that Gabriel not only gained the knowledge to become a motor mechanic, but to also use diagnostic equipment.
Shortly after completing his apprenticeship, Gabriel and his father decided to join forces, forming a dynamic team: Ettore oversees all the classic and vintage vehicles and also offers a wealth of knowledge when it comes to diagnosing a problem; while Gabriel connects with the more contemporary models, being familiar with these vehicles and trained in the use of diagnostic equipment for them.
“If I can liken the whole global car industry to the human body: Toyota is the brain, Aston Martin is the face, Cadillac is the stomach... and Alfa Romeo… is the heart and soul.”
- Jeremy Clarkson
contact us
Phone: 03 9484 6534
Fax: 03 9484 6531
Email: service@ilboliderosso.com
610-612 High Street,
Thornbury, 3071 Victoria
Office Hours:
Monday - Friday 8:30am - 5pm