gianni agnelli sailboat

A short history of Gianni Agnelli’s incredible car and yacht collection

From a custom-made 36 metre yacht to a fiat panda, these are the most outrageous vessels and vehicles owned by the italian industrialist.

Words: Jonathan Wells

Gianni Agnelli, the fashion-forward Fiat chairman, always wore hiking boots with his impeccably tailored suits. Why? Because the Italian industrialist — and consummate style icon — once sustained a leg injury so severe that the sturdy choice in footwear was forced upon him. The accident? A car crash — while speeding away from an intimate encounter with a woman who was neither his wife or girlfriend.

That was 1952. But, despite giving himself a life-altering injury behind the wheel, the old cad wasn’t put off motoring. In fact, in the decades to follow, Agnelli spent thousands and thousands on his automotive obsession. He ordered Pininfarina-designed Ferraris. He thrashed his modest Fiat 125 sedan about Turin. The businessman was even known to drive his own chauffeur around — such was his desire to get behind the wheel.

And it didn’t end with cars. Yachts and speedboats, too, were a known vice of L’Avvocato, or ‘The Lawyer’, as Agnelli was widely known. Below, we’ve rounded up the finest vessels and vehicles that this fascinating, fashionable man ever owned…

1992 Lancia Delta Integrale Spider

Let’s start with a car Agnelli kept until the end. L’Avvocato drove his one-off Lancia Delta Integrale until his death in 2003. And, though it now resides in the Museo Nazionale dell’automobile di Torino, you can see why he loved it. Commissioned to ensure he felt power at his fingertips and wind in his hair, this was a unique four-wheel-drive convertible — complete with two doors, 250 horsepower and a front design as immediately recognisable as the original.

1986 Ferrari Testarossa Spider

Courtesty of Artcurial

Perhaps the most famous car of the Italian industrialist, his 1986 Testarossa Spider was a present from Agnelli to Agnelli. He commissioned the one-off drop-top to commemorate his 20-year anniversary as president of Fiat — and the car was meticulous engineered by Ferrari, who solved the problem of fitting a folding roof around a mid-mounted, 5.0 litre, 12 cylinder engine in style.

A 12-metre mahogany yacht, Tomahawk

Agnelli’s first yacht, Tomahawk was a sight to behold. Bought in 1956, she sported an all-steel and mahogany construction and was stuffed to the gunnels with style. A 12 metre vessel built in 1939 to a Charles Nicholson design, Tomahawk was originally crafted to compete in the America’s Race. But Agnelli cooled on his investment in 1962, and sold it to his sister Susanna.

1993 Fiat Panda 4X4 Trekking

Courtesy of Aste Bolaffi 

Now this may be our favourite of Agnelli’s many, many motors. Not only is it the most recent commission we’ve included on this illustrious list — it’s also one of the most unassuming. Humble and practical, the businessman wanted a trusty runaround to drive about St Moritz . The Panda fit the bill. Decked out in his preferred silver and blue colour scheme (like the Testarossa above), it’s a pocket-sized joy.

An 82-foot yawl, Agneta

A true Mediterranean legend. Agneta , originally launched in 1951, was bought by Agnelli in 1959 — who took her to Europe, where she remains to this day. With a Burmese teak deck, Canadian silver spruce spars and even a marble fireplace in the owner’s stateroom, this 82 foot yawl is perhaps the most decadent of all of Agnelli’s vessels. Our favourite feature? Those distinctive, rich red port-wine sails.

1950 Ferrari 166 MM

Courtesy of Concorso d’Eleganza

Back in 2015, this handsome 1950 Ferrari 166 won the Coppa d’Oro Villa d’Este. It’s a prestigious prize — and one which we’re sure would make its ex-owner, Agnelli, smile. Number 24 of only 25 ever built, this gorgeous little old Barchetta is a masterclass is simple styling. And it can back up that beauty under the bonnet; the same model won the 1949 Le Mans and Spa 24 hour races. No wonder he wanted it in his collection.

1971 Fiat 130 Familiare ‘Villa d’Este’

This is a fun one. The Fiat 130 sedan was the Italian carmaker’s flagship model for a time. And, in 1971, the brand used the car as the basis for the 130 Familiare estate. Only four were ever built — and all were owned by members of Agnelli’s family. This, the ‘Villa d’Este’, had imitation wood on the side — a style quirk borrowed from the US, and a large wicker basket to carry Agnelli’s skis in back from St Moritz.

A 37 foot speedboat, G. Cinquanta

Remi Dargegen © 2020 Courtesy of RM Sotheby’s

In 1968, Agnelli took delivery of G. Cinquanta — a sleek, super speedboat designed by Sonny Levi. With four BPM V-8 Vulcano engines, the 37 foot cruiser never acted its age — and is currently up for sale through RM Sotheby’s 50 years later. No wonder the Italian loved it; with one of Levi’s signature ‘Delta’ hulls, a central cockpit designed by Pininfarina and 1,280 horsepower, what’s not to like?

1959 Ferrari 400 Superamerica S1 Pininfarina Coupe Speciale

Soon after he became the chairman of Fiat, the 400 Super America was designed by Pininfarina and built specifically for Gianni Agnelli. With its type 163 engine and near-prototype status, it was the car that cemented his deep respect for the Ferrari marque, and was painted once more in his preferred colour scheme of blue and silver.

A 36 metre maxi yacht, Extra Beat

Imagine, for a moment, commissioning your first ever bespoke yacht — overseeing its design and construction — and then feeling a little unattached to it when it finally bobs into view? Because that’s what happened with Agnelli’s Extra Beat . Built in 1988 by Abeking & Rasmussen, the Italian industrialist was a little lukewarm on the 36 metre maxi yacht when it was finally delivered. Well, if you’ve got the money to try again…

A 93 foot high performance yacht, Stealth

To make up for the disappointment of Extra Beat above, in 1996 Agnelli deferred to naval architect Germán Frers, who had created a revolutionary hull and designed Stealth for the businessman. Crafted from carbon fibre, the yacht sported white seats, black sails and a teak deck — the very height of opulence. Today, she is owned by Lapo Elkann, Agnelli’s grandson.

1966 Ferrari 365 P Berlinetta Speciale

And finally, to round things off, yet another Ferrari. But not just any Ferrari. Above, you’ll see one of only three 365 P Berlinetta Speciales ever made. Two went to Agnelli. And it’s not only the first road going mid-engined V12 Ferrari ever made — it also has a three-abreast seating arrangement, with the wheel in the middle. What else did you expect to round off the car collection of such a pioneering man?

Want more from Ferrari? Here’s why the Ferrari F355 Berlinetta helped supercars shift gear…

Become a Gentleman’s Journal member. Find out more here .

Become a Gentleman’s Journal Member?

Like the Gentleman’s Journal? Why not join the Clubhouse, a special kind of private club where members receive offers and experiences from hand-picked, premium brands. You will also receive invites to exclusive events, the quarterly print magazine delivered directly to your door and your own membership card.

Further reading

All you need to know about Kismet, the new £2.5m a week gigayacht

The new Range Rover Sport SV: the king of super SUVs?

Charged up: inside Polestar, the world’s most exciting EV maker

• Classic Driver
• Forgot password
• Newsletters
• Language English Deutsch
• Currency Select AUD CHF CNY DKK EUR GBP HKD INR JPY NZD SEK SGD USD
• Collectibles
• Real Estate
• CD Works Agency
• For sale CD Shop Magazine Auctions Sell

Breaking the waves with Gianni Agnelli’s custom speedboat G. Cinquanta

The onboard mechanic fires the four BPM V-8 Vulcano engines and the cacophonous growl that erupts and envelopes this bustling corner of Naples’ expansive harbour reminds me of the start of the RAC TT Celebration at the Goodwood Revival, when the seemingly endless stream of thunderous AC Cobras departs the assembly area for the grid. 

Now, RM Sotheby’s has the privilege of finding G. Cinquanta a new custodian , who’ll cherish and enjoy her as much as the last. Freshly fitted with new BPM engines and accompanied by a treasure trove of documentation, it will be offered at its online Open Roads, The European Summer Auction, the bidding for which opens today and closes on 21 July. 

There’s no arguing that Renato ‘Sonny’ Levi built a boat truly befitting of the style and status of Gianni Agnelli, the de facto king of Italy. They’re big sailor’s shoes to fill, but somebody’s got to take the controls of this history-steeped yacht. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a head of industry or carefree playboy, at least you know you’ll be the envy of the harbour wherever you choose to moor, be it Mallorca or Marina del Rey. 

Photos: Rémi Dargegen for RM Sotheby’s © 2020 

• Gianni Agnelli
• Pininfarina
• Made in Italy
• Very Important Provenance
• Customization

This ex-Gianni Agnelli 1969 Sonny Levi G. Cinquanta G50 yacht will be offered by RM Sotheby’s at its Online Only: Open Roads, The European Summer Auction, the bidding for which opens today and closes on 21 July. You can find the entire catalogue listed right here on Classic Driver .

More articles related to Gianni Agnelli

More articles related to pininfarina, more articles related to 1960s, more articles related to made in italy, more articles related to very important provenance, more articles related to customization, recommended listings.

• Subscribe Now
• Digital Editions

Gianni Agnelli’s 55-knot custom speedboat sold at auction

RM Sotherby’s has auctioned off a custom 37ft LOA speedboat that was originally commissioned by the Italian billionaire and Fiat boss Gianni Agnelli.

A true thoroughbred, G Cinquanta sports a deep-vee wood-epoxy hull drawn by the legendary Renato ‘Sonny’ Levi, the sides of which are beautifully varnished, and exterior lines and cockpit detailing by Sergio Pininfarina, one of the all-time greats of the automobile industry. She was built at Cantiere Delta in Anzio, 40 miles south of Rome.

Those lines don’t deceive either. This boat is fast. Indeed, not long after her launch in 1968, an Italian yachting journalist commented that she was probably the perfect boat from which to watch offshore powerboat racing , in that she could not only be there at the start, but also get to the finish line in time to watch the winners arrive.

Her name is a composite; the G comes from Gianni and the 50 marks her original top speed, although now she is capable of around 55 knots because she was recently re-engined with four lightweight 8.0-litre BPM Vulcano V8s that in total deliver more than 1,400hp via straight shafts and four three-blade props.

The original four Vulcano V8s delivered around 1,280hp. The present set have just over 100 hours on them. Unusually her engines are located in two separate engine bays, one in front of the cockpit and the other behind. Beyond the replacement engines, she is in totally original condition.

Recommended videos for you

There are two cockpits. The aft one is all about the driver – just a single bolster seat, steering wheel and a super-macho old-school instrument console bristling with analogue dials and lots of lovely levers – four gear shifts for the left hand, four throttles for the right.

The forward cockpit is for the passengers – two bench seats and plenty of grab-rails – imagine the white knuckles that must have clung to them over the years!

Beneath the teak foredeck there’s also a vee-berth, basin and shower, as well as a head-locker. She is being sold by only her second owner, whose classic boat collection at one time also included the 1931 115ft J-Class Astra . He was gifted the boat by family friend Agnelli around 45 years ago while still in his 20s.

Article continues below…

Lamborghini boat: Tecnomar delivers first official ‘Fighting Bull’ branded yacht

Rnli launches lifeboat funded by £8.5m ferrari auction.

A pair of rare 1960s Ferraris will be auctioned off to raise money for the RNLI, after they were bequeathed

Update: RM Sotherby’s announced today that G Cinquanta sold for €450,000.

New Fjord F480 first look: 40 knot capable 47 footer

Navan s30 & c30 tour: exceptional new axopar rival, axopar 29 yacht tour: exclusive tour by the man behind it, latest videos, galeon 440 fly sea trial: you won’t believe how much they’ve packed in, parker sorrento yacht tour: 50-knot cruiser with a killer aft cabin, yamarin 80 dc tour: a new direction for the nordic day cruiser.

Gianni Agnelli, the noble father of the America’s Cup, in Lapo Elkann’s memory

• September 29, 2022
• No Comments

THE PERFECT GIFT!

Give or treat yourself to a subscription to the print + digital Journal of Sailing and for only 69 euros a year you get the magazine at home plus read it on your PC, smartphone and tablet. With a sea of advantages.

Gianni Agnelli’s 100th birthday

These days mark 100 years since the birth of Giovanni Agnelli , (died 2003) known as the Avvocato, in the 1980s surely the most influential and famous Italian in the world. A great lover of sailing. Grandson Lapo Elkann remembered his grandfather in Friday’s Repubblica, interviewed on the 100th anniversary of his birth. He did not speak about the figure of the lawyer as a captain of industry, owner of the then largest company in Italy, Fiat, but as a great lover of sailing and the sea.

I like the wind because it can’t be bought

Lapo recounts, “ He loved the sea, as a place of freedom and Western civilization, of risk, of tide as a metaphor for life .”

Why did Gianni Agnelli like sailing so much? The memory goes to a famous aphorism of his: “ I like it because wind is the only thing you cannot buy .”

Among grandson Lapo’s fondest memories of his grandfather is racing the Fastnet in 2001 aboard the marvelous maxiyacht Stealth that Agnelli had designed for himself by German Frers.

With that then futuristic boat, Lapo Elkann retains one of the memories he will never forget: “ One of the best moments was when we participated and won the Cowes Regatta in 2001 . Anyone who loves the sea should, if only for once, at least watch if not participate in the Fastnet Race, which runs from the harbor on the Isle of Wight – in England – to the Fastnet Lighthouse, rounds that legendary rocky outcrop south of Ireland and heads for Plymouth. The strength of the wind and waves are such that it is like going on the trail of the flood “.

When he picked up the phone and found the money for Azzurra.

We said that he, Gianni Agnelli, is the noble father of Italian challenges in the America’s Cup. Here is a recollection of the precise moment in February 1981 when the dream of an Italian boat in the America’s Cup came true in the memory of Cino Ricci: “ I think back to the lawyer’s words. Ricci, he convinced me…(…) I believe it, but it still seems impossible. I review the scene.

At first the Advocate is a bit skeptical, but then he begins to believe. Yes, Ricci, I believe you, it’s a good project… We do it… But we have to find the sponsors…. Who are we putting in? He picks up the phone, which remains in midair, looks at me, and almost guessing my thought–no, no, Fiat no–and he gets Barilla, Cinzano–he tells everyone that the America’s Cup is on. (…) I am surprised. It doesn’t say we’ll see, let me think… No, it really says: it’s done… With only one recommendation, though… Ricci, let’s not go and look like chocolatiers… ”

The America’s Cup has been on his mind since the 1960s

Agnelli did not reveal it to Cino Ricci, but it was from 1960 , when with Beppe Croce (then president of the Italian Sailing Federation) he went out to Newport in a boat with John Kennedy, that he was thinking about an Italian challenge in the America’s Cup .

This was witnessed by Beppe Croce himself, who was also president of the oldest yacht club, the Yacht Club Italiano, to which Agnelli belonged. Croce confessed to the Giornale della Vela in 1979: “ Gianni absolutely wanted an Italian boat to participate in the America’s Cup. But he had two doubts: he didn’t want to put in all the money, and he thought we didn’t have enough know-how to participate without making a fool of ourselves “.

Then, as we have seen, Agnelli recanted. First, because he put only one 18th of Azzurra’s budget made up of just 17 other sponsors. And then because he became convinced that with Ricci we would not “look like chocolatiers.”

The most beautiful boats in the world were his

Gianni Agnelli’s sailboats were among the most beautiful and envied in the world. But the one everyone remembers is the very one on which grandson Lapo Elkann won the Fastnet. The Journal of Sailing listed it among the 100 mythical boats in history in 2015.

Here is what we wrote about Stealth: “ The genius of Germán Frers at the disposal of the Agnelli lawyer gave birth to the Stealth in 1996: a 26-meter boat with a 36-meter mast, built entirely of carbon except for the elegant teak deck. Blackest. In 1998 the boat accrues the Mediterranean crossing record, in 2001 it won the Fastnet among monohulls and the Jubilee Regatta (around the Isle of Wight to celebrate 150 years of the America’s Cup) in real time “.

FOLLOW THE RED MOON REGATTAS LIVE!

HERE YOU WILL FIND EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE AMERICA CUP AND RED MOON

HELP US KEEP YOU UP TO DATE

The journalists of the Sailing Newspaper , strive every day to ensure quality, up-to-date and correct information about the boating world free of charge through their websites. If you appreciate our work, support us by subscribing to the magazine. The annual subscription costs only 49 euros and we also give you two gifts!

DISCOVER THE SAILING NEWSPAPER YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Daily interviews, boat trials, webinars. The whole sail, minute by minute. But on video! CLICK HERE To sign up, it’s free !

SIGN UP FOR OUR NEWSLETTER

To stay up-to-date on all the news from the world of sailing, selected by our editorial staff, sign up for the Sailing Newspaper newsletter! It’s super easy, just enter your email below, agree to the Privacy Policy and click the “Sign Me Up” button. You will then receive on your email, twice a week, the best sailing news! It’s a free service and you can unsubscribe at any time, with no obligation!

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed .

Check out the latest issue

Are you already a subscriber?

• Read your magazine from your pc here! >>
• Renew your subscription >>
• Reset your account password >>

With this insurance you certify and protect your Classic Boat.

Ice 54 is the luxury italian performance-cruiser that is already a bestseller, ewol propellers: cutting-edge technology for your sailboat, slovenian boat accessories you find on boats halfway around the world, ultimi annunci.

Sign up for our Newsletter

We give you a gift

Sailing, its stories, all boats, accessories. Sign up now for our free newsletter and receive the best news selected by the Sailing Newspaper editorial staff each week. Plus we give you one month of GdV digitally on PC, Tablet, Smartphone. Enter your email below, agree to the Privacy Policy and click the “sign me up” button. You will receive a code to activate your month of GdV for free!

You may also be interested in.

Names of Luna Rossa cyclists unveiled, Mattia Camboni is among them

Time for choices and official communications for Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli Team ahead of the 2024 America’s Cup. After announcing the names of the women and young people who will participate in the Youth and at the Women America’s Cup

Cult America’s Cup: the Lawyer and his friend John Fitzgerald Kennedy.

In a few days, March 12, marks the birth of one of Italy’s most famous “Lawyers.” A cult figure, sometimes controversial, but it is to him that the domestic America’s Cup movement owes much. We are talking, of course, about

Between surprises and confirmations, here are Luna Rossa’s Young and Women crews

After a long wait Luna Rossa Prada Pirelli has unveiled the names of the male and female sailors who will participate in theAmerica’s Cup Young and Women with the AC 40s. There are several confirmations and names that had been

The biggest loser of winners: Mr. America’s Cup, Big Dad Dennis Conner

In the film Wind – Stronger than the Wind, released in 1992 and directed by Carroll Ballard, it was jokingly said that the first skipper of the New York Yacht Club to lose the America’s Cup would have to replace

Sailing Newspaper

Editor-in-Chief: Luca Oriani

TO COMMUNICATE WITH THE EDITORIAL STAFF 02 535 811111 – [email protected]

FOR ADVERTISING Senior account: Guido De Palma: tel. 02 535811208 cell. +39 347 2347433 [email protected].

Pierfrancesco Pugno: cell. +39 3496621980 [email protected]

Cookie policy Privacy policy

INFO SUBSCRIPTIONS, DIRECT SALES AND DIGITAL PRODUCTS

tel. 02 535811 111/200 [email protected]

• Today's news
• Reviews and deals
• Climate change
• 2024 election
• Fall allergies
• Health news
• Mental health
• Sexual health
• Family health
• So mini ways
• Unapologetically
• Buying guides

Entertainment

• How to Watch
• My watchlist
• Stock market
• Biden economy
• Personal finance
• Stocks: most active
• Stocks: gainers
• Stocks: losers
• Trending tickers
• World indices
• US Treasury bonds
• Top mutual funds
• Highest open interest
• Highest implied volatility
• Currency converter
• Basic materials
• Communication services
• Consumer cyclical
• Consumer defensive
• Financial services
• Industrials
• Real estate
• Mutual funds
• Credit cards
• Credit card rates
• Balance transfer credit cards
• Business credit cards
• Cash back credit cards
• Rewards credit cards
• Travel credit cards
• Checking accounts
• Online checking accounts
• High-yield savings accounts
• Money market accounts
• Personal loans
• Student loans
• Car insurance
• Home buying
• Options pit
• Investment ideas
• Research reports
• Fantasy football
• Pro Pick 'Em
• College Pick 'Em
• Fantasy baseball
• Fantasy hockey
• Fantasy basketball
• Download the app
• Daily fantasy
• Scores and schedules
• GameChannel
• World Baseball Classic
• Premier League
• CONCACAF League
• Champions League
• Motorsports
• Horse racing
• Newsletters

New on Yahoo

• Privacy Dashboard

Gianni Agnelli’s Iconic 1960s Speedboat Has Been Reinvented for 21st-Century Cruising

In 1968, Italian billionaire playboy, style icon and Fiat president Giovanni “Gianni” Agnelli made some serious waves with his super-sleek 37-foot speedboat G.Cinquanta . It became the dream vessel for marine enthusiasts the world over and remains one of the most iconic speedboats of all time. Now, after 50 odd years, the ‘60s classic has been reimagined for the 21st century.

The next-gen concept, dubbed G-Fifty, was penned by Renato “Sony” Levi of Levi Designs and Pasquale Mario Passalacqua of PMP Design . Levi designed the original G.Cinquanta and has managed to give the new vessel an equally elegant aesthetic. It sports the same aggressive lines and needle-like bow as the 1967 model but has been kitted out with the all latest tech and materials.

The most obvious change is in the construction of the exterior. Whereas its predecessor had a cold-molded deep-V hull with four layers of diagonally-laid mahogany planking, the modern speedster is crafted from carbon composite. This has all the strength of steel yet is extremely lightweight. The vessel also gained an extra 10 feet which gives her a total length of 47 feet and arguably a more commanding presence.

The new G-Fifty boasts more power, too. That’s quite an impressive feat considering G.Cinquanta ’s performance specs are nothing to sneeze at. Powered by a quartet of Italian-made, 8-liter BPM Vulcano V8 engines, the vintage sea screamer could churn out a thundering 1,280 horses and hit a top speed of 50 knots. Version 2.0 eschews the four V8s in favor of two Mercury Racing engines that are available in various horsepower.

“With today’s more powerful engines it would be unthinkable not to fit a twin installation,” the designers said in a statement.

G-Fifty has an estimated maximum speed of 78 knots, which makes it the perfect go-fast boat to tear-up the French Riviera just like Agnelli did.

PMP Design is taking orders now for 2022 delivery. Pricing is available upon request, but be prepared to part with at least six figures. In fact, the 52-year-old G.Cinquanta sold for an impressive half a mil (€450,000) earlier this year at RM Sotheby’s “Open Roads” auction . Guess you have to pay to be a Playboy.

Check out more photos below:

More from Robb Report

Sunseeker Will Ring In the New Year by Launching 5 New Yachts

Crypto-Cat? This Sleek 52-Foot Sailing Catamaran Was Just Bought With Bitcoin

Boat of the Week: Billy Joel's Original Commuter Yacht Has Been Transformed Into an Oceangoing Marauder

Best of Robb Report

The Chevy C8 Corvette: Everything We Know About the Powerful Mid-Engine Beast

The World’s Best Superyacht Shipyards

The ABCs of Chartering a Yacht

Sign up for Robb Report's Newsletter . For the latest news, follow us on Facebook , Twitter , and Instagram .

Recommended Stories

Dodgers' reported reaction to shohei ohtani's $680 million deferral request: 'holy f***'.

Andrew Friedman reacted like the rest of us when he heard Shohei Ohtani's contract proposal.

Shohei Ohtani's interpreter fired after accusation of 'massive theft' from Dodgers star, per report

A bombshell has landed in Ohtani's camp hours after the Dodgers' season opener.

Boeing targets a culprit of 737 MAX production woes: 'Traveled work'

Boeing's CFO today outlined the steps the company is taking to address a series of issues affecting the safety and reliability of its planes (not to mention the company’s reputation).

Shohei Ohtani interpreter scandal: Piecing together the confusing timeline, based on what we've been told so far

The scandal has already seen a change in the story from Ohtani's camp.

Pass or Fail: Houston Texans show off new road uniforms after Reddit leak

Texans CEO and Chairman Cal McNair took to Reddit to show off one of the team's new uniform combinations in response to a leak.

Winners and losers of the UFC's $335M class action settlement

While we know the dollar amount of the settlement, we don’t know yet how it will be apportioned among the fighters involved or what other provisions might be included in the settlement.

NFL free agency good, bad and ugly: How has your favorite team done so far?

Which teams should be most excited after a week of NFL free agency?

A 15-year problem that has plagued corporate America is finally turning around

Productivity is rebounding after 15 years of no gains. That could help drive stocks higher.

2024 Fantasy Baseball: 12 sleeper pitchers not getting enough love in drafts

Fantasy baseball analyst Dalton Del Don wraps up his positional sleeper series with the pitchers!

2024 Fantasy Baseball: 7 potential draft busts from the infield

No one likes talking about busts, but identifying them can help you avoid a problem down the line. Fantasy baseball analyst Dalton Del Don highlights some infield draft fades.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Life Lessons

Fabulous Life Lessons From Gianni Agnelli

By Steven Kurutz

• Dec. 6, 2017

With his aquiline nose, swept-back hair and bare chest bronzed by the Mediterranean sun, Gianni Agnelli came across like a modern-day Roman Emperor. He was sometimes called “the rake of the Riviera,” for his love of fast cars, sailboats, clothing and beautiful women.

But the new documentary “Agnelli,” directed by Nick Hooker and debuting on HBO on Dec. 18, shows Mr. Agnelli, who was the head of Fiat and died in 2003, to have been something rarer: a playboy with gravitas. He saw battle in World War II, and ran his family’s car company, which was once Italy’s largest private business. When Henry A. Kissinger appears on screen praising the shrewdness of “L’Avvocato,” or the Lawyer, as Mr. Agnelli was nicknamed, you realize that, despite the tan, this wasn’t George Hamilton with an Italian accent.

Yes, Mr. Agnelli was a creature of a more chauvinist time. He was an inattentive father. He believed that being discreet about extramarital affairs was the mark of a good husband. And he was unquestionably vain. Nevertheless, as the film shows, modern men can still learn a few things about style and living the good life from Mr. Agnelli.

He Lived Courageously

During Italy’s so-called Years of Lead in the mid-1970s, a communist paramilitary organization known as the Red Brigades assassinated businessmen and political leaders, including the country’s prime minister, Aldo Moro. Mr. Agnelli was surely a target. Yet he bravely drove to work every day in his Fiat compact, exuding strength and calm to his workers and the nation. “He thought that a day when someone tries to assassinate you and fails is a more interesting day than when they don’t,” Mr. Hooker said.

He Set His Own Fashion Rules

One of the funniest moments in the documentary is a montage of men who copied Mr. Agnelli’s sui generis look of wearing his watch over his shirt cuff. For him, it was a practical response to a problem. “The cuffs were very tight on the shirts he had made,” Mr. Hooker said. “He couldn’t fit a watch under.” It’s a goofy move, and the guys who do it look ridiculous. Except, of course, Mr. Agnelli.

He Loved Human Comedy

In the film, friends like Jean Pigozzi and Mr. Kissinger recall how Mr. Agnelli would call them in the early mornings, asking, “What’s new?” He loved gossip, the juicier the better.

He Knew How to Make an Entrance

Mr. Agnelli kept two helicopters fueled up on the lawn of his estate in Turin. One to go the mountains to ski, the other to the Mediterranean to go sailing. And he would arrive in port by jumping from his helicopter from 30 feet into the water and swimming to his yacht. He pulled the same helicopter-diving stunt when visiting friends, jumping into the swimming pools of their villas.

He Was Flashy, but Not Too Flashy

Though Mr. Agnelli was an avid boater who sailed the harbors of the French and Italian Rivieras, he was no oligarch out to show off the biggest boat. His famous yacht, Agneta , was an 80-foot jewel box with a Burmese-teak deck and possession-free staterooms. “All he had under there was a hammock for him and whichever girlfriend he was with,” Mr. Hooker said.

He Shed Inhibitions (and Clothes)

“For him, swimming naked in the ocean was the ultimate sense of freedom,” Mr. Hooker said. “He was always naked or with a towel around his waist on the boat.”

He Aged Like a Fine Wine

“Cary Grant was a much sexier man in ‘North by Northwest’ than he was in ‘Bringing up Baby,’” Mr. Hooker said. Likewise, Mr. Agnelli was more striking in his 50s and 60s, when his thick hair had gone white at the sides and his still-trim frame was sheathed in the double-breasted tailored suits of an industrial titan. It’s a reminder that you don’t need the rock-hard abs and waxy face of a 22-year-old to remain appealing. “His manners were like from another century,” Mr. Hooker said. “What was so alluring about him was his combination of exquisite, exquisite taste, combined with his restraint.”

Explore Our Style Coverage

The latest in fashion, trends, love and more..

Win Friends and Hustle People:  Ashwin Deshmukh, the managing partner of Superiority Burger, built a reputation as a nightlife impresario  by burning close friends, new acquaintances, big corporations, local bars and even his subletter.

Vintage Clothing Buffs:  Laverne Cox, Anna Sui and other enthusiasts shop at the Sturbridge Show, a gold mine for people who buy  and wear exquisite old things.

Making a Scene on the Radio:  In an era of podcasts and influencers, Montez Press Radio is reviving the D.I.Y. spirit  of a bygone downtown New York City.

Dressing the Part:  Women in media recently had a chance to browse and buy clothes owned by the trailblazing TV news anchor Barbara Walters .

Portland Soho House:  The status-conscious social club has landed in the Pacific Northwest’s crunchiest city. Some locals wonder why .

The Next Birkin:  Priscila Alexandre Spring, a bag designer and creative director of leather goods at Hermès, has the fun and formidable challenge of creating a new icon .

G. Fifty, the perfect boat according to Gianni Agnelli

• January 1, 2020
• No Comments

THE PERFECT GIFT!

Give or treat yourself to a subscription to Boats in Motion print + digital and for only 39 euros a year you get the magazine at home plus read it on your PC, smartphone and tablet. With a sea of advantages.

The “G. Cinquanta,” Gianni Agnelli’s boat.

NAVIGATE INFORMED!

• day cruiser

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Are you already a subscriber?

• Read your magazine from your pc here! >>
• Renew your subscription >>
• Reset your account password >>

Sign up for our Newsletter

Join the Sailing Newspaper Club

Powerboats, its stories, from small open to motoryachts. Sign up now for our free newsletter and receive the best news selected by the editorial staff each week. Enter your email below, agree to the Privacy Policy and click the “sign me up” button.

You may also be interested in.

This super-elegant boat makes nearly 50 knots. it is the j-craft eagle iii.

Building one of these speedboats requires at least 9,000 hours. And, since 1999, everything has been done in the same place: the island of Gotland, Sweden, in the middle of the Baltic Sea. This is where J-Crafts are “baptized,” that

RIB 625C, here is the working dinghy (6.25 m) according to Melges

The brand new Melges RIB 625C is an inflatable boat of 6.25 meters, capable of touching speeds of 42 knots and take on board up to 8 people. The intention is simple: to offer the qualitatively best and most efficient

“So I reinvented powerboats with Axopar.” Jan-Erik Viitala speaking.

We met Jan-Erik Viitala, co-founder and “front-man” of Axopar. Finnish shipyard turns 10 and celebrates with its new Axopar 29 , a contemporary reinterpretation of the first model made in 2014. Adventure boats. Is a new “flagship” coming for Axopar?

Otam 90 GTS (24 m), a “muscular” flagship with 5,200 horsepower

The Genoese shipyard Otam is celebrating 70 years. To best celebrate the milestone comes a 40-plus knot flagship. The big sports speedboat with a 90s flavor, but given a modern twist. She will make her debut at the upcoming Cannes

• All the Exhibitors
• Travel and Charter

Gianni Agnelli's G50 Designed by Sonny Levi, the perfect 50-knot boat for the Avvocato

Milano Yachting Week

Event Category: Barche a Motore Event Tags: Gianni Agnelli

It is well known that Gianni Agnelli , also known as “The Lawyer,” had a great passion for the sea. From his historical headquarters in Turin with a phone call he would have ONE of his boats ready and reach them directly by helicopter. He did not pay too much attention to weather conditions . For the Advocate, the important thing was adrenaline and being at sea. Agnelli has owned some of the most beautiful boats in the world, but in today’s video I will tell you the story of what Agnelli considered the “Perfect Boat”

DISCOVER THE SECRETS OF GIANNI AGNELLI’S BOAT NOW

• 17 June 2021, 10:00 - 18:00

© by Panama Editore 2021 | Privacy Policy

Log in with your credentials

or      Create an account

Forgot your details?

Create account.

The global authority in superyachting

• NEWSLETTERS
• Yachts Home
• The Superyacht Directory
• Yacht Reports
• Brokerage News
• The largest yachts in the world
• The Register
• Yacht Advice
• Yacht Design
• 12m to 24m yachts
• Monaco Yacht Show
• Builder Directory
• Designer Directory
• Interior Design Directory
• Naval Architect Directory
• Yachts for sale home
• Motor yachts
• Sailing yachts
• Explorer yachts
• Classic yachts
• Sale Broker Directory
• Charter Home
• Yachts for Charter
• Charter Destinations
• Charter Broker Directory
• Destinations Home
• Mediterranean
• South Pacific
• Rest of the World
• Boat Life Home
• Owners' Experiences
• Interiors Suppliers
• Owners' Club
• Captains' Club
• BOAT Showcase
• Boat Presents
• Events Home
• World Superyacht Awards
• Superyacht Design Festival
• Design and Innovation Awards
• Young Designer of the Year Award
• Artistry and Craft Awards
• Explorer Yachts Summit
• Ocean Talks
• The Ocean Awards
• BOAT Connect
• Between the bays
• Golf Invitational
• Boat Pro Home
• Pricing Plan
• Superyacht Insight
• Product Features
• Premium Content
• Testimonials
• Global Order Book
• Tenders & Equipment

Sailing yacht Agneta sold by Ocean Independence with Sandeman

Peter Thompson at Ocean Independence tells me he and Marc Haendle have found a buyer for the 25.03m classic sailing yacht Agneta listed by Sandeman Yacht Company.

Agneta was built to a Knut Reimers design by Stockholm’s Plym yard in 1950 entirely in oak and mahogany. Owned for over 30 years by Gianni Agnelli of the Fiat dynasty, this superyacht became a familiar and highly-regarded sight on the Mediterranean regatta circuit. Always well maintained, she was last refitted in 2004 and sleeps up to seven guests in a master and two twins plus a Pullman berth.

Agneta was asking €1.35 million and Peter says the new owner intends to restore her to her former glory.

More stories

Most popular, from our partners, sponsored listings.

• Classic Driver
• Forgot password
• Newsletters
• Language English Deutsch
• Currency Select AUD CHF CNY DKK EUR GBP HKD INR JPY NZD SEK SGD USD
• Collectibles
• Real Estate
• CD Works Agency
• For sale CD Shop Magazine Auctions Sell

Breaking the waves with Gianni Agnelli’s custom speedboat G. Cinquanta

The onboard mechanic fires the four BPM V-8 Vulcano engines and the cacophonous growl that erupts and envelopes this bustling corner of Naples’ expansive harbour reminds me of the start of the RAC TT Celebration at the Goodwood Revival, when the seemingly endless stream of thunderous AC Cobras departs the assembly area for the grid. 

Now, RM Sotheby’s has the privilege of finding G. Cinquanta a new custodian , who’ll cherish and enjoy her as much as the last. Freshly fitted with new BPM engines and accompanied by a treasure trove of documentation, it will be offered at its online Open Roads, The European Summer Auction, the bidding for which opens today and closes on 21 July. 

There’s no arguing that Renato ‘Sonny’ Levi built a boat truly befitting of the style and status of Gianni Agnelli, the de facto king of Italy. They’re big sailor’s shoes to fill, but somebody’s got to take the controls of this history-steeped yacht. It doesn’t matter if you’re not a head of industry or carefree playboy, at least you know you’ll be the envy of the harbour wherever you choose to moor, be it Mallorca or Marina del Rey. 

Photos: Rémi Dargegen for RM Sotheby’s © 2020 

• Gianni Agnelli
• Pininfarina
• Made in Italy
• Very Important Provenance
• Customization

This ex-Gianni Agnelli 1969 Sonny Levi G. Cinquanta G50 yacht will be offered by RM Sotheby’s at its Online Only: Open Roads, The European Summer Auction, the bidding for which opens today and closes on 21 July. You can find the entire catalogue listed right here on Classic Driver .

More articles related to Gianni Agnelli

More articles related to pininfarina, more articles related to 1960s, more articles related to made in italy, more articles related to very important provenance, more articles related to customization, recommended listings.

To revisit this article, visit My Profile, then View saved stories .

• What Is Cinema?
• Newsletters

Becoming an Agnelli

By Marella Agnelli

How did Gianni and I meet? It feels as if I had always known him, but the truth is that we met through his sisters shortly after World War II. I must have been 18 or so, and Gianni was 6 years older. It was after a brief encounter with his mother in 1943 that I began to listen to stories about the Agnelli clan and about Gianni, the eldest son. My girlfriends spent hours telling me about his reckless military actions as well as his gallant bravery. These narratives of heroic and irreverent behavior filled my imagination during those last war-torn years with a kind of longing. It was at that time, I think, that, without even having met Gianni, I started to feel butterflies fluttering for him.

The Agnellis had been at the center of what was known then as “the fast set.” They led a glamorous life of parties, streamlined yachts, fast cars, and luxurious villas. Like most members of that set, they kept lovers. Their lives filled the gossip columns. I wouldn’t say they belonged to an immoral world, just a freely amoral one—at least by comparison with the one I had grown up in, an isolated, slightly conservative world known as the anglo-beceri. It was inhabited mainly by wealthy Anglo-American expatriates, like my mother, and members of the old Italian aristocracy, like my father—a set of people who spent their days visiting one another’s exquisitely refined gardens and crumbling villas on the hills of Florence and getting into interminable philosophical disquisitions.

The Agnellis—seven siblings who all looked alike, talked alike, and often laughed at the same jokes—emanated a tribal aura. Their parents, Edoardo and Virginia Agnelli, had died young, so Gianni, at 24, found himself the head of the family. His youngest brother, Umberto, was only 11 at the time. Gianni was very close to all his siblings, and so when he and I got engaged, in the late summer of 1953, I felt daunted at the prospect of having to take on such a large, clannish family. But everyone was very supportive of us, including the devoted house staff that had served the Agnelli family for decades. They were delighted that, at the age of 32, their Avvocato, as they called him in tribute to his law degree, had finally decided to get married.

When Gianni came from Turin to Rome to see my parents and ask for my hand, as one did in those days, I was in a state of total anxiety. I think I may have even stood behind the closed doors trying to eavesdrop. My mother wasn’t enthusiastic about this marriage at first. Her Puritan streak made her wary of the Agnelli glamour, and she didn’t like the fact that Gianni was a fixture in the gossip columns. My father was less judgmental and gave our union a chance.

We were married on November 19, 1953, in the chapel of Osthoffen Castle, just outside of Strasbourg. My father, at the time, was secretary-general of the Council of Europe, which was based in that city. The day of the wedding was cold and gray, but the house was full of life. Our two families were there—including my Caracciolo cousins, uncle, and aunt—as well as our closest friends, some 60 people in all. I wore a Balenciaga gown. Gianni was on crutches following a bad car accident the year before. My mother had organized everything to perfection. She tended to be disorganized in the management of her everyday life, and on the whole she avoided social events, but when she had to be, she was amazing.

When I had gone back to Italy in the spring of 1953, after my 18- month experience working in New York with photographer Erwin Blumenfeld, Condé Nast offered me a job as its correspondent in Italy. It worked well for me, but once I was married I had to give it up. I just didn’t have time to keep up with everything.

One day, not long after our wedding, I decided to go to Paris for a few days of shopping. The best way to get there at the time was to take the night train from Turin. When I arrived at the station to meet up with my friends, I found a surprise waiting for me. The wagon-lit I had booked looked familiar: towels with my initials had been neatly placed in the bathroom, together with my favorite soaps and creams. The train sheets had been replaced with ones from home, with Gianni’s and my initials on them. There was even a vase with fresh flowers! It had been Pasquale, the butler, who had arranged it all. This, I soon discovered, was how the Agnellis traveled when they took a night train. This was also when I realized I had entered a very different way of life from the one I was used to.

The first few months after our wedding, I spent hours every day on the sofa, just reading. Now that I no longer had a proper job, life felt like a permanent holiday! Gianni was worried. He could see I had no aptitude for domestic concerns. One day I received a phone call from Contessa Volpi, a Venetian “dragoness” who owned magnificent houses and was known for her savoir faire as a hostess. Gianni had obviously asked her to come to my rescue. “You must come and see me,” the old lady roared imperiously into the phone. “I hear that you don’t know how to run a home.” That’s when she told me a line I shall never forget: “Remember, my dear girl,” she said, “all one needs to catch a husband may be a bed, but it takes a whole house to keep one!”

Contessa Volpi taught me many things, some more useful than others: how many pairs of sheets one needs for each bed, where to have them embroidered with one’s initials, how many porcelain services one needs—things like that. She also gave me counseling on the number of servants needed for each house, where to have their uniforms made, and how to manage their working hours. She taught me the importance of good “placement” for formal dinners and how to create a successful menu. Contessa Volpi tried to teach me to be parsimonious, something she excelled at. After every dinner she personally smashed all the empty wine bottles. “But why?,” I asked naïvely. “That way,” she answered, “staff won’t be tempted, at future dinners, to claim that more wine has been consumed than in reality, swindling the extra bottles for themselves.”

La Dolce Vita

In the 1950s our lives revolved around a handful of places where a relatively small but international crowd of people would meet. New York was the place to be in November, before the Christmas season. Then there was the skiing season in Saint-Moritz, which lasted until March. In summer it was the French Riviera. The summer of 1954, however, we spent in New York, where my son Edoardo was born. He was a beautiful baby, and his arrival brought immense joy to our lives.

I have always loved a photograph of me in front of the Orvieto Cathedral, in Umbria, shot by my friend Wanda Gawronska. In it I am wearing a necklace that Gianni gave to me in 1955 during a trip to India with his sister Cristiana and her husband, Brando Brandolini. Gianni, who loved buying jewelry, had scoured the Gem Palace, in Jaipur, looking for something unique. His eyes had finally stopped on several long strings of rubies and emeralds originally used as a decoration by the Maharaja of Jaipur, and he had them re-strung as a necklace. In October of that same year, in Lausanne, Switzerland, our daughter Margherita was born. She was a blonde and a delightful child who began to express a talent for painting at a very young age.

When Edoardo and Margherita were still young, Gianni loved to dazzle them with spectacular gestures, such as inviting them to join us for a last-minute trip to the Riviera. We would leave Turin, and 40 minutes later Gianni and the children would be jumping into the waves straight from a flying helicopter. I didn’t enjoy the dives as much as they did, but I joined in so as not to lose face.

We used to spend several weeks in Turin every summer before making our way to Villar Perosa, the family home at the foot of the Alps, in Piedmont. The children and I, together with some of my sisters-in-law and their children, would make our base at Villar Perosa from mid-August to the end of September. Gianni would join us for dinner in the evening from his office in Turin, just like his grandfather Senator Giovanni Agnelli had done with his family so many years before in the 30s and 40s. For all his love of modernity, Gianni had a conservative streak in him. He felt the necessity to preserve old family traditions. And Villar Perosa, a house that had belonged to the Agnellis since the early 19th century, was his bridge to a past that had ended abruptly with the death of his parents and the loss of his grandparents shortly after.

By 1961, Gianni and I had accumulated quite a number of contemporary works of art, but we just didn’t know where to put them! This is why we decided to create houses designed specifically around our collection. The first such space was Villa Bona, on a hill overlooking Turin. The minimalist style of its interiors provided the perfect alternative to the more formal environment in Corso Matteotti, in Turin. This was the Agnelli family home, and so when I went to live there after my marriage, I was determined to tread lightly, as I knew the house was filled with memories and presences from Gianni’s childhood. I didn’t want to disturb that. Villa Bona, on the other hand, had been built ex novo. It was frontier land, in every sense. I guess it provided that free-spirited lightness that we craved at the time.

In the early 1970s, we decided to buy an apartment in Rome. It was the capital, and Gianni had to have a base there. I, too, had my reasons to go: I had lived there after the war, and although my parents were both deceased, my two brothers, Carlo and Nicola, as well as many friends, were living there. We settled on a large apartment on the fifth floor of a late-19th-century palace, one of the tallest residential buildings in the city. It is right next to the Quirinale, where, before Rome became the capital, in 1870, the Pope used to reside and which now serves as the residence for our head of state.

Gianni and I continued to spend several months every winter in New York. In 1972, Andy Warhol did a series of portraits of us. He had asked us to wear black polo-necked sweaters, and he took some Polaroids. He concentrated deeply and didn’t talk much during the shoot. New York was the place where Gianni and I pursued our interest in art. We spent hours scouring downtown galleries and visiting artists’ studios. We were friends with Leo Castelli, who in those years was the eminence of contemporary art in New York City. We soon realized we had no idea where to put the huge works by these young painters we were discovering: Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, Tom Wesselmann, Frank Stella, Robert Indiana . . . So, in 1969, Gianni asked architect Gae Aulenti to design an apartment, in Milan, specifically for this collection.

By Kase Wickman

By Mark McKinnon

By Savannah Walsh

In 1980, Gianni decided we needed a place in New York where we could put more of our collection, and so we moved into a duplex apartment at 770 Park Avenue. Throughout the 80s, Gianni and I found ourselves spending more and more time in New York City. This was partly because of business and partly because Manhattan, in the late 1970s and throughout the 1980s, was far more cultivated than anywhere in Europe. The reason for this, I think, was that New Yorkers had made a significant cultural choice: art, filmmaking, and literature were deemed of vital importance. Extravagant amounts of money were being spent on culture—and the flow of money inevitably brings talent and ideas to the surface. If something interesting was going on in the world, it was in New York.

The Truman Show

After John F. Kennedy became president, in 1961, we used to see quite a bit of the Kennedys. I found John charismatic and handsome. John and Gianni shared a passion for yachts, and I remember many glorious hours spent with them at sea off the coast of Newport, observing the race between Australia and the United States during the 1962 America’s Cup. Gianni was eager for Italy to enter the race as well. He was full of plans and ideas about how to build the perfect racing boat. In the evening, over dinner, we talked about this with John and other friends. Gianni’s dream eventually became a reality in 1983, when the yacht Azzurra entered the race and came in third.

One friend who relished being part of our summer cruises in the Mediterranean was Truman Capote. I had met him in New York in the early 60s, and we became friends. Gianni liked him, too, finding him amusing and good company. Truman claimed to love yachting, but he was actually very lazy and hated anything active, like jumping off boats and going for long swims or sightseeing. He had very fair skin and couldn’t stand the sun much, and so he spent a lot of time during the day in his cabin reading. He would occasionally go for a swim. Every day he performed some gymnastics on deck with Gianni. I took some photographs of them stretching. Truman did everything very slowly and calmly . . . no rushing around for him. He didn’t like motorboats or speedboats at all.

In 1965, Truman joined us for a boat trip I had organized on the Sylvia, a 1956 yacht specifically designed for cruising. We were going to explore the Turkish and Greek coastlines. Gianni, my brother Carlo, my young cousin Allegra Carac­ciolo, who eventually married Gianni’s brother Umberto, and my half-brother, Ettore Rosboch von Wolkenstein, were all on board. Katharine Graham, the Washington Post publisher, was also there.

Most of us spent the days swimming and exploring the coastline. Not Truman. One time I said to him, “Truman, you must come with us at least once to see some of the amazing ruins.” And he said, “Oh, forget it. One old stone is just like another.” He was not interested in sightseeing whatsoever.

During the 1960s, I regarded Truman as one of my closest friends, perhaps the closest. Being warm and amusing, he had the talent to get close and intimate. By the time I met him, I had read two of his books ( Breakfast at Tiffany’s and In Cold Blood ) and considered him a young genius. But that wasn’t uppermost to me, because our relationship, I thought, was based on an elective affinity. I found myself telling him things I had never dreamed of telling anyone. He was able to create a deep sense of intimacy. But he was waiting like a falcon.

Very often he would call me and say, “I’m in Verbier and I’m dying of boredom. Can I come visit you in Turin?” There were three or four guest bedrooms, and the one he liked was a large blue room. So when he called he would ask, “Is the blue room empty?” Then he would appear. He never knew exactly how long he was staying or where he was going, and so he’d arrive with his Louis Vuitton trunks, full of disorder.

The first time I was disappointed by Truman—because I thought we had a unique relationship—was at a 1970 luncheon he gave at the Colony, the chic restaurant off Madison Avenue. C. Z. Guest was there, Babe Paley was there, and many, many others. We all found ourselves suddenly part of a large group of friends who had more or less the same relationship with Truman. He called us his “swans,” but now it seemed there were just too many swans. Some of the swans I didn’t even like that much. I had always thought my relationship with Truman was personal. The intimacy, the laughs, the giggles … I thought it was a special friendship between Truman and me, unaware he was also giggling and laughing with Babe or Gloria or Slim. When I told him, “Strange, I thought I was the only swan,” he answered only, “Oh, well, darling . . . ”

My breakup with Truman happened before the chapter from his novel Answered Prayers appeared in Esquire magazine, in 1975. In this roman à clef Truman exposed the lives and secrets of many people who had regarded him as a close friend and confidant, which is why, when the piece appeared, there was a general uproar. Truman had really gone too far this time, transforming himself from a society darling into a pariah.

I had tried to warn him on the boat when he gave me a short section of his book. I can read English only very slowly, and so I asked him to read me a few chapters. What he was writing was very shallow, and I remember getting quite cross with him one day, saying, “Oh, Truman, this is a gossip column. What are you getting yourself into?”

At that time he felt invincible. He told me he was preparing a Proustian project. “You must realize,” he said, “that I am going to do to America what Proust did to France.” Later, I often thought that his famous Black and White Ball, which took place in the Grand Ballroom of the Plaza hotel in November 1966, was a way of gathering together all the characters who were going to be a part of his novel.

Road to Morocco

When in late 2003, after Gianni’s death, on January 24, I announced that I had my eye on a property in Marrakech, Morocco, and that the making of Ain Kassimou would occupy my time and energies for years to come, some of my friends and family members thought it a folly. “Why go so far away from home?” they said. “It needs so much work and you are not used to that climate—you will melt away under that African sun!” They were worried for me, but I knew this project was going to bring me a lot of comfort and joy—and them too—in the long run. My granddaughter Ginevra got married here to Giovanni Gaetani dell’Aquila d’Aragona in April 2009, and my grandchildren and great-grandchildren often come to visit. I have dedicated my book to Ginevra, and it was with great joy that on May 27 of this year she gave birth to her third child—her first daughter: Marella.

An old family friend, Sandro d’Urso, used to say to me, “Why make one’s dreams come true when the best part of any project is just dreaming about it?” He was right, of course, when it comes to making a house or writing a book. But with gardens it is different. And, like all living things, they grow and change. That is a fascinating process to experience.

Putting my energies into making homes and gardens—imagining how they would turn out and finding ways to improve them—has been a central part of my life. Of all the gardens I have created, I would say that Ain Kassimou is the one that comes closest to my idea of happiness. Sometimes, as I wander here alone or in someone’s company, my imagination flies back to the garden of my childhood, in Florence. I used to sneak out of my bed at night and wander down to the end of the garden. Just for the thrill of it. In the darkness I could hear all the invisible presences. That’s when I first became aware that gardens breathe and are alive, just as we are. One is never really “done” with a garden, just as one is never “done” with life. Day by day and step by step, one just keeps on finding new and clever ways to make them flourish, both in sunshine and in storm.

Marella Agnelli

Royal watch.

By signing up you agree to our User Agreement and Privacy Policy & Cookie Statement . This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

By Chris Murphy

By Daniela Tijerina

Gianni Agnelli, the King of Italian style

Georges-Louis Leclerc de Buffon said: “the style is the man himself.” For a lot of people, this man is named Gianni Agnelli. It’s the style that comes from a wristwatch, a way of talking, smiling, or making trades. The same style that emerges when driving a car, or steering a sailboat into the sea during a storm.

The style is in his lifestyle: a nomad, always in search of something new, challenging, and contagious. The style is in his sunsets aboard his Capricia .

Gianni loved Italy but needed to immerse himself in different cultures, both physically and mentally. What made the lawyer unique was not only his power, ambition, or wealth. These qualities are common to a lot of men, who don’t quite earn the “style icon” label.

It’s clear that behind Gianni Agnelli’s image there’s more than meets the eye. He has a history of elegance that is both genuine and learned, and associated with all his actions. His elegance combines both style and ease.

It is for all these reasons that his friend ― and world-class filmmaker ― Federico Fellini, used to call him the Re d’Italia , or if you prefer the American version, as JFK said, the “King of Italy.”

“Put a helmet on his head, put him on a horse. He has a King’s face.”

The most amazing thing is that in order to receive these titles, the “King” didn’t have to work hard; he didn’t climb over anyone, he didn’t seek headlines. He just had the luxury of being himself, without a mask or without labels, and paradoxically, this made him different than anyone else.

What about fashion? Gianni favored large neckties on top of pullovers tucked into his pants, casual shoes matched with a suit, or blazers and faded jeans proudly worn during formal ceremonies. Agnelli intentionally subverted fashion rules and trends and, as a result, was elected by internationally renowned magazines “one of the most elegant men in the world.”

Most likely, Gianni would have never thought that his practical and natural clothing choices would make him a real style icon, who was imitated by gentlemen everywhere looking for a classy look. Bruno Graziani said that Gianni was:

“Much-loved, very imitated, but never equaled.”

However, he did have a few fashion rules. He never wore short socks, never wore reading glasses in public, never wore pointy shoes, and he always wore his hair a little longer than normal. In his grey double-breasted suit, he was never seen in a foreign car.

The 1960s was the golden age for Agnelli: he ran among wealthy circles, was copied by the so-called “agnellofili” flatterers of Agnelli style, ran his FIAT empire, and enjoyed life with his habits, his houses, his boats, and, above all, with his personality.

To see all of Gianni’s admiration, one simply needs to glance at pictures from the past, and videos that portray the businessman in public.

Just to be clear, Gianni didn’t have the untouchable style of “rich master,” but rather the more laid-back style of a friend. The kind of friend that is known for being the funny and smart one, with a refined taste, who you go to for life advice. Not even celebrity personalities hid the fact that the lawyer taught them how to dress with style, how to furnish a house or a boat, how to travel, and how to actually court a woman.

“From Jackie Kennedy to Pamela Harriman, from Katherine Graham to the Kennedy brothers, from Oleg Cassini to Diana Vreelan: everyone loved having a conversation with Gianni Agnelli.”

Driven by the desire to “take a bite out of the apple” and to escape his biggest fear, boredom, Agnelli was constantly moving around. He was born in Torino, his first love, as well as his hometown; and in winter he resided in Villar Perosa, where he loved seeing the snow. In Rome, he had his “emperor” place in a flat at Quirinale. And then he also had residences in Paris, Brasil, New York, and London, the city of business.

But if there’s one thing that Gianni Agnelli is remembered for, it is his wild spirit, free from conventions, and sometimes over the top. At the time, the press used to report a lot of his wild schemes: from his completely naked dive from the boat off the coast of Costa Azzurra, to swimming with Grace Kelly offshore in Montecarlo.

He enjoyed a good time: from barefoot dances to the strains of African music, to the black-and-white themed costume party with Truman Capote at the Plaza in New York .

He adored Picasso, the Impressionists, and Matisse; he was attracted to beauty and collected everything. The actress Diane Heidi von Salvisberg, immortalized several times sailing with the lawyer, remembers:

“He used to arrive at Beaulieu by helicopter from his office in Torino. He used to go sailing across the sea, leaving after two hours.”

Educated and never banal, a real international personality, Gianni was able to cleverly range from foreign policy to social affairs without ever losing the attention of his interlocutor. We will be hard-pressed to find another man like him because even in the sixties, Gianni Agnelli owned an eternal style.

Photos by Massimo Siragusa/Contrasto and AGF/GAMMA/Contrasto

Consigliati per te, 20s style and suits smelling like freedom.

Lights on the dancefloor: we can listen to jazz, fox or charleston; the air is crisp and the ballroom’s protagonist is an athletic, wiry and distinct-looking dandy.

How do ‘They’ wear it, the men who matter?

Ten years after Il Divo, an undisputed masterpiece focused on Giulio Andreotti (and five after The Great Beauty of which you may have already read), the Neapolitan director chooses to tell the story of Silvio Berlusconi, once again played by favored actor, Toni Servillo. ‘Loro’ (‘Them’) is the latest film by Paolo Sorrentino, although perhaps […]

The one night of Haring and Fiorucci in Milan

Milan is exactly the city you were expecting. You get off the train in Centrale, Milan’s Central Station, and you simply recognize the scene. You saw it in pictures, videos, and posters so many times that it seems like you have already been there. Alive and full of excitement, filled with brilliant people covered by […]

Sometimes we meet in your inbox, just something informal.

See you in your inbox, with some Italian stories to discover. Step by step.

Already signed!

This email address is already added to subscription.

Cliccando accetti l'informativa sulla privacy per il trattamento dei dati. Promettiamo: questa è la cosa più noiosa che ti faremo leggere.

The magazine that tells you stories of passion and people to get to know Italy through the Italian spirit. There’s no time to read it, it’s timeless.

If you love Italy and want to tell us something about it, write to  [email protected]

• © 2018 Velasca S.r.l. All Rights Reserved. Velasca and A Million Steps are registered trademarks of Velasca S.r.l.
• Privacy policy
• Terms of Service