Autovelox, Marco D’Amore: “On the 500 with Pino Daniele’s tapes”

Emanuele Bigi

December 11th

– Milan

We met Marco D’Amore, actor of Gomorrah – the seriesat the Turin Film Festival on the occasion of the preview of his second film as director magical Naples. To Autovelox he tells about his passion and experiences in cars on the set, like when he drove a truck in Bulgaria. On the streets of Naples instead he delights with the Lambretta of the 50s, but his heart beats for an old 500 of his father. He also tells us about that memorable journey with Toni Servillo in Panda.

Marco you are from Naples: it is not so easy to drive in your city. What do you think about it?

“Once I saw a documentary about an eastern city where there are practically no road signs, everything is left to the responsibility and common sense of the drivers. I immediately drew a parallel with Naples, which is said to drive “like crazy”. however Naples is the city with the fewest road accidents in Italy, so I think Neapolitans have a certain ability to understand each other, as well as knowing how to drive”.

On the set of Gomorrah you indulged in cars and motorcycles.

“This profession has given me and still gives me the opportunity to drive incredible cars and motorcycles. In Gomorrah – the series, for example, I got behind the wheel of a lorry in Bulgaria, and if you remember Ciro Di Marzio had a Triumph in the first season 900, a big shot. He was also particularly fond of BMWs. But in Gomorrah we also drove Maseratis and much more”.

Beyond the profession, we know that Marco D’Amore is “sick” of F1.

“Yes, I like it very much, I went to Monza several times to see the Grand Prix. I’m very attached to Ferrari, but I also admire the feats of the other drivers and teams: the most recent ones by Max Verstappen or Hamilton in past years. I was a great fan of Michael Schumacher, also thanks to the stories of a journalist like Giorgio Terruzzi, who also told me about a certain Senna”.

“I’m a sports driver who respects the rules. I have a Lambretta from the 50s, blue, the color of Naples, which I use from time to time around the city”.

Do you remember a trip that has remained in your heart?

“My holidays are often marked by long car journeys and above all my theater tours. I have practically traveled all over Italy by car and often alongside Toni Servillo”.

Do you have an anecdote to tell us?

“It happened last August. We were going to Padua where Toni was holding a reading. The next day we were supposed to leave by train, but there was a strike. We tried in every way to find a means of transport to take us back to Naples. Then I I went to rent a car, I wanted to get a spectacular car for Toni, like a Jaguar or a super Mercedes, and instead I found a Panda. We did Padua-Naples in a Panda in eight hours. It was great fun”.

We recently saw you in a car with your friend Salvatore Esposito in Celebrity Hunted 3. You won but you were driving a vehicle that was nothing short of flashy.

“It was a car that our friend the winemaker Tommy lent us. It was a metallic green Maserati, perfect for not being noticeable,” he smiles.

What was your first car instead?

“The memory machine is dad’s 500 where we used to listen to Lucio Dalla and Pino Daniele’s cassettes. It’s a car that I still want and that I’m looking for to go back in time”.