Antonio Lago

Early life

Lago was born in Venice in 1893, but the family moved to Bergamo, where his father was manager (or owner) of the municipal theatre. He grew up in the company of actors, musicians and government officials, developing relationships with leaders such as Pope John XXIII and Benito Mussolini. He graduated in engineering from the Politecnico di Milano.

In 1915 he joined the Italian Air Force, where he achieved the rank of major during the First World War.

Business

Despite going into receivership four times, Lago kept the business running until 1958, when he sold it to Simca.

Although Lago was a founding member (one of the first 50) of the Italian National Fascist Party, he later became outspokenly critical of fascism, which led to a violent dispute with Benito Mussolini, necessitating his subsequent fleeing to France. In an era of volatile politics he always carried a hand grenade. In 1919 three members of the fascist youth entered a trattoria looking for him, but as they shot the two owners he threw the grenade and ran out the back door. One of the fascists was killed and Lago fled to Paris, reportedly never returning to Italy.

Scandal

Capitalising on the company's success in sportscar racing, Lago announced plans to build a 3-litre V16-engined car for the 1938 Grand Prix season. He showed the blueprints to the Comité de la Souscription Nationale pour le Fonds de Course (a government body that used public money to try to achieve success in motor racing) and received a 600,000-franc subsidy (approx Euro 300,000 as of 2012), but the V16 never appeared, and it was believed that he used the money to build a factory for Pratt & Whitney aircraft engines.