PENTACAR BY MELLI & C. IN COLICO

The history of Pentacar

The Melli family’s journey into the world of motorsport began in the 1970s, more precisely between 1976 and 1977. It all started one evening, almost by chance, at Bar Beretta in Perledo, where Angelo Melli and his friend Carlo Varisco would regularly meet.

It was there that they came up with the idea of buying a racing car while leafing through an issue of the weekly magazine Autosprint, which they happened to find on one of the bar’s tables. They chose a Lancia Fulvia 1600, which they purchased to make their debut in motor racing. At the time, racing was little more than a hobby pursued during the free time left over from their respective jobs, with most of the work taking place in the garage at home.

The two friends thus began their adventure in the world of rallying, with Carlo as the driver and Angelo as co-driver and all-round mechanic. As a professional lathe operator, Angelo was the one who personally got his hands dirty working on their car, together with his ever-present brother Alfiero.

From the very beginning, their adventure led them to take part in several important events, including the Barum Rally, a famous and long-established race held entirely in what was then communist Czechoslovakia. These two slightly reckless young men managed to complete the entire event and then drove home in their beloved Fulvia.

The Lancia Fulvia, a legendary car at the time, was soon replaced by the higher-performing 911: the first Porsche to join the Melli family, a 1977 Porsche 911 Group 4.

What had started as a simple passion gradually became an increasingly demanding evening job in the garage at home for Carlo and Uncle Angelo. Their enthusiasm also enabled them to bring together a close-knit group of people who supported them both at races and behind the scenes. These included Angelo’s brother Alfiero, a mechanic friend who worked at Moto Guzzi, and another friend who was a bodywork specialist. Together, they ensured that the 911 was always in perfect working order.

This marked the beginning of Pentacar’s first Porsche era, centred around the 911 that had been developed and prepared in their aunt’s garage, directly beneath the family home. With this car, Carlo and Angelo took part in numerous competitions, including the prestigious Coppa Valtellina and many other events.

These were the years in which their dream gradually began to take shape as a real business. In 1981, they opened a small workshop in Colico. It was small in the truest sense of the word, as it could accommodate no more than three vehicles. At first, those vehicles were not all Porsches: most of the work involved lawnmowers, agricultural machinery and ambulances. Nevertheless, these activities quietly laid the foundations for the first Pentacar workshop.

Meanwhile, the white and light-blue 911 began to achieve its first significant results in competition, attracting the company’s first customers. This success convinced the two partners, Alfiero and Angelo, to purchase a second Porsche 911, a 1972 2.4 S registered in the name of their grandmother Giuliana. The car was intended to be rented out for races and was also frequently used by Alfiero Melli himself as a co-driver.

At the end of 1988, Angelo retired from racing, while Alfiero began competing as a driver behind the wheel of a Lancia Fulvia. Rather than using it in rallies, however, he entered regularity events, with the aim of keeping the Pentacar name prominent on the racing scene.

That same year, the two brothers decided to take a major step forward and move into a new workshop, the same premises that Pentacar still occupies today. At the time, it was a highly advanced facility, equipped with a paint booth, an indoor testing area and a vehicle wash station. These features helped the company attract its first major motorsport customers.

In the early 1990s, Alfiero returned to the wheel of a Jolly Club Lancia Fulvia Fanalone, competing in both historic rallies and regularity events, with his friend Claudio Sala as co-driver.

Through his participation in regularity competitions, Alfiero took the first Porsche entirely prepared by Pentacar to the prestigious Sanremo Rally in 1996–1997. Once again accompanied by Sala, he competed in a short-wheelbase Porsche 911 2.0.

The car immediately caught the attention of a talented driver from Livigno. At the end of the rally, the Pentacar team was contacted by Luigi Bormolini, who had been so impressed by the car’s performance that he initially rented it for a race and subsequently purchased it outright.

Bormolini went on to use the car in both the Italian Rally Championship and the European Rally Championship, which he ultimately won. Thanks in part to this fast and talented driver, who was the first to truly believe in Pentacar, the company’s name began to gain recognition on the most important national and international rally stages.

Over the years, many other drivers followed in his footsteps, some of whom remain Pentacar customers to this day. These drivers encouraged the company to embrace new challenges that had previously seemed impossible, such as preparing cars for gravel rallies. This opened up entirely new horizons, including events in Morocco and the United Kingdom.

As children, Riccardo, Emma and Enrico—the children of Angelo and Alfiero—would watch these competitions on television with a sense of wonder, never imagining that one day they themselves would become part of those very same events.

Between 2008 and 2010, a difficult period in the company’s development prompted the younger generation of the Melli family to roll up their sleeves and become fully involved in the business. Once again, the family proved to be more united and determined than ever, working together to complete every project and supporting one another throughout the process.

In the meantime, Enrico made his official racing debut in 2013 at the Coppa Valtellina. In a fitting twist of fate, he drove the same Lancia Fulvia with which his father Alfiero had returned to racing in the early 1990s.

After several races alongside Giulio Oberti, Emma also began competing in 2014 as Enrico’s co-driver, once again in the faithful and historic Fulvia. The pair made their debut together at the Ronde del Canavese.

They later moved up to a different category, competing in a Porsche belonging to their friend Franco Gay. In 2015, they reached the renowned Tour de Corse behind the wheel of Maurizio Pagella’s legendary Rothmans Group B car. They finished an impressive tenth overall out of 200 starters.

While the younger generation, Enrico and Emma, continued to achieve increasingly impressive sporting results, Pentacar further expanded its motorsport record thanks to the numerous victories secured by its racing customers in the most prestigious historic rallies across Europe.

In recent years, the desire to broaden the company’s activities has led to the steady and significant development of its classic-car restoration and servicing division. This evolution has enabled Pentacar to make a definitive leap forward and become the internationally renowned company it is today.

Throughout this growth, Pentacar has remained faithful to the traditional values established by its founders—values that Enrico and Riccardo continue to preserve, uphold and strengthen every day.