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The biography of Elvira Ruocco
(by Elvira Ruocco)
Chapter 1
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It is untrue that dreams die at dawn.
We all had an unfulfilled dream when we were kids. My one was
to work for Alfa Romeo one day. My first job, after getting a
diploma in languages, was in a factory producing peeled tomatoes
and pasta in the Salerno district. I was employed in the
Import/Export office and I often missed the last bus to get back
to Naples because of some urgent and time-consuming business.
When this happened, the C.E.O. whose name was Ettore Di Nola (sign
of destiny… there has been also a C.E.O. whose name was
Raffaello di Nola in Alfa during years 1962-1972), used to give
me a lift on his beech-coloured Giulia 1600 Super (AR 716 –
leather upholstery) driven by his personal chauffeur who kicked
down on the pedal along the Salerno-Napoli motorway. What an
incomparable experience! I was often wondering why one guy who
owned such a car should deny himself the pleasure of driving it,
but I never asked that question to the person concerned, owing
to shyness.
I will not be telling what happened in my private life in the
period which kept me apart from my recruitment in Alfa, but I
can certainly say that if you long for something you will
eventually get it. I had moved with my family to Saronno and
found another job but I was still thinking of Alfa. My dream was
closer then since Alfa Romeo was already also in Arese (about 13
Km far from Saronno) and I kept sending employment applications
until I was called to the Management of the Personnel department
at Portello for an interview. I remember that on the way from
the Bullona bus stop to Gattamelata street I was not doing
anything but praying for being hired. It took three interviews
and a complete test in shorthand-typing and translation of
letters into English and French before I received that telegram
that I still cherish: “We give you notice that the result of the
recruitment tests is positive and request you to turn up in
Gattamelata street on the 3rd of January next.” I nearly fainted…
I succeeded in the end!
I remember the years at Portello with great delight; when I was
transferred to Arese I felt a deep suffering for the separation
from such a factory where in the 50s engineers, employees,
workmen and mechanics, who had tirelessly worked close to racing
car drivers, proudly saw the big ash grey trucks leave to haul
the invincible Alfettas to the race tracks.
I started working in the framework of the Servicing Management
and later I joined the External Relationships and Press
Management, a section not only where one was always acquainted
with what was happening inside the company, but also where one
was frequently in contact with top-level executives and with
distinguished outside personalities, also including racing car
drivers.
My story in Historic Archive begun in November 1983, when the
head of the Alfa Romeo Press Office at the time entrusted me
with the task to sort out the masses of pictures and documents
laying stacked in the rooms of the Documentation Centre.
Actually, I was not enthusiastic for that at once, I realized
that it would have been a demanding task, a commitment that had
been let us say so “politely declined” by some male colleague,
what made me furious since I thought that the choice fell on me
just because I always had accepted to do with care even the most
boring works without ever withdrawing.
I loved Alfa Romeo, because I liked its cars; we always have had
one in our family starting from 2600 Berlina and I remember with
pride that when we were going for a drive in Naples everybody
was staring at it. Even the car-park attendants had a
reverential respect and when my dad had to park it they were
often beckoning and said: “Dottò, mettitela cca….accussì nun na
tocca nisciuno;” I translate: “Sir, put it here… so that nobody
will touch it.”
Today I stop here, but I promise that you will soon read another
chapter of my… women’s Alfa.
Elvira Ruocco
Copyright Information and Credits
All the multimedia materials and the texts present in this page cannot be reproduced in any way
without the explicit permit of authors and/or owners of the contents. In particular, this applies
with reference to texts and pictures of Ms. Elvira Ruocco
and of the Alfa Romeo Historic Archive
who explicitly authorized the AlfaSport Club for publication.
Translation by Fabio Grandi
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