André Grammatico: “There was no question of me racing with anything other than a BMW”

A magnificent BMW M3 Competition, you spoil me André Grammatico! At the same time, I'm not surprised by the brand of the car!

Yes, we have a very long history with the brand. I am one of the oldest representatives since my father signed a dealership contract in 1964. At the time, BMW was a small, almost unknown brand and my father, who was returning from Tunisia, had small means and that was good: BMW was not very demanding, in terms of working capital, halls, etc. It went well and we grew up together.

How did running come into your life?

I have always been passionate about mechanics and technology. In Tunisia, where I was born (in 1950. . Editor's note), we lived on a farm and the only thing that captivated me was driving the tractor! The fauna and flora did not interest me, I much preferred mechanics. The competition, I didn't know what it was about. The turning point came after we moved to France, as teenagers. In July 1965, my best friend's grandfather took us to watch a race at the Cognac air base (Charente). There I see Jean-Pierre Beltoise on the Matra F3, Henri Pescarolo in Lotus Seven and it was literally love at first sight. The logical next step is the tampered with Solex, since that's all we had at the time. Then, I moved towards mechanical studies at ETACA (today ESTACA, Higher School of Aeronautical Techniques and Automobile Construction. Editor’s note). At the end of my school cycle, I built a kart with front brakes, which did not exist at the time and led me to file a br