Ciccio Liberto, F1's shoe maker
Fotos: Ciccioshoes.it
"Don't recall me with sadness. Know that I am a happy man, because I've fulfilled my dream: to be part of the world of motorsport, the one that I have always loved. I was able to meet and become friends with so many drivers, to be Scuderia Ferrari supplier and even achieve some international notoriety.”
These were the words of Ciccio Liberto – better known as Ciccio de Cefalù – when he closed his store for the last time in January 2022, already facing the Parkinson's disease that would take him.
Ciccio is a much more relevant figure for motorsport than one would expect from a simple shoemaker from Sicily. He was, after all, the inventor of driving boots and shoes, something that weren’t around before him.
t was in 1967 that Ignazio Giunti, an Alfa Romeo driver, visited Ciccio's shoe shop before the start of another Targa Florio, asking him to produce shoes that would be comfortable to drive, without losing the necessary sensitivity.
Being passionate about motorsport, Ciccio knew exactly what was needed and created an ankle boot with a very thin gold sole, with long laces for a perfect fit and made of fine leather. They were made with the same care and sensitivity of driving gloves.
Giunti debuted them in the Alfa Romeo 33 that he drove in the Targa Florio and loved them. Word of mouth led Ciccio to equip all Alfa Romeo drivers, then Ferrari, and then many more, in a long list that includes names like Ickx, Reutemann, Fittipaldi, Regazzoni, Arnoux, Merzario, Lauda, Nanni Galli, Geki Russo, Vaccarella and Vic Elford.
Honored by brands and magazines, visited by journalists from all over the world as well as modern day drivers like Vettel, he became a celebrity in his own right and a part of motorsport’s history.
