(KLJUC) “When you drive it, you feel like you’re flying”: Himzo Beganovic always dreamed of parking a Formula 1 car in front of his house. Until he comes across a classified ad. And his F1, “it’s the only one in Bosnia-Herzegovina”.
This Bosnian who loves “fast driving” and “dangerous turns” immediately went to pick her up in Sarajevo.
The red sports car, bearing the yellow badges of “Scuderia Ferrari”, contrasts with the piles of scrap metal and bodywork scattered around the garage of this 36-year-old mechanic.
“I always wanted to own a Formula 1 car, to have it in front of the house, to sometimes be able to go for a spin,” says Himzo, known as “Zizi”, as he prepares the car for the crossing of his hamlet of Ponjir, near Kljuc, in northwest Bosnia.
The one he bought was built by a compatriot, respecting as much as possible the dimensions and shape of a real F1 car.
The replica – which took two years to build – however remains rudimentary, built mainly of sheet metal and without much protection. Its new owner wants to improve it, make it more efficient.
Above all, he intends to replace the engine, a 1600 cm Golf diesel.3by a 2800 cc Audi gasoline engine3put an automatic gearbox and more suitable tires on it, to give it more appearance.
“Zizi” and “Schumi”
It’s mostly a question of sound.
“When you drive Formula 1” – which can go up to 200 km/h – “you feel like you’re flying. It’s not like a car. You are close to the ground. But it lacks a little noise, a more powerful engine, so that it looks more like the real thing.”
“It’s the only one in Bosnia-Herzegovina. There are no others. I sometimes put it on a trailer to take it to other places in the country. People come, photograph it, ask questions. The feeling is indescribable,” he adds.
For Himzo Beganovic, his Formula 1 car had to be “Ferrari red”, and not any other red. A tribute to Michael Schumacher, seven-time world champion between 1994 and 2004, including five times for the Italian team.
Since the legendary German driver’s skiing accident in 2013 in the French Alps, other riders no longer matter to Zizi, who was 8 years old in 1996 when “Schumi” moved from Benetton to Ferrari.
“When a German engine and Bosnian ingenuity combine, you get an Italian car,” laughs a resident of the hamlet.