Was born in Dobrogea, in 1893. In 1914 he decided to go to France, where he became an employee of Renault company. Calcianu was obsessed by a certain automobile he had seen and which was built in a small plant in Molsheim village, Alsace. It was a Bugatti, an automobile including many brilliant mechanical solutions. He managed to maintain two such cars, owned by Dubonnet, and as a reward he was offered the type 37, of 1.5 liters, in order to compete on the Miramas Autodrome. Calcianu was working hard, during nights, to upgrade the automobile performances. He gave a special attention to air glide, replacing the coachwork screws with embedded ones, and polishing the paint. The day of the race: Ettore Bugatti was contesting with three of his famous drivers, Constantini, Jules Groux, and Friederich. Calcianu puts on his cap with its peak back, and goes. The result: a new record established: 173.6 km/h. Bugatti hires him at the test stand of the factory. He remained loyal to this trade mark for six years, until he completed his studies at Ecole Superieure Technique. However, at Bugatti he was not allowed to compete. Nevertheless, he managed to run in 2-3 local races, on a Talbot, and succeeded a first place in the Laffrey coast, and a first place on the Miramas circuit. At his return to Romania he brought back three Bugatti automobiles. In 1934, he ranks first at 2 liters category in the Lemberg Grand Prix.
*In 1934, together with IAR he organized the first closed circuit race in the country: Brasov Grand Prix.
*Considering competition, Calcianu sets one more record on Feleac, where he defeats the coast expert, Hans Stuck. Calcianu's most beautiful victory came in 1939, in Belgrade Grand Prix, where he defeated all the elite of German and French drivers. He won this victory on board an Alfa Romeo which had been driven by Tazio Nuvolari.

Petre Cristea

Was born in Bucharest, on January 31, 1909. He gets his driver license in 1925, declaring he was 18 when his real age was 16.
*In September 1930, he discovers Monte Carlo rally regulations, and the year 1936 brings him a victory in the Monte Carlo Rally. Petre Cristea was the first and only Romanian who achieved that performance and the first victory of Ford company in the world most famous rally.
*In 1937, on board a Ford V8, he comes 7th from 172 contesters in Monte Carlo Rally, losing the first place due to penalization for wings dimensions.
*In 1938, on board a BMW, he took part in Portugal Grand Prix, and came first in sports category. At Gross Glockner, Austria, he came second at sports category.
*In 1939, at Eifelrennen, Germany, he came first at sports category, on a 2,000 ccm BMW. He set a 115 km/h medium speed record only defeated in 1953, by Stirling Moss. The succeeded a first place in race category, at La Turbie, France, race. He came second in Finland Grand Prix, sixth in Luxembourg Grand Prix. In Bucharest GP he came second, after Hans Stuck (600 HP Auto Union).

Eugen Ionescu-Cristea

He is one of the best romanian drivers. Eugen was born in Bucharest on may, 26th 1938. He won all types of championships: rallyes, hillclimbing and circuit racing. He started with a Fiat 850 the he drove Renault 8 Gordini, Renault 12 Gordini, BMW 2002 TI, Lancia Fulvia HF and Dacia. He won twice the Balcan Rally(1968 and 1972) and he came second in Gunaydin Rally(1978).

Nicu Grigoras

He is one of the best circuit racing driver. With his special Dacia Sport Turbo he won many circuit and hillclimbing races.

Ludovic Balint

Was born on February 2, 1948. Ludovic Balint was the best romanian rally driver. Driving for Dacia Rallye Team, he won The Rallye of Romania in 1987 and the Romanian rallye Championship in 1981, 1982, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991and 1993. Also, he was awarded The best racing driver of Romania in 1984, 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993. He drove Dacia 1300, Dacia 1310, Dacia Sport, Dacia Liberta. He died in 1994 in a car crash.

Constantin Titi Aur

Titi is a very good driver on the gravel stages. He won first rally championship with Audi Quattro S2 and in 1997, 1998, 1999 and 2000 with his legendary Toyota Celica Turbo.

©Valentin Bradateanu