 Zapponi first met Fellini in July 1967 during pre-production of the "Toby Dammit" segment in the omnibus film, "Histoires extraordinaires" after Fellini had abandoned his ambitious project, "The Voyage of G. Mastorna".While recovering from a devastating illness (provoked by the "Mastorna" fiasco), Fellini read Zapponi's "Gobal" and hoped to convince French producer, Raymond Eger, of financing one of its short stories.The story in question, "The Driver", was a macabre tale of a chauffeur demolishing the car he doesn't own.