I wrote this about Nicola Materazzi for the Retro Rides Roundup Email in March last year. Sadly his death was announced today.
People you should know : Nicola Materazzi
We thought we'd start putting some original content for you to read in this here Roundup.
First up a man who has had a hand in creating many legendary vehicles, a name you should know if you don't already.
Nicola is an Italian engineer and designer whose handy work can be found in a litany of incredible cars, from the Lancia Stratos Group 4, to the Ferrari F40 and on to the Bugatti EB110. Starting out by building his own go-kart Nicola moved to working at Lancia after university where he initially worked on suspension and chassis calculations. He really found his home working on engines, specifically forced induction. The first major project in this area being the Lancia Stratos Group 5 rally car which he developed the turbo charged engine for. A handful of race cars followed, including the Lancia LC2 Group C car, before he was tapped up by Enzo Ferrari to come and work in the race division there. During the course of this work he was encouraged to move in to road going vehicles for Ferrari. Nicola Materazzi was handed responsibility for the engine that went into the 288 GTO and worked on the Ferrari Testarossa. He was then given the chief engineer status on those most iconic of Ferraris, the GTO Evolution, the 328 Turbo and ultimately the Ferrari F40.
Enzo Ferrari wanted to hand control of the road car division to Materazzi, but FIAT had other ideas, the result was Materazzi left Ferrari. Imagine what could have been had he stayed on in that role. Instead, he took roles working for motorcycle manufacturers (Cagiva and Laverda), before working with Bugatti to help the EB110 into production.
If that has piqued your interest, have a read of an excellent interview with Mr.Materazzi: www.whichcar.com.au/features/vale-mr-f40-nicola-materazzi
Linked article in the piece has been updated since sharing.
People you should know : Nicola Materazzi
We thought we'd start putting some original content for you to read in this here Roundup.
First up a man who has had a hand in creating many legendary vehicles, a name you should know if you don't already.
Nicola is an Italian engineer and designer whose handy work can be found in a litany of incredible cars, from the Lancia Stratos Group 4, to the Ferrari F40 and on to the Bugatti EB110. Starting out by building his own go-kart Nicola moved to working at Lancia after university where he initially worked on suspension and chassis calculations. He really found his home working on engines, specifically forced induction. The first major project in this area being the Lancia Stratos Group 5 rally car which he developed the turbo charged engine for. A handful of race cars followed, including the Lancia LC2 Group C car, before he was tapped up by Enzo Ferrari to come and work in the race division there. During the course of this work he was encouraged to move in to road going vehicles for Ferrari. Nicola Materazzi was handed responsibility for the engine that went into the 288 GTO and worked on the Ferrari Testarossa. He was then given the chief engineer status on those most iconic of Ferraris, the GTO Evolution, the 328 Turbo and ultimately the Ferrari F40.
Enzo Ferrari wanted to hand control of the road car division to Materazzi, but FIAT had other ideas, the result was Materazzi left Ferrari. Imagine what could have been had he stayed on in that role. Instead, he took roles working for motorcycle manufacturers (Cagiva and Laverda), before working with Bugatti to help the EB110 into production.
If that has piqued your interest, have a read of an excellent interview with Mr.Materazzi: www.whichcar.com.au/features/vale-mr-f40-nicola-materazzi
Linked article in the piece has been updated since sharing.
