Nicola Materazzi, father of Ferrari F40 and Bugatti EB110, useless at 83

Nicola Materazzi, an Italian engineer largely unknown exterior of automotive circles, handed away on Aug. 23 on the age of 83, Pledge Occasions reported.

When you will not be acquainted with the identify, you will positively be acquainted with a few of the automobiles he is credited with serving to develop. The record contains the Ferrari 288 GTO and F40, Bugatti EB110, and Lancia Stratos.

Born within the Cilento area of southern Italy in 1939, Materazzi would later examine engineering on the College of Naples earlier than shifting to Turin the place he began his automotive profession with Lancia. That was within the late Nineteen Sixties, and it was at Lancia throughout the next decade the place Materazzi would assist develop the Stratos sports activities automobile constructed from 1973-1978, together with Group 4 and Group 5 rally variations with their monster turbocharged engines.

Materazzi’s abilities caught the attention of Ferrari, because the engineer by the Nineteen Eighties was engaged on engines for Ferrari’s Components 1 race automobiles, serving to to carry the Scuderia into the turbo period with 1981’s 126C F1 race automobile. He would additionally work on a number of Ferrari highway automobiles, most notably as chief engineer for the F40 program.

1993 Bugatti EB110 GT

In keeping with Pledge Occasions, Materazzi left Ferrari after the F40 program, and by 1988 could be working with bike producer Cagiva, particularly on its racing program. That may solely be a brief stint as by 1991 Materazzi could be serving to Romano Artioli with the Bugatti EB110.

Nonetheless, Materazzi’s time at Bugatti would even be brief. The corporate solely managed to construct 128 EB110s earlier than monetary points (together with money owed incurred by Artioli after an funding in Lotus) despatched it out of business.

Materazzi’s work with the EB110 would not finish there, nonetheless. He would finally be a part of B Engineering which tried to revive the EB110 within the early 2000s as a brand new mannequin referred to as the Edonis, utilizing leftover EB110 chassis.

B Engineering by no means had a lot luck with the revival however the baton was picked up by Casil Motors which in 2018 unveiled an up to date SP-110 Edonis Fenice, this time with out Materazzi’s assist.