Italian engineer Nicola Materazzi, also known as the “father of the Ferrari F40” passed away on August 23 at 83. During his illustrious career, Materazzi actively participated in the development of several emblematic vehicles from Lancia, Ferrari, and Bugatti, leaving his mark in the automotive world.
Nicola Materazzi was born in 1939 in the province of Salerno in Southern Italy, and studied engineering at the University of Naples. He is best known for being the chief engineer behind the 1987 Ferrari F40, which is considered one of the greatest supercars of all time. But before working on the F40’s twin-turbo V8, Materazzi was also responsible for its predecessor – the 1984 Ferrari 288 GTO – which started off as a Group-B rallycar project.
Also Read: The Best Cars I’ve Driven #1 – Ferrari F40
Prior to his exceptional work with Ferrari during the ’80s, Materazzi worked at Lancia from the late ’60s throughout the ’70s. There, he was involved in the development of the Flavia and Fulvia roadcars, as well as the iconic Lancia Stratos rallycar in the areas of powertrain, chassis setup, and aerodynamics.
In the early ’90s, the Italian engineer moved to Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. at the Campogalliano factory. He was the technical director of the 1991 Bugatti EB110 GT, and the more powerful 1992 Bugatti EB110 SS production vehicles before Romano Artioli’s short-lived project came to an end. Most people would think that was the end of the story, but Materazzi, a true petrolhead, didn’t give up his passion. In the early ’00s, he took on the development of the B Engineering Edonis, using leftover parts from the abandoned Bugatti EB110 factory.
Below, you can watch two of Nicola Materazzi’s interviews with Davide Cironi from 2017, where he shares interesting insights from his ultimate career highlights in Ferrari and Bugatti. The videos are in Italian but thankfully there are English subtitles.
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H/T to DriveExperience
