--- title: Nicola Materazzi · HICONIUM description: Nicola Materazzi in the HICONIUM register — 2 files carrying their credit. canonical_url: https://hiconium.dev/people/nicola-materazzi image: https://hiconium.dev/og/people/nicola-materazzi.png --- > HICONIUM · Index: https://hiconium.dev/llms.txt · Every page: append `.md` or send `Accept: text/markdown`. > Path: [Home](https://hiconium.dev/) › [People](https://hiconium.dev/people) › Nicola Materazzi > On this page: [Equal-length turbo plumbing](#equal-length-turbo-plumbing) · [No weak link](#no-weak-link) · [Carbon after aluminium](#carbon-after-aluminium) · [2 files carry this name](#2-files-carry-this-name) ![Engineer Nicola Materazzi 2018](https://hiconium.dev/_derived/images/people/nicola-materazzi/portrait.jpg.w1920.q75.webp) People # Nicola Materazzi Chief engineer of the Ferrari F40 and technical director of the Bugatti EB110 | Label | Value | | --- | --- | | Born | Caselle in Pittari, Italy, 1939 | | Died | Sapri, Italy, 2022 | | Nationality | Italian | Antonioventisette, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons The record Italian mechanical engineer who took Ferrari into the turbo era, led the 288 GTO and the F40, and as technical director finished the Bugatti EB110 after its aluminium chassis failed in testing. He later reworked leftover EB110 hardware as the B Engineering Edonis. Born in Caselle in Pittari on 28 January 1939 into a family of doctors, Materazzi studied mechanical engineering at the University of Naples Federico II and spent a year as an assistant professor before the 1968 unrest. Lancia hired him in Turin as a calculations specialist under Francesco De Virgilio. He calculated the Stratos chassis and MacPherson geometry, then turbocharged the Group 5 Silhouette. When Fiat merged the racing departments he designed the Formula Fiat Abarth car, then a Formula 2 chassis at Osella. Enzo Ferrari hired him at the end of 1979 for his forced-induction work, first on the 126 C turbo V6. In 1982 Ferrari asked him for 400 horsepower from a planned three-litre road V8. That engine, fitted longitudinally for equal turbo exhausts, became the 288 GTO, developed with Michelotto as Group B collapsed. The leftover GTO Evoluzione, which Materazzi later called the F40's true progenitor, became the brief for a road car Enzo wanted finished while he still lived. Materazzi accepted only if he could choose his team and work without interference. In just over a year they bonded Kevlar and carbon panels to a steel space-frame around a twin-turbo 2.9-litre V8. The F40 was shown at Maranello on 21 July 1987. He left Ferrari after Enzo's death rather than work under Fiat's road-car managers, advertised for a non-Fiat job and ran Cagiva's 500 cc racing department. In 1991 he took over the stalled Bugatti EB110 from Paolo Stanzani. Testing had cost the aluminium honeycomb a fifth of its stiffness; with Aerospatiale he specified a carbon-fibre tub and retuned the four-turbo V12. Bugatti later named him among the engineers behind the car's performance. He directed Laverda's 750 engine in the mid-1990s, then at B Engineering turned leftover EB110 hardware into the rear-drive Edonis, shown in Modena in 2001. He retired in 2006 to Sapri and a library of some 12,000 books, and died there on 23 August 2022, aged 83. ### Equal-length turbo plumbing On the 288 GTO he turned the V8 lengthways so the two IHI turbos sat on equal exhausts. The same plumbing, richer above 5,500 rpm to cool the charge, went into the F40's 2.9-litre F120A. ### No weak link He insisted every system on the F40 match the engine. Kevlar skins bonded to a steel space-frame, carbon opening panels, no ABS. He later said the Evoluzione was the car he had drawn in full. ### Carbon after aluminium As Bugatti technical director he replaced Stanzani's aluminium honeycomb after it lost about a fifth of its stiffness in 30,000 test kilometres. Aerospatiale built the carbon tub. He also sorted the four-turbo V12 and the EB110's front-to-rear torque split. The stations 1. 1968 University of Naples Federico II Assistant professor, mechanical engineering 2. 1968–1978 Lancia Calculations specialist; later sporting vehicles 3. 1978 Abarth Designer, Formula Fiat Abarth 4. 1978–1979 Osella Designer, Formula 2 and Formula 1 5. 1979–1989 Ferrari Head of Gestione Sportiva technical office; chief engineer, GTO and F40 6. 1990–1991 Cagiva Technical director, racing department 7. 1991–1993 Bugatti Automobili Technical director 8. 1994–1997 Laverda Technical director 9. 2000–2005 B Engineering Technical director The houses [![Bugatti](https://hiconium.dev/images/marques/full/bugatti.svg)](https://hiconium.dev/manufacturers/bugatti) [![Ferrari](https://hiconium.dev/images/marques/full/ferrari.svg)](https://hiconium.dev/manufacturers/ferrari) Credited through Bugatti Automobili, Ferrari. In the register ## 2 files carry this name - [Bugatti EB110 Technical director · Bugatti Automobili He succeeded Stanzani as technical director. After the aluminium honeycomb lost about a fifth of its stiffness in testing he specified the Aerospatiale carbon tub, then sorted engine durability and the front-to-rear torque split on the GT and the lighter SS. 1991–1995 €2.4M 1991–1995 €2.4M Rating 90.0](https://hiconium.dev/vehicles/bugatti/eb110) - [Ferrari F40 Chief engineer · Ferrari He led the 1986–87 programme that turned the GTO Evoluzione into a road car: twin-turbo 2.9-litre V8, gearbox and running gear, Kevlar and carbon on a steel space-frame. Pininfarina (Camardella, Fioravanti, Brovarone) styled the body. Shown at Maranello on 21 July 1987. 1987–1992 €2.6M 1987–1992 €2.6M Rating 97.0](https://hiconium.dev/vehicles/ferrari/f40) The files above are the register's own record of this name. [The people index](https://hiconium.dev/people) holds everyone the register credits. In their words > “I was nervous and reluctant about the F40 proposal because I already had so much work to do. I only accepted because Enzo allowed me to progress the project on my own, without wasting time in meetings to share decision-making.” Nicola Materazzi · Wheels magazine interview, December 2019, republished on WhichCar, 25 August 2022 Sources - [ferrari.com](https://www.ferrari.com/magazine/articles/lasting-legacy-the-ferrari-f40) - [gazzetta.it](https://www.gazzetta.it/motori/la-mia-auto/24-08-2022/nicola-materazzi-morto-l-ingegnere-che-progetto-la-ferrari-f40.shtml) - [evo.co.uk](https://www.evo.co.uk/group-tests/14208/bugatti-eb110-meets-edonis-the-offspring) - [newsroom.bugatti.com](https://newsroom.bugatti.com/api/en/press-releases/pdf/bugatti-centodieci-inspired-by-the-legendary-eb110-supersport) - [blackbird-autojournal.com](https://www.blackbird-autojournal.com/farewell-father-of-the-f40/) - [commons.wikimedia.org](https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nicola_Materazzi_by_Emilio_Filippelli_2018.jpg) - [whichcar.com.au](https://www.whichcar.com.au/features/vale-mr-f40-nicola-materazzi) - [topgear.com](https://www.topgear.com/car-news/retro/man-who-led-ferrari-f40-project-has-died) - [ruoteclassiche.quattroruote.it](https://ruoteclassiche.quattroruote.it/addio-a-nicola-materazzi-il-papa-della-f40/) - [corriere.it](https://www.corriere.it/sport/22_agosto_24/nicola-materazzi-morto-padre-ferrari-f40-63af1ae0-2399-11ed-bc33-6b7ab9027ef6.shtml) - [autoevolution.com](https://www.autoevolution.com/news/visionary-ferrari-engineer-nicola-materazzi-talks-about-the-f40-project-128343.html) - [en.wikipedia.org](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Materazzi) - [it.wikipedia.org](https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicola_Materazzi) - [it.wikiquote.org](https://it.wikiquote.org/wiki/Nicola_Materazzi) - [sites.google.com](https://sites.google.com/site/mitostile/mitostile-who-we-are/engineering/ing-nicola-materazzi-career)