Nicola Materazzi was an Italian mechanical engineer best known for developing several sports and racing cars, including the Ferrari 288 GTO, Ferrari F40, Bugatti EB110, and B Engineering Edonis.
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He was born on 28 January 1939 and died on 24 August 2022 at age 83.
Materazzi hails from the region of Cilento where no automotive industry was present. However, his first career role started as Calculations Specialist at the Lancia Turin headquarters.
During his illustrious career in the Italian automobile industry he worked with or was the successor to a number of notable engineers such as;
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- Francesco De Virgilio (Lancia),
- Mario Mezzanotte (Pirelli),
- Franco Rocchi,
- Angelo Bellei (Ferrari),
- Antonio Tomaini (Ferrari, Osella),
- Massimo Tamburini (Cagiva),
- Paolo Stanzani (Bugatti),
- Marcello Gandini,
- Sergio Scaglietti, and
- Leonardo Fioravanti.
Materazzi developed the 2.9-liter twin-turbo V8 that powered the Ferrari 288 GTO, and refined the architecture and layout of that vehicle, shifting it from a transverse to a longitudinal drivetrain layout.
By 1984, Materazzi was named chief engineer at Ferrari, overseeing the development of the GTO Evoluzione and the last vehicle ever built under the supervision of founder Enzo Ferrari, the legendary F40.
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