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 had no child.
Materazzi was one of Italy’s leading turbocharging specialists from the mid 1970s, a respected sports car and motorcycle engineer and prior to his death, was sometimes referred to as “Mr F40” or the “father of the F40.”
One of Materazzi’s best known works is developing the 2.9-liter twin-turbo V8 that powered the Ferrari 288 GTO.
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He also 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.
Along with Gordon Murray, Colin Chapman, Eric Broadley, and Carroll Shelby, Materazzi was one of the most prolific engineering designers of the 1970s, 80s, and 90s, having worked on a total of 38 projects in motorsports, supercars, and motorcycles during a career spanning 42 years.
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