Giotto Bizzarrini
Encyclopedia
Giotto Bizzarrini is an Italian automobile
engineer active from the 1950s through 1970s.
A native of Livorno, Bizzarrini was chief engineer at Ferrari
in the 1950s, working on such notable projects as the Ferrari 250 GTO
. He split from the company in a major upheaval in 1961, worked first with ATS
, and then started his own company, Società Autostar in 1962, whose name was changed to Bizzarrini
in 1964. Bizzarini also worked for other makers including Iso, Lamborghini
, and Alfa Romeo
. Several concept car
s in the 2000s bear his name.
on his inventions, especially the radio, following which one of the Livorno Library sections was named The Bizzarrini Library.
Bizzarrini received an engineering degree from the University of Pisa
in 1953. His design thesis in his senior year was a complete redesign of a used Fiat Topolino
, in which he modified the engine for increased power and relocated it in the chassis for improved handling. After graduation, he taught briefly before joining Alfa Romeo's 'Servizio Esperimenze Principali' unit under Ing. Nicolis in August 1954. He was assigned to the development of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta
chassis, which was disappointing, as he aspired to become a powerplant engineer. He was later able to move to the Experimental Department, receiving on-the-job training to become a test driver: "I became a test driver who coincidentally was also an engineer, with mathematical principles. I always needed to know why something fails, so I can invent a solution."
He worked five years at Ferrari as chief engineer. He also worked as developer, designer and skilled test driver. The Ferrari 250 GT 2+2/GTE
, the 3 litre Testa Rossa
V12 engine, the Ferrari 250 TR or Testa Rossa and the Ferrari 250 GT SWB (Short Wheelsbase Berlinetta or Berlinetta Passo Corto) were influenced by his ideas and technical solutions. For one of the most successful Ferrari racing series, the Ferrari 250
, Bizzarrini worked hard to develop the chassis, engines and advanced dynamic solutions.
. He was first involved with the 250 GTO project in 1960. Ferrari wanted a GT racer with better aerodynamics than the previous 250 GT SWB. The SWB was a great racer but had considerable aerodynamic drag. Jaguar
had just launched the Jaguar E-Type
and Ferrari needed a top contender in the tracks, and Enzo Ferrari wanted to ensure that his racing team did not suffer another loss as it had in the 1959 LeMans
race.
Tests started secretly with a Ferrari 250 GT unit, bodied by Mario Boano
, with chassis number #2643GT, Bizzarrini's personal car. This car was developed and was used as a test mule for technical solutions later seen in the GTO. This car was known as the Bizzarrini Ugly Duck (he said, "We dubbed the car 'Il Monstro'".) Experiments with the SWB chassis indicated the considerable speed loss due to aerodynamic drag, so Bizzarrini reduced the frontal area and increased the bonnet length, both to reduce drag and reduce front lift tendency at high speeds. Bizzarrini moved the engine well back into the chassis and lowered it (by using a dry sump
lubrication system) to improve weight distribution and handling. The result was the Ferrari 250 GTO, one of the greatest sport cars ever.
In 1962, when the GTO was launched, it was the ultimate in aerodynamics. Carroll Shelby
's 289 AC Cobra cars had an advantage on slow tracks, but the GTO achieved a superior top speed and dominated the GT class.
In 1961, Bizzarrini was one of the "famous five" engineers who left Ferrari. This is known as the "Ferrari night of the Long Knives" . It was caused because Ferrari wanted to reorganise the engineering staff. Bizzarrini left Ferrari and founded with other ex-Ferrari engineers (Carlo Chiti
and others) the company Automobili Turismo e Sport
(known as ATS) to build a Formula 1 single seater and a GT sport car, the ATS Serenissima.
In 1962, Bizzarrini was hired by Count Giovanni Volpi
, owner of the SSS, Scuderia Serenissima
Republica di Venezia, to upgrade a Ferrari 250 GT SWB to GTO Specification. Ferrari was upset with Volpi and refused to sell him a GTO, so they had to acquire and modify a used vehicle.
Bizzarrini applied all the ideas from the GTO and developed with Piero Drogo
of Carrozzeria Sports Cars
in the Modena
works an aerodynamically advanced body, even lower than the GTO, with the roof line dramatically extended to the rear end, then abruptly truncated following the Kamm
aerodynamic theory. The car was completed in just 14 days. The mechanicals were extensively reformed and the engine set well back into the chassis and lowered, using dry-sump lubrication. This car, chassis number #2819GT was called the Ferrari Breadvan, and is currently raced in vintage Sport Car events. The car was raced at the time with some success, with Carlo Abate and other drivers at the wheel, but could not beat the GTOs because it still had only a four-speed gearbox. At least another two 250GT series cars were developed by Bizzarrini, Piero Drogo and teammates Neri and Bonacini to GTO specifications and received distinctive bodies with similar advanced shapes.
In 1962 Bizzarrini founded Società Autostar, an engineering firm through which he would bid for freelance engineering projects.
Ferruccio Lamborghini
commissioned Società Autostar to design an engine for his new GT cars. The engine
was first shown in the Lamborghini 350GTV
prototype and was first manufactured for use in the 350GT
. Variations of the basic design have been used in every V-12 Lamborghini since. Originally displacing 3464 cc in the 350GT, it has since been increased in displacement to 6496 cc in the current Murciélago LP640
.
including the Iso Rivolta IR300 and the Iso Grifo.
A dispute between Bizzarrini and Iso Rivolta ended their collaboration, and led to Società Autostar building variants of the Iso Grifo under the Bizzarrini
marque. This led Bizzarrini to change the name of Società Autostar first, in 1964, to Società Prototipi Bizzarrini and then in 1966 to Bizzarrini SpA. The Società Prototipi Bizzarrini was declared bankrupt in 1969, which ended Bizzarrini's days as an automobile manufacturer.
Bizzarrini SpA also developed advanced designs for other companies, including American Motors
for which they built prototypes for the AMX/3
project, and as style and technical consultant for GM in Europe and USA, top Japanese motorcycle marques and well-known designers such as Pininfarina
.
At the 2005 Geneva show, the new owner of the marque Bizzarrini showed the new GT Strada 4.1 concept, a two-door GT with a 4.1-litre 550 bhp plant (maximum speed - 360 kilometre per hour, 0-100 km/h in 3.8 sec.) which was planned for production in 2007.
Giotto Bizzarrini teaches and works with Rome University, developing advanced projects and designing, building and developing his own sport cars. He has often said: "I'm not a car designer, I am a worker".
Automobile
An automobile, autocar, motor car or car is a wheeled motor vehicle used for transporting passengers, which also carries its own engine or motor...
engineer active from the 1950s through 1970s.
A native of Livorno, Bizzarrini was chief engineer at Ferrari
Ferrari
Ferrari S.p.A. is an Italian sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari in 1929, as Scuderia Ferrari, the company sponsored drivers and manufactured race cars before moving into production of street-legal vehicles as Ferrari S.p.A. in 1947...
in the 1950s, working on such notable projects as the Ferrari 250 GTO
Ferrari 250 GTO
The Ferrari 250 GTO is a GT car which was produced by Ferrari from 1962 to 1964 for homologation into the FIA's Group 3 Grand Touring Car category....
. He split from the company in a major upheaval in 1961, worked first with ATS
Automobili Turismo e Sport
ATS was an Italian automotive constructor and racing team that operated between 1963 and 1965, formed after the famous "Palace Revolution" at Ferrari....
, and then started his own company, Società Autostar in 1962, whose name was changed to Bizzarrini
Bizzarrini
Bizzarrini S.p.A. was an automotive manufacturer in the 1960s. Founded by former Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and ISO engineer, Giotto Bizzarrini, the company built a small number of highly developed and advanced sport and racing automobiles before failing in 1969....
in 1964. Bizzarini also worked for other makers including Iso, Lamborghini
Lamborghini
Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini , is an Italian car manufacturer. The company was founded by manufacturing magnate Ferruccio Lamborghini in 1963, with the objective of producing a refined grand touring car to compete with established offerings from marques like...
, and Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. is an Italian manufacturer of cars. Founded as A.L.F.A. on June 24, 1910, in Milan, the company has been involved in car racing since 1911, and has a reputation for building expensive sports cars...
. Several concept car
Concept car
A concept vehicle or show vehicle is a car made to showcase new styling and or new technology. They are often shown at motor shows to gauge customer reaction to new and radical designs which may or may not have a chance of being produced....
s in the 2000s bear his name.
Family history and early career
Bizzarrini was the son of a rich landowner from Livorno. His grandfather, also named Giotto Bizzarrini, was a biologist who had worked with Guglielmo MarconiGuglielmo Marconi
Guglielmo Marconi was an Italian inventor, known as the father of long distance radio transmission and for his development of Marconi's law and a radio telegraph system. Marconi is often credited as the inventor of radio, and indeed he shared the 1909 Nobel Prize in Physics with Karl Ferdinand...
on his inventions, especially the radio, following which one of the Livorno Library sections was named The Bizzarrini Library.
Bizzarrini received an engineering degree from the University of Pisa
University of Pisa
The University of Pisa , located in Pisa, Tuscany, is one of the oldest universities in Italy. It was formally founded on September 3, 1343 by an edict of Pope Clement VI, although there had been lectures on law in Pisa since the 11th century...
in 1953. His design thesis in his senior year was a complete redesign of a used Fiat Topolino
Fiat Topolino
The Fiat 500, commonly known as Topolino , is an Italian automobile model manufactured by Fiat from 1936 to 1955.-History:...
, in which he modified the engine for increased power and relocated it in the chassis for improved handling. After graduation, he taught briefly before joining Alfa Romeo's 'Servizio Esperimenze Principali' unit under Ing. Nicolis in August 1954. He was assigned to the development of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta
Alfa Romeo Giulietta
The Alfa Romeo Giulietta was a subcompact automobile manufactured by the Italian car maker Alfa Romeo from 1954 to 1965. The Giulietta was introduced at the Turin Motor Show in 1954 and almost 132,000 were built in the Portello factory in Milan.The first Giulietta model was a coupé, the Giulietta...
chassis, which was disappointing, as he aspired to become a powerplant engineer. He was later able to move to the Experimental Department, receiving on-the-job training to become a test driver: "I became a test driver who coincidentally was also an engineer, with mathematical principles. I always needed to know why something fails, so I can invent a solution."
Ferrari
Bizzarrini left Alfa Romeo in 1957 and went to Ferrari when that company needed a test driver. He was quickly promoted to controller of experimental, Sports and GT car development.He worked five years at Ferrari as chief engineer. He also worked as developer, designer and skilled test driver. The Ferrari 250 GT 2+2/GTE
Ferrari 250
The Ferrari 250 is a sports car built by Ferrari from 1953 to 1964. The company's most successful early line, the 250 series included several variants. It was replaced by the 275 and the 330.-Similarities:...
, the 3 litre Testa Rossa
Ferrari TR
The Ferrari TR, or 250 Testa Rossa, is a race car model built by Ferrari in the 1950s and 60s. These cars dominated their arenas, with variations winning the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1958, 1960, and 1961. They were closely related to the rest of the Ferrari 250 line, especially the legendary 250...
V12 engine, the Ferrari 250 TR or Testa Rossa and the Ferrari 250 GT SWB (Short Wheelsbase Berlinetta or Berlinetta Passo Corto) were influenced by his ideas and technical solutions. For one of the most successful Ferrari racing series, the Ferrari 250
Ferrari 250
The Ferrari 250 is a sports car built by Ferrari from 1953 to 1964. The company's most successful early line, the 250 series included several variants. It was replaced by the 275 and the 330.-Similarities:...
, Bizzarrini worked hard to develop the chassis, engines and advanced dynamic solutions.
Ferrari 250 GTO
His masterpiece at Ferrari was the 1962 Ferrari 250 GTOFerrari 250 GTO
The Ferrari 250 GTO is a GT car which was produced by Ferrari from 1962 to 1964 for homologation into the FIA's Group 3 Grand Touring Car category....
. He was first involved with the 250 GTO project in 1960. Ferrari wanted a GT racer with better aerodynamics than the previous 250 GT SWB. The SWB was a great racer but had considerable aerodynamic drag. Jaguar
Jaguar
The jaguar is a big cat, a feline in the Panthera genus, and is the only Panthera species found in the Americas. The jaguar is the third-largest feline after the tiger and the lion, and the largest in the Western Hemisphere. The jaguar's present range extends from Southern United States and Mexico...
had just launched the Jaguar E-Type
Jaguar E-type
The Jaguar E-Type or XK-E is a British automobile, manufactured by Jaguar between 1961 and 1975. Its combination of good looks, high performance, and competitive pricing established the marque as an icon of 1960s motoring...
and Ferrari needed a top contender in the tracks, and Enzo Ferrari wanted to ensure that his racing team did not suffer another loss as it had in the 1959 LeMans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
race.
Mario Boano
Felice Mario Boano was an Italian automobile coachbuilder.With Giorgio Alberti, he bought the Carrozzeria Ghia in Torino when their friend Giacinto Ghia died...
, with chassis number #2643GT, Bizzarrini's personal car. This car was developed and was used as a test mule for technical solutions later seen in the GTO. This car was known as the Bizzarrini Ugly Duck (he said, "We dubbed the car 'Il Monstro'".) Experiments with the SWB chassis indicated the considerable speed loss due to aerodynamic drag, so Bizzarrini reduced the frontal area and increased the bonnet length, both to reduce drag and reduce front lift tendency at high speeds. Bizzarrini moved the engine well back into the chassis and lowered it (by using a dry sump
Dry sump
A dry sump is a lubricating motor oil management method for four-stroke and large two-stroke piston internal combustion engines that uses external pumps and a secondary external reservoir for oil, as compared to a conventional wet sump system....
lubrication system) to improve weight distribution and handling. The result was the Ferrari 250 GTO, one of the greatest sport cars ever.
In 1962, when the GTO was launched, it was the ultimate in aerodynamics. Carroll Shelby
Carroll Shelby
Carroll Hall Shelby is an American retired automotive designer and racing driver. He is most well known for making Mustangs for Ford Motor Company known as Mustang Cobras which he has done since 1965...
's 289 AC Cobra cars had an advantage on slow tracks, but the GTO achieved a superior top speed and dominated the GT class.
Count Volpi, the specials and ATS
Carlo Chiti
Carlo Chiti was an Italian racing car and engine designer. Chiti is best known for his long association with Alfa Romeo's racing department....
and others) the company Automobili Turismo e Sport
Automobili Turismo e Sport
ATS was an Italian automotive constructor and racing team that operated between 1963 and 1965, formed after the famous "Palace Revolution" at Ferrari....
(known as ATS) to build a Formula 1 single seater and a GT sport car, the ATS Serenissima.
In 1962, Bizzarrini was hired by Count Giovanni Volpi
Giovanni Volpi
Count Giovanni Volpi di Misurata was an automobile racing manager. He inherited a fortune, at the age of 24, from his father, Count Giuseppe Volpi di Misurata, a politician financier and founder of the renowned Venice Film Festival....
, owner of the SSS, Scuderia Serenissima
Scuderia Serenissima
Scuderia Serenissima was a successful auto racing team in the early 1960s. Funded by Giovanni Volpi, Serenissima used Ferraris to much success until the founder financed the exiled Ferrari company, ATS...
Republica di Venezia, to upgrade a Ferrari 250 GT SWB to GTO Specification. Ferrari was upset with Volpi and refused to sell him a GTO, so they had to acquire and modify a used vehicle.
Piero Drogo
Piero Drogo was a racing driver and coachbuilder from Italy. He participated in one Formula One Grand Prix, debuting on September 4, 1960. He scored no championship points. He moved on to form a carrozzeria in Modena to service the thriving sports car industry there...
of Carrozzeria Sports Cars
Carrozzeria Sports Cars
Carrozzeria Sports Cars was a niche carrozzeria in Modena, Italy, active in the 1960s. The company was founded by one-time Formula One driver, Piero Drogo, and it quickly began taking on small sports car and racing body orders from the manufacturers in that city. His bodies were used by Scuderia...
in the Modena
Modena
Modena is a city and comune on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena in the Emilia-Romagna region of Italy....
works an aerodynamically advanced body, even lower than the GTO, with the roof line dramatically extended to the rear end, then abruptly truncated following the Kamm
Kamm
Kamm may refer to:* Anat Kamm, Israeli journalist* Frances Kamm, American philosopher* John Kamm, American businessman and human rights activist* Kris Kamm , American actor* Oliver Kamm , political writer...
aerodynamic theory. The car was completed in just 14 days. The mechanicals were extensively reformed and the engine set well back into the chassis and lowered, using dry-sump lubrication. This car, chassis number #2819GT was called the Ferrari Breadvan, and is currently raced in vintage Sport Car events. The car was raced at the time with some success, with Carlo Abate and other drivers at the wheel, but could not beat the GTOs because it still had only a four-speed gearbox. At least another two 250GT series cars were developed by Bizzarrini, Piero Drogo and teammates Neri and Bonacini to GTO specifications and received distinctive bodies with similar advanced shapes.
In 1962 Bizzarrini founded Società Autostar, an engineering firm through which he would bid for freelance engineering projects.
Lamborghini engine
Ferruccio Lamborghini
Ferruccio Elio Arturo Lamborghini was an Italian industrialist. Born to grape farmers from the comune of Renazzo di Cento in the Emilia-Romagna region, his mechanical know-how led him to enter the business of tractor manufacturing in 1948, when he founded Lamborghini Trattori, which quickly became...
commissioned Società Autostar to design an engine for his new GT cars. The engine
Lamborghini V12
The Lamborghini V12 is a sixty degree V12 petrol engine designed by Lamborghini, and was the first internal combustion engine ever produced by the firm....
was first shown in the Lamborghini 350GTV
Lamborghini 350GTV
The Lamborghini 350 GTV was the prototype and forerunner of the later 350 GT - Lamborghini's first production model. The car was presented to the public on the 1963 Turin Auto Show.-Rejection for production and preparation for show:...
prototype and was first manufactured for use in the 350GT
Lamborghini 350GT
The Lamborghini 350 GT was the first production vehicle produced by Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. Production started in May 1964, after its well-received debut at the March 1964 Geneva auto show...
. Variations of the basic design have been used in every V-12 Lamborghini since. Originally displacing 3464 cc in the 350GT, it has since been increased in displacement to 6496 cc in the current Murciélago LP640
Lamborghini Murciélago
The Lamborghini Murciélago is a two-door, two-seat sports car produced by Italian automaker Lamborghini between 2001 and 2010. Successor to the Diablo and flagship of the automaker's lineup, the Murciélago was introduced as a coupé in 2001. The automaker's first new design in eleven years, the car...
.
Iso Rivolta and Bizzarrini SpA
Società Autostar developed cars for Iso RivoltaIso Rivolta
Iso Rivolta was an automobile and motorbike manufacturer in Italy, predominantly active from the late 1940s through the early 1970s. They are known for the iconic Isetta 'bubble car' of the 1950s, and for a number of powerful performance cars in the 60s and early 70s.-History:Iso Rivolta was...
including the Iso Rivolta IR300 and the Iso Grifo.
A dispute between Bizzarrini and Iso Rivolta ended their collaboration, and led to Società Autostar building variants of the Iso Grifo under the Bizzarrini
Bizzarrini
Bizzarrini S.p.A. was an automotive manufacturer in the 1960s. Founded by former Alfa Romeo, Ferrari and ISO engineer, Giotto Bizzarrini, the company built a small number of highly developed and advanced sport and racing automobiles before failing in 1969....
marque. This led Bizzarrini to change the name of Società Autostar first, in 1964, to Società Prototipi Bizzarrini and then in 1966 to Bizzarrini SpA. The Società Prototipi Bizzarrini was declared bankrupt in 1969, which ended Bizzarrini's days as an automobile manufacturer.
 |
 |
Bizzarrini SpA also developed advanced designs for other companies, including American Motors
American Motors
American Motors Corporation was an American automobile company formed by the 1954 merger of Nash-Kelvinator Corporation and Hudson Motor Car Company. At the time, it was the largest corporate merger in U.S. history.George W...
for which they built prototypes for the AMX/3
AMC AMX
The AMC AMX is a two-seat GT in style and approach sports car that was produced by American Motors Corporation for the 1968 through 1970 model years. The AMX was also classified as a muscle car, but "unique among other American cars at the time due its short wheelbase"...
project, and as style and technical consultant for GM in Europe and USA, top Japanese motorcycle marques and well-known designers such as Pininfarina
Pininfarina
Pininfarina S.p.A. is an Italian car design firm and coachbuilder in Cambiano, Italy.Founded as Società anonima Carrozzeria Pinin Farina in 1930 by automobile designer and builder Battista "Pinin" Farina, Pininfarina has been employed by a wide variety of high-end automobile manufacturers,...
.
Bizzarrini today
Bizzarrini is still busy with personal projects and conferences.At the 2005 Geneva show, the new owner of the marque Bizzarrini showed the new GT Strada 4.1 concept, a two-door GT with a 4.1-litre 550 bhp plant (maximum speed - 360 kilometre per hour, 0-100 km/h in 3.8 sec.) which was planned for production in 2007.
Giotto Bizzarrini teaches and works with Rome University, developing advanced projects and designing, building and developing his own sport cars. He has often said: "I'm not a car designer, I am a worker".