Mauro Forghieri

The 158 and the Ferrari 1512 shared a Forghieri-designed aluminum monocoque chassis, the first use of this technology in a Ferrari F1 car.

Mauro Forghieri (13 January 1935 – 2 November 2022) was an Italian mechanical engineer, best known for his work as a Formula One racing car designer with Scuderia Ferrari during the 1960s and 1970s.

Forghieri was born in Modena, Emilia-Romagna, on 13 January 1935, the only child of Reclus and Afra Forghieri.

His father Reclus, a turner, did war work during World War II for the Ansaldo mechanical workshops of Naples.

During this time, Mauro lived primarily with his mother, spending time in Naples, Milan, Modena and Abbiategrasso.

After the war, the Forghieri family reunited and returned to Modena, where Reclus began working in the Ferrari workshop in Maranello.

Meanwhile, Mauro completed the liceo scientifico and in 1959 obtained a laurea in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Bologna.

Despite his initial interest in aviation design, Forghieri accepted an internship offer from Ferrari, to which he had been introduced by his father.

Beginning in spring of 1960, he started an apprenticeship in the engine department.

Forghieri began working alongside many engineers involved in Ferrari's early history, including Vittorio Jano, Carlo Chiti and Luigi Bazzi, as well as race director Romolo Tavoni.

He also worked alongside Giampaolo Dallara, who joined Ferrari shortly after Forghieri in 1960.

Forghieri's early work at the factory involved both racing cars and production road cars.

In 1961, some key figures at Ferrari, including chief designer Carlo Chiti, left to join the breakaway ATS Formula One team, in an event that became known as "the great walkout".

Forghieri remained as the only credentialed engineer on staff.

Soon after the walkout, Forghieri was personally asked by Enzo Ferrari to begin studying the "full technical questions of the Factory" (Forghieri's words).

As he was only 27 years of age at the time, Forghieri received guidance from a few more experienced staff members, including Franco Rocchi, Walter Salvarani and Angelo Bellei.

The sports racing cars designed under Forghieri's supervision included the GT-class 250 GTO, the development of which Forghieri continued after the original team headed by Chiti and Giotto Bizzarrini left during the 1961 walkout.

Other GT-class cars included competition versions of the 275 GTB and the 330 LMB.

In 1964, Forghieri designed the V8-powered Ferrari 158, in which John Surtees won the 1964 Formula One World Championship.

Under his guidance, Ferrari won the driver's F1 world championship title four times, with John Surtees (1964), Niki Lauda (1975 and 1977), and Jody Scheckter (1979).

Ferrari also won the constructors F1 world championship title seven times.

Sports prototypes designed by Forghieri's team included the P series and later iterations of the Dino series, starting with the 1965 Dino 166 P. Forghieri stated that the 1967 330 P4 was his favorite out of all the cars he designed.

Beginning in 1966, Forghieri designed the Ferrari 312 series (consisting of the 312, 312B and 312T Formula One cars and 312P and 312PB sportscars).

He is credited with introducing the first designed rear wings to Formula One at the 1968 Belgian Grand Prix.

He oversaw numerous technical developments during his tenure at Ferrari, including the creation of the 250 GTO and P-series sports racing cars, the Ferrari flat-12 series of engines, Ferrari's first turbocharged engine in the 126 C F1 car, and a prototype semi-automatic transmission in 1979.

During Forghieri's tenure with Ferrari, the company won the F1 World Driver's Championship four times and the F1 World Constructors' Championship seven times.

In 1979, he designed a semi-automatic transmission for the 312T, which was tested by Gilles Villeneuve but never used in competition.

In 1979 he began work on Ferrari's first turbocharged engine, which debuted in the 1981 126 C.

Forghieri was soon appointed technical director for racing cars, a position he would remain in until 1984.

His responsibilities included overseeing technical development, managing the technical section during races and collaborating with other Ferrari departments, including the testing department and the drafting department.

Forghieri left his position as technical director in 1984.

In January 1985, he began work on the Ferrari 408 4RM concept car.

After leaving Ferrari in 1987, he worked at Lamborghini and Bugatti then founded the Oral Engineering Group in 1995.

The 408 project was completed in Spring of 1987 and Forghieri departed Ferrari for good shortly after.

Forghieri was involved to some degree in the development of every racing car produced by the Factory between his hiring after graduation and his departure in 1987.

In September 1987, Forghieri joined Lamborghini Engineering, a department created by Lee Iacocca, then CEO of Chrysler, who had bought the Emilian car firm Lamborghini.

In that organization, which had ex-Ferrari Daniele Audetto as sports director, Forghieri designed the naturally aspirated Lamborghini 3512 V12 engine, which made its Formula One racing debut at the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix.

The V12 engine was used by the Larrousse/Lola team during the F1 season.

This predated the use of a similar system in the 1989 Ferrari 640 F1 car and the introduction of the roadgoing "F1" automated manual transmission in the 1997 F355.

This engine was also used in the 1990 Lotus 102 F1 car.