Carlo Chiti

Carlo Chiti ( born December 19, 1924 in Pistoia, † July 7, 1994 in Milan ) was a famous Italian designer of racing cars and their engines. He has made, especially in the long and successful collaboration with Alfa Romeo and Autodelta a name.

Career

Chiti studied aeronautical engineering at the University of Pisa and completed his education with a PhD. His first engagegment resulted in the Italian conglomerate Montecatini in Milan. Here he worked from 1948 until 1952.

Alfa Romeo

From 1952 to 1957 Chiti worked at Alfa Romeo. Here he was mainly in the testing department ( " Reparto Sperimentale " ) employed; he worked on vehicles such as the Disco Volante and the Giulia Sprint.

Ferrari

Moved to Ferrari in 1957 Chiti and became head of the design department. His work included the development of roads, sports and racing cars, but also of engines.

The following cars were largely developed by Chiti:

• Ferrari Dino 246F1 and 156 of 1959 ( front engine cars for Formula 1 and Formula 2 )
• Ferrari 246MP and 156 MP 1960 ( rear engine cars for Formula 1 and Formula 2 )
• Ferrari 156 ( " Squalo " or " Sharknose " ), who dominated under Phil Hill, the Formula 1 season 1961
• Ferrari Testarossa TR59, TRI60 and TRI61 ( sports car )
• Ferrari Dino 246SP 1961 (sports prototypes)

With these models, Carlo Chiti significant proportion of the incipient rise of Ferrari in Formula 1 had Above all, he could Enzo Ferrari convince to switch from previously prevailing conventional propulsion drive ( front-engine rear-wheel drive ) on the mid-engine technology. However, due to disagreements he left in November 1961 together with Giotto Bizzarrini, the company Ferrari.

ATS

Together with some other former colleagues tried Chiti and Bizzarrini under the name Automobili Turismo e Sport ( ATS) to create a new automotive brand that Ferrari should make one competition both in the field of road sports car as well as in the formula.

ATS appeared with a designed by Carlo Chiti race car named ATS Tipo 100 for each round of the Formula 1 season 1963. The car had a well constructed by Chiti eight-cylinder with 1.5 liters displacement. To the annoyance of Enzo Ferrari it was Chiti managed to integrate the American Phil Hill, who was still in 1961 with Ferrari won the World Cup also in his new project. However, the team failed in the course of the year. Auto were extremely unreliable, and the organization of the team was described by observers as chaotic. Phil Hill saw only once the destination: the Grand Prix of Italy, he was 15; while he had 23 laps behind Jim Clark, who won the Lotus.

The also projected road sports cars of ATS was not successful. Engine and chassis were developed by Carlo Chiti, the sensational body came from Giovanni Michelotti. During the year 1963 about twelve vehicles were produced, most of which still exist today.

The end of 1963 ATS ran out of money; the company was closed. The Formula 1 material was recycled in a short-lived Formula 1 team called Derrington - Francis; the work itself and the plants were acquired by the Venetian nobleman Giovanni Volpi di Misurata Conte, of his still fraught with legends companies Scuderia Serenissima formed therefrom. Carlo Chiti did not go to Venice; he stayed in Milan and founded another company.

Autodelta

Early 1964 Chiti founded together with Ludovico Chizzola, an Alfa Romeo dealer, the company Autodelta, later Autodelta. Autodelta developed very soon to the department of Alfa Romeo race cars. After the Alfa Romeo TZ 2, the focus was on the Alfa Romeo GTA very successful in touring car racing. A little later the Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 was added, the import especially in endurance races numerous victories. Developed by Chiti for the Tipo 33 twelve-cylinder boxer engine was used 1978 at Brabham in Formula 1. 1979 Alfa Romeo rose with a more developed V12 engine with an own, initially led by Autodelta factory team in Formula 1, but the big success came from now. In addition, Alfa Romeo was plagued by severe financial troubles in the early 1980s.

Early 1980s developed Chiti for Autodelta still a turbo engine of Formula 1 configuration, which ran from 1982 to 1985 in the Alfa Romeo factory team and was used from 1984 to 1988 in various stages of revision by the customer team Osella. The engine has been described by many observers as a typical Chiti - child: unusually configured ( eight cylinders at just 1.5 liters of displacement ), heavy, inefficient and consumption greatly. The turbo engine could move into its seven-year life of only a few World Cup points.

A first clouding the relationship between Chiti and Autodelta and Alfa Romeo became apparent in late 1981. After the third comparatively unsuccessful Formula 1 season Alfa Romeo decided to leave the operational race for the Formula 1 factory team from 1982 to carry not more Autodelta, but by the independent Euro Racing team. The tasks car deltas should be limited to the construction of racing cars and engines. This meant de facto a significant limitation of the powers Carlo rickets.

Further difficulties recorded away as Alfa Romeo end of 1984 changed the organizational structure by Autodelta. Then Chiti had to give up part of his influence on the former Lancia engineer Gianni Tonti and was largely limited in this way the function of a consultant. Chiti was not happy, and he expressed his dissatisfaction repeated in several press interviews. These changes meant that Chiti and Autodelta separated from each other in October 1984.

Motori Moderni

The end of 1984 Carlo Chiti founded on the initiative of Giancarlo Minardi and with financial support from Piero Mancini in Biandrate ( Novara ), the company Motori Moderni. Motori Moderni developed in a very short time a V6 turbo engine for Formula 1, which was also used between 1985 and 1987 with Minardi and next in the Formula 1 1986 season short at AGS. The engine was not a success. In three years he drove a not a single world championship point.

In the 1990 Formula 1 season finally appeared yet another developed by Carlo Chiti and Motori Moderni engine in Grand Prix racing, which, however, did not carry the name of the designer, but has been reported under the name of the sponsor: The (again ) unusual than twelve cylinder lined with a 120 degrees cylinder angle engine was commissioned by Subaru in order and in 1990 used by Coloni, an Italian team, the Subaru had taken the end of 1989 a majority. The engine was - apart from the hopeless W12 engine from Life Racing - the weakest, while the heaviest engine of the field. In eight attempts, managed Colonis driver Bertrand Gachot not once the pre-qualification. Then - in the summer of 1990 - was Subaru on any further effort to get involved in Formula 1. A new V12 engine with 90 degree cylinder angle, the Subaru still had been in 1989 with Carlo Chiti in order, the Japanese no longer decreased. Chiti confirmed in an interview from 1991, the engine was fully developed, and a prototype has survived a bench test. But there was no team that was interested in the aggregate.

End of 1990, Chiti retired from professional life.