Carlo Chiti

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Carlo Chiti (left) with Enzo Ferrari at Monza.

Carlo Chiti (19 December 1924 – 7 July 1994) was an Italian racing car and engine designer. Chiti is best known for his long association with Alfa Romeo's racing department.

Born in Pistoia, he graduated with a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Pisa in Italy in 1953. He joined Alfa Romeo in 1952 and designed the Alfa Romeo 3000 CM sports car,[1] moving on to Ferrari when Alfa's competition department was closed down in the late 1950s.

At Ferrari he was involved with the design of the famous Ferrari 156 Sharknose cars, with which Phil Hill won the 1961 championship. Shortly afterwards Chiti was part of the breakaway ATS Formula One team formed by a number of disaffected ex-Ferrari personnel. The ATS project was not a success and did not last long.

Through a new project, Autodelta, Chiti re-entered competitive motor racing in 1963. He rekindled his association with Alfa Romeo, for whom he designed a V8 and then a flat-12 engine for their Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 sportscars. These were eventually successful, winning the world championship for makes in 1975.[1] At this time Chiti became involved in Formula One again, through the Brabham team, who signed an agreement with Alfa Romeo to use Chiti's engines. There was some success – Niki Lauda won two races in a Brabham BT46 with the Alfa engine in the 1978 Formula One season. Brabham designer Gordon Murray persuaded Chiti to produce a V12 engine to allow ground effect to be exploited by the team. During the 1979 Formula One season, and after some persuasion by Chiti, Alfa Romeo gave Autodelta permission to start developing a Formula One car on their behalf. The partnership with Brabham finished before the end of the season.

The Alfa Formula One project was never truly successful. In 1984, Chiti left the project to set up another company, Motori Moderni which concentrated on producing engines, again for Formula One. Initially the company produced a V6 turbo design, used briefly by the small Italian Minardi team. When the banning of turbos from Formula One was announced Chiti designed a new 3.5 litre atmospheric flat-12 engine. This was eventually taken up by Subaru, who badged it for use in their brief and completely unsuccessful entry into Formula One with the tiny Coloni team in the 1990 Formula One season. This was abandoned midway through the season.

Carlo Chiti died in 1994 in Milan.

In 1999, Koenigsegg bought blueprints, machining tools and the patent for an unused 4 litre Chiti designed Formula One flat-12 engine.[2][3]

Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "PEOPLE: CARLO CHITI". grandprix.com. Retrieved 2007-10-09. 
  2. ↑ "Swedish massage at 400km/h". drive.com.au. Retrieved 2008-02-09. 
  3. ↑ "Koenigsegg CC". autoweek.nl. Retrieved 2007-10-09.  (Dutch)

Sources

Personnel
Carlo Chiti
Robert Choulet
Gioacchino Colombo
Gérard Ducarouge
John Gentry
Luigi Marmiroli
Mario Tollentino
World Champions
Italy Giuseppe Farina
Argentina Juan Manuel Fangio

Cars:

Alfa Romeo SpA (1950–1951)
158, 159, 159A, 159B, 159M
Autodelta (1979)
177
179
Marlboro Team Alfa Romeo (1980–1983)
179, 179B, 179C, 179D
182, 182B
183T, 183TB
Benetton Team Alfa Romeo (1984–1985)
184T, 184TB
185T, 185TB
Alfa Romeo engine
Brabham BT45/BT45B/BT45C
Brabham BT46/BT46B
Brabham BT48
McLaren M7D
McLaren M14D
Cooper T53
De Tomaso F1
LDS Mk1/Mk2
March 711
Osella FA1E
Osella FA1F
Osella FA1G
Osella FA1H
Osella FA1I
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