Bizzarrini

FATHER OF THE 250 GTO

GIOTTO BIZZARRINI created some of the most important cars in the history of motor racing. Born in 1926, he lost his father when still young, and was raised by his mother and aunts. ‘I grew up wild,’ he’d later admit.

He graduated as Ingegnere and his passion for cars led him in 1954 to join Alfa Romeo, where he participated in the design of the Giulietta chassis. In 1952 he had created the Fiat 500 Macchinetta, using his own Topolino as a base. The car was interesting, technically and from an aerodynamic point of view, with the forward-thinking idea of placing the engine as close as possible to the centre of the car – his supervisor at Alfa Romeo allowed him to test the car on the Alfa track, with excellent results.

Enzo Ferrari heard about Bizzarrini’s ideas and hired him in 1957. Soon after joining the Maranello firm, he worked on the Testa Rossa, and on the 250 SWB, both considered two of the most important and advanced Ferraris ever built. Bizzarrini’s masterpiece, however, was the 250 GTO, the holy grail of classic cars. ‘One day,’ he remembered, ‘I was in Maranello and Ingegner Ferrari stormed into my office. “We have the warehouse full of parts for the 250 GT, which is not competitive,” he said. “We can’t afford to waste them so figure a way to use them. You have until the end of the month. If you don’t do it, you are fired.” And if he said that,’ added Bizzarrini, ‘you knew that he would have done it. I had to invent something, and I did. Until the 250 GTO, racing cars were about the mechanical parts: the chassis and the engine. With the 250 GTO we changed the rules and, suddenly, aerodynamics became the subject to follow, as it still is today.’

Relations between Ferrari and Bizzarrini ended in 1961 with the ‘Palace Revolt’, when eight managers were fired.