Ferrari and his engineers

     It’s 1945 in war-torn Italy. The last several years have brought much destruction and chaos to the region around the Po Valley. The Allies have worked their way up the boot of Italy since September of 1943.

     The advance was hampered by heavy fighting and Rome was not captured until June of 1944. As the Allies worked their way towards Bologna, bombing runs continued to attack targets in front of the lines.

     October brought airplanes over the city of Maranello to damage a small factory there. In February 1945 the bombers returned to rain another round of destruction. By April, Bologna had been captured and the enemy was soon to capitulate.

 

        November 1944 bomb damage

 

     On May 2, 1945, all Axis forces had surrendered in Italy. Days later on May 8, the war in Europe is over.

     Maranello and the surrounding area had by and large escaped much of the direct damage from the war. Although the Ferrari factory had been bombed and the retreating forces had raided some of the machine tools, the business was still fairly intact.

     The country would need to rebuild, and tools would be a necessary commodity for industry to bring itself up from the ashes. Companies would need exactly what Ferrari was making.

     Enzo Ferrari had other plans. The war had lasted long enough to satisfy the requirement from leaving Alfa Romeo in 1939 of not building an automobile using the name Ferrari.

     Mr. Ferrari was free once again to follow his passion to race, build racing cars, manage the competitive nature of gentleman drivers and above all, win.

     Ferrari began to bring the band back together. The engineers he had worked with from his days at Scuderia Ferrari, the ones who had been loyal and creative during the Alfa Romeo racing days.

     These were men Ferrari knew and trusted. Luigi Bazzi worked for Fiat in the 1920s. His background as an engineer allowed him to be on the cutting edge of technology at Fiat, working on GP cars and within the aviation division.

     Aviation was still new when Jacques Schneider offered a prize to encourage competition for the advancement of seaplanes and flying boats. The Schneider Trophy became something of national pride and several countries competed for this prestigious award.

    The first closed course race was held in 1913 and continued until 1931 with a break during World War I. Italy won this competition several times, but it is the last Italian win in 1926 that is part of this story.

     The Macchi M.39 was built specifically to win the Schneider Trophy. The monowing on floats was powered by a Fiat engine. A 60 degree, V-12 with single overhead camshafts, 4 valves per cylinder and dual ignition. A unique feature of this engine not only was it water cooled but it had cast aluminum cylinder heads.

 

          1926 Fiat AS.2, 31L V-12 - From Wikipedia

 

     Previously most aircraft engines that were water cooled had sleeves around each cylinder, the advent of a one-piece cylinder head was groundbreaking. The AS.2 displaced nearly 31 liters and output 800 hp. Surely, Luigi Bazzi had seen or even helped with the design of this engine for Fiat.

     Bazzi moved to Ferrari during the Scuderia days but when Ferrari separated from Alfa Romeo, Bazzi stayed. During the war he worked in the aviation area and Alfa Romeo built, under-license, the Daimler-Benz DB 601, a V-12 engine that powered the Messerschmitt BF 109 and the Italian Macchi C.202.

     Clearly, Luigi Bazzi had the right background to come back to Ferrari shortly after the war.

     Vittorio Jano was another engineer that had a storied career in and around the Ferrari legend. Working for Fiat he was involved in the aviation department during the Great War.

     One of the engines he must have designed was the Fiat A.14. This engine was a 60 degree V-12, water cooled, overhead cam with a displacement of 57 liters and produced 725 hp. In 1917 this engine was the largest and most powerful engine in the world.

 

          1917 Fiat A.14, 57L V-12 - From Wikipedia

     Jano moved to Alfa Romeo, following Luigi Bazzi, also with Enzo Ferrari’s help. Ferrari was building the Scuderia technological engineering base at Alfa.

     While at Alfa Romeo, Jano designed and developed the 12C-36. This GP car for 1936 had a 60 degree V-12, 4 liter, double overhead cams and 2 valves per cylinder, it developed 370 hp.

     Jano was recruited to Lancia in 1937 and chose to stay while Ferrari was getting the band back together. Ferrari did ultimately get Jano back when the Lancia racing program folded with the D50 in 1955.

     While Jano was at Alfa Romeo, Gioachino Colombo was hired and became Jano’s right-hand man. Politics being what they are, the 12C-36 and then the 12C-37 designed by Jano did not receive the development work needed to become competitive. Jano was fired.

     Colombo was then tasked to create a 3 liter version of the 12C which became the 1938 Alfa Romeo Tipo 312. This supercharged 60 degree V-12 had double overhead cams and 2 valves per cylinder with an output of 320 hp.

     While this engine was powerful, the late 1930s competition was stiff with German teams building even more powerful cars and winning the championship in 1935 through 1938 when racing was cancelled due to the war.

     Colombo was still in Milan when Ferrari called in the summer of 1945. It was a difficult trip to Maranello through the ravaged landscape. Bridges had yet to be rebuilt, the roads had been torn up, destruction of the landscape was still fresh, but when Ferrari calls…

     The story then appears to be steeped in lore. Most books and articles attribute the ensuing conversation to go as follows. Ferrari: “I want to go back to racing. How would you design a 1,500-cc engine?” Colombo: “I think you should make a V-12.” Ferrari: “You have read my thoughts. I have always wanted to build such an engine.”

     Many writers have attributed Ferrari’s remarks to Enzo’s inspiration of seeing and hearing a Packard V-12. I contend this may be true but there would have been few chances for Ferrari to have seen or heard the Packard.

     Ferrari came to America in 1936, to Long Island with three Alfa Romeos to compete in the Vanderbilt Cup. It is there, it could have been possible to see a new Packard with a V-12. Packard reintroduced the Twin-Six in 1933 and produced them until 1939.

     Certainly, the upscale crowd visiting the Roosevelt Raceway from New York City could have driven out to see the races. But why would a monstrosity like the Packard even draw Ferrari’s attention?

 

          1935 Packasrd "Twin Six" by Dietrich

     Alfa supplied three race cars, two of them were Alfa’s latest creation in the form of a 12C-36. Designed by Jano with aluminum block and head and double overhead cams. There would be nothing creative or exciting about the Packard to turn Enzo’s head.

 

          Alfa 12C-36, 1936 Vanderbilt Cup, Tavio Nuvolari

     Another story is Ferrari was enamored by the American Army staff cars, many of them Packard, and how smooth the engines were. Packard built staff cars for the Army but not one that had the “Twin-Six” engine in them. So, it would not have been possible for Enzo to be exposed.

     I believe the Packard story of Ferrari wanting a V-12 is flat out incorrect.

     I do believe Ferrari would have had many experiences with the sound of a V-12 during his life. Packard designed the Liberty engine that was used in several World War I aircraft.

     The Schneider Cup races would have been widely reported. There is nothing like national pride when some of the most sophisticated engines in the world are competing for awards.

     And, of course, several aircraft that would have been buzzing around during World War II had V-12 engines. The Messerschmitt BF 109, Supermarine Spitfire, North American P-51 and the Italian Macchi C.202 all have the unique sound that only a V-12 can make.

     Ferrari had many opportunities to see and hear twelve cylinders in action. The engineers he surrounded himself with were all experienced with V-12 design and they all had aviation experience; reliability is paramount while flying.

     All of these attributes must have played a part in Enzo Ferrari’s thinking. To finish first, first you have to finish.

     Certainly, creating a V-12 would be a challenge for such a small company. Ferrari during his Scuderia years with Alfa Romeo had worked closely with the Alfa factory to develop the technology to stay at the forefront of competition.

     The Scuderia often came up with innovative ideas and changes to their cars. The ideas would have been sent back to Alfa for review and ultimately incorporated into the racing program.

     But Ferrari also had the capability to manufacture, cast and create its own components. It was this symbiotic relationship between the Scuderia and Alfa Romeo that helped to create the future Ferrari factory.

     When Ferrari left Alfa and created Auto-Avio Constuzioni the technical knowledge stayed within the company. At first the company produced small engines for training aircraft.

     Research identifies an engine produced for Compagnia Nazionale Aeronautica (CNA) that was a 4-cylinder, air cooled and horizontally opposed, known as a CNA D.

 

          1940 CNA D light aircraft engine - from wikipedia

     CNA built only a prototype, and it would appear few of these engines were used in light aircraft. Ferrari needed to find something more lucrative and expanded into manufacturing specialty grinders. Making the tools to make tools would come in handy when the war ended.

     Colombo came and laid out the plans for the first Ferrari V-12. Nearly all was in place.

     Ferrari had already hired Luigi Bazzi with his aviation engineering background. The heavy machinery required to manufacture complicated engine components was already contained within the walls of the factory. The skilled workforce required to run those machines was in place. All that was needed was the final word from Enzo Ferrari himself: “It’s time to race and resurrect a Scuderia Ferrari to the world.”

     Colombo was not an employee of Ferrari; he was freelancing while on forced leave from Alfa Romeo. The drawings and design would be put to another engineer, Aurelio Lampredi.

     Lampredi’s engineering capabilities found him in 1937 working for Piaggio and later for Reggiane designing aircraft engines. It would be Lampredi who was tasked with the Colombo drawings to turn paper into reality.

     In September 1946 the first Ferrari V-12 came to life.

     Lampredi would leave and Colombo would come back, then Lampredi came back and Colombo became an advisor. The names and history of the great engineers that helped to create the Ferrari story is messy and convoluted.

 

          1951 Turin with Aurelio Lampredi and 166 engine

     The Italian engineering community was small and people either jumped to other companies or were let go and rehired elsewhere.

     There is much history behind the Ferrari story. The friendships and collaborators go back several decades before the beginning of what we think of Ferrari today.

     Ferrari’s decision to build a V-12 engine was certainly a bold one, but not the first to do so. I believe the sound of a V-12 is enchanting and it is easy to see why such an endeavor would be made.

 

          Aurelio Lampredi and Gioachino Colombo

     Other considerations come into play. The engine design is flexible enough to be adapted to both automobile and aircraft. The redundancy of ignition and fuel systems makes the engine reliable. The simplicity of camshafts and valve actuation adds to reliability.

     It is that reliability that created the Ferrari legend. From Le Mans to Daytona and many tracks in between, Ferrari won because to finish first, first you have to finish.