Unforgettable Car Geniuses: Giotto Bizzarrini

Giotto Bizzarrini became a brand - Bizzarrini - even before he was an engineer. In fact, the first of his cars, christened the ‘Macchinetta’ (small car in Italian), built with avant-garde concepts in 1953, was none other than his degree thesis. One only has to look at it - it is a single example that still exists today - to realise that the most important thing for Bizzarrini was racing. This Italian, a native of Livorno, Tuscany, considered the automobile as a whole: designing engines, dealing with weight distribution, designing chassis and even bodies, was part of his histrionic creativity that made his fortune and misfortune at the same time.

His good fortune was to immediately make a name for himself, to be hired at Alfa Romeo where he gained valuable experience for three years, but above all to be able to join Ferrari while still very young. It was 1957 and he had as his boss and colleague another histrionic ‘Tuscan’ called Carlo Chiti. It is amusing to know that he was also hired by Ferrari because, on his way from Livorno to Milan to work for Alfa Romeo, he passed through Maranello and this apparently casual acquaintance facilitated his contact with Ferrari. At only 31 years old, he worked on extraordinary models such as the 250 Testa Rossa sport, the 250 short wheelbase (SWB), 250 California and made a substantial contribution to the qualities of the 250 GTO. In fact, applying his way of seeing the car as a whole, he moved the engine of the 250 SWB, from which the GTO originated, towards the centre of the car, finding an ideal weight distribution. While remaining front, the balance of the model made it a memorable success. The first prototype of the GTO, the one that was never born, nicknamed the ‘Duck’ took up the innovative ideas of the Tuscan engineer and was the basis for the final model.