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This is the story of Aurelio Lampredi, one of the most important engineers in the history of Scuderia Ferrari. Father of the successful V12 that he premiered in Formula 1 in 1950, Lampredi’s work was key for ‘Il Cavallino’ to achieve his first victories and titles in the premier category of motorsport.
July 14, 1951 was a historic day for Ferrari. For the first time, a Scuderia single-seater crossed the finish line in first place in the fledgling F1. The Argentinian José Froilán González was in charge of piloting the Ferrari 375 to victory at Silverstone, a single-seater in whose interior a powerful V12 engine roared that bore the signature of our protagonist, Aurelio Lampredi.
The contribution of this famous engineer, born in 1917 in the Tuscan city of Livorno, went far beyond this first victory. Lampredi came to Ferrari to create a new V12 engine that could improve the results of the unit developed by Gioacchino Colombo, and that could not with the Alfa Romeo.
Lampredi, who actually wanted to be a conductor when he was young, graduated as an engineer from the Higher Technical Institute of Frigurbo (Switzerland) fulfilling his father’s wishes. After a brief stint at the old Odero-Terni-Orlando shipyards, the Tuscan signed for Piaggio in 1937, when the company was still manufacturing aircraft engines.
It was there that Lampredi, who worked closely with the engineer Corradino D’Ascanio, known as one of the fathers of the Vespa, became interested in engines. After the outbreak of World War II, he went to work for the Officine Meccaniche Reggiane, in charge of manufacturing aircraft engines, some under Piaggio or FIAT licence. And it is here where he crosses paths with Enzo Ferrari.
Carlo Ruini, one of the superiors at the Reggiane workshops, whose headquarters were in Reggio Emilia, just 30 kilometers from Maranello, recommended Enzo Ferrari to hire this young engineer. Said and done. In 1946, Lampredi joined Ferrari, when the company had just developed the V12 Colombo, under Gioacchino Colombo.
Lampredi’s relationship with Colombo himself and with Giuseppe Busso – Ferrari’s technical director – was not particularly good, and in 1947 he left the company due to differences with the two of them. He left for Isotta Frachini, although legend has it that he promised Enzo Ferrari that he would return when he could work independently.
Lampredi was as good as his word and, indeed, returned to Ferrari a couple of years later, when Busso and Colombo had decided to go to Alfa Romeo.
The legendary V12 Lampredi engine is born
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Ferrari needed an engine that could interrupt Alfa Romeo’s leadership to win in Formula 1, the only objective that the Scuderia could pursue. The Ferrari 125 F1, which used a supercharged V12 engine with 230 hp at 7,000 rpm, and which reached 280 hp thanks to its upgrades, was not capable of doing so.
After assuming the technical direction, Aurelio Lampredi worked on a “great engine”, a 3.3-liter V12 that was first mounted on the Ferrari 275 S, a small boat that participated in the Mile Miglia. The two registered units had transmission problems due to the high power developed by the V12 Lampredi, but even so he led the race and left a good feeling.
In fact, Ferrari decided to mount the new Lampredi engine in the Ferrari 275 F1, which debuted at the Belgian Grand Prix, and where Alberto Ascari finished fifth. Lampredi prepared a new version of its engine, with 4.1 liters of displacement and up to 340 horsepower. This debuted – without much success – in the Grand Prix of Nations, not scoring for the F1 World Cup.
That engine was the basis for the 375 F1, a unit that debuted at the last round of the 1950 F1 season, and which was equipped with a 340 hp 4.5-liter engine. With this, Ascari managed to qualify in second position in his debut, the same position in which he finished that race that crowned Nino Farina (Alfa Romeo) as the first F1 Champion.
New modifications for 1951 gave the definitive boost to the Ferrari 375 F1 to be able to enter the fight to win in Formula 1. At Silverstone, José Froilán González won the constructor’s first victory in the premier class, and in Germany and Italy won Ascari, as well as in several non-scoring events.
For 1952, the FIA decided to use the Formula 2 regulations after the withdrawal of Alfa Romeo from F1, with the aim of lowering the costs that participants had to bear and increasing equality between the most and least powerful. Lampredi reinvented itself and introduced the Ferrari Type 500 with a 2.0 inline four-cylinder engine.
Ferrari F1 won seven of the eight events on the calendar. In the first, Switzerland, Piero Taruffi won, and in the rest – except in Indianapolis -, Alberto Ascari won, who was proclaimed champion at the end of that season.
The Italian repeated the title in 1953, with five of nine possible victories. Farina and Mike Hawthorn added two wins to another successful season for Ferrari.
For 1954 Formula 1 switched to using 2.5-litre engines. Lampredi developed a new engine which he mounted on the modified chassis of the Ferrari Type 500. It was not a particularly successful era for the Scuderia, who only managed three wins in 1954 and 1955.
In 1956, the Type 500 was replaced, and interestingly, not by a Ferrari, but by the V8-powered Lancia D50, which was acquired by Ferrari after the bankruptcy of Scuderia Lancia.
Lampredi left Ferrari at the end of 1955, after a falling out with Enzo Ferrari while he was developing a two-cylinder engine. He was replaced by the legendary VIttorio Jano, who also came to Maranello from Lancia, and who became one of the most trusted technicians at ‘Il Commendatore’.
After completing his time at Ferrari, Lampredi joined FIAT, where he became one of the heads of the engine department, developing key engines in the history of FIAT and Lancia. Likewise, he directed Abarth between 1973 and 1982 and witnessed the successes of the FIAT 124 Abarth and FIAT 131 Abarth in the World Rally Championship.