Gioacchino Colombo
Gioacchino Colombo (born January 9, 1903 in Legnano , † April 27, 1987 in Milan ) was an Italian designer of automobile engines.
During the First World War, Gioacchino Colombo began training as a motor engineer and technical draftsman with Franco Tosi, who had a small technical office near Milan , at the age of 14 . Colombo made drawings of engines and won a design competition sponsored by Nicola Romeo in the mid-1920s . This success earned him a job at Alfa Romeo and he became an employee of Vittorio Jano . Together they developed the Alfa Romeo P2 . In 1928 Colombo became head of the drawing and design department at Alfa Romeo. His most important task was to give Jano's ideas a face.
When Scuderia Ferrari took over Alfa Romeo's racing activities in 1933 , Colombo became the technical liaison between the main factory and Scuderia. In this role he was responsible for the development and construction of the Alfa Romeo monoposto racing cars of the 1930s.
After the Second World War , Colombo switched entirely to Ferrari. His first major job for Enzo Ferrari became one of his most important. He designed the 1.5-liter V12 engine, which went down in history as the Colombo engine and served as the basis for the following larger-displacement engines that were used in Ferrari sports cars for over 15 years. The unit was also to be used in the Scuderia's Formula 1 racing cars, but the engine proved unsuitable for this type of vehicle during the first test drives. When Aurelio Lampredi designed a Formula 1 engine, Colombo left Ferrari and returned to Alfa Romeo. As technical director, he was jointly responsible for the world championship successes of Giuseppe Farina and Juan Manuel Fangio in 1950 and 1951 .
In 1953 he came to Maserati and built the 250F there . In 1955 he developed the hapless Bugatti Type 251 Grand Prix racing car, which was built in two copies, and designed the basic features of the 1.5 liter Type 252 sports car , which did not get beyond the prototype stage. From 1957 to 1970 Colombo worked as the head of the development department at MV Agusta .
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Colombo, Gioacchino |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Italian designer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | January 9, 1903 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Legnano |
| DATE OF DEATH | April 27, 1987 |
| Place of death | Milan |