Gioacchino Colombo[1] (9 January 1903 – 24 April 1988) was an Italianautomobileengine designer, known for his work atAlfa Romeo,Ferrari, and a post-WWII restartedBugatti. He is best known for hisFerrari-Colombo V12, first used in a tiny1.5 litre displacement in Ferrari racing cars but enlarged in displacements up to 4.8 L and produced for Ferrari road cars and endurance racing cars for more than 40 years.
Born inLegnano, Colombo began work as an apprentice toVittorio Jano atAlfa Romeo. In 1937, he designed the 158 engine for theAlfetta and caught the attention ofEnzo Ferrari, who asked Colombo to design a smallV12 for hisFerrarimarque's racing and road cars.
The firstFerrari-Colombo engine appeared on 11 May 1947 as a tiny1.5 litre V12, first used in the Tipo 125, 159, and then166sports cars. Colombo's most successful work for Ferrari, this engine, also known simply as the "Colombo engine", was enlarged in displacements up to 4.8 L and produced for road cars and endurance racing cars for more than 40 years. These included the 3.0 litreFerrari 250 racing, sports, and GT cars.
Colombo's engine was not as successful inFormula One racing. After stunning early success in the 166, the engine wassupercharged for use inFormula One but failed to perform well. Unsatisfied with the results, Ferrari brought in fellow designerAurelio Lampredi to create a largenaturally aspirated V12, which replaced Colombo's.
Colombo left Ferrari in 1950 and returned toAlfa Romeo, where he oversaw that company's racing efforts - including the Formula One World Championship success that year ofNino Farina and, in 1951, ofJuan-Manuel Fangio. In late 1952, Colombo moved on toMaserati, where he created the250FGrand Prix car. Two years later, Colombo headed to newly restartedBugatti to work on the251. He then worked forMV Agusta from 1957 to 1970.[2]
Colombo died in Milan in 1988.
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