Page 11 - Sample pages "Bugatti, The Italian Decade" by Gautam Sen

Tecnostile. Initially, they undertook some projects for military vehicle development, as well as designing vehicles for the fire brigade. When Lamborghini received the commission to help develop the M1 supercar for BMW, the technical aspects were, in turn, subcontracted to Tecnostile.
Soon Tecnostile was working on the technical and mechanical aspects of most of Italdesign’s show cars, and for many of Marcello Gandini’s designs for Renault, when the designer was working exclusively for the French giant. One of the most noteworthy projects was La Piccola, the tiny all-plastic car that Gandini designed. Not only did they assist in the technical aspects of the revolutionary concept, Pedrazzi even designed a compact two-stroke, twin-cylinder diesel engine for the plastic wonder. He recalled that “we were there to assemble the car in 20 minutes in front of the Renault management.”
They were also involved in developing the Ferrari F1 car for Rubens Barrichello, as well as a four-wheel-drive vehicle for Laverda, a tractor for Fiat and motors for a forklift. In fact, as they could not find the appropriate motor for the forklift, they designed one, which they then began manufacturing themselves.
In 1985, Claudio Zampolli, who they knew from when they worked at Lamborghini, approached Tecnostile for the design and engineering of his supercar project. To make a mark, Zampolli believed that they needed to go beyond what the other supercar makers were already doing – just a V12 would not be enough. A 16-cylinder unit was considered – but how could one fit such a large machine and where? Oliviero Pedrazzi suggested joining two V8s at the centre, and with the gearing between the two providing a single output shaft to the longitudinally
mounted ZF gearbox. Though the bore and stroke are similar to the 3-litre Lamborghini Urraco, Pedrazzi is emphatic that the engine was completely new. With the V16 installed transversely amidships, the car that Tecnostile designed was very wide, and rather large. The tubular, spaceframe chassis of the car was designed by Bevini and Pedrazzi, initially in square section tubes, but changed to round section tubes by Giancarlo Guerra, when he began making the car. With dramatic styling by Marcello Gandini, Zampolli’s Cizeta V16T created a sensation when unveiled in late 1988 (see pages 154-159).
It was also around this time, in 1986, that Paolo Stanzani first approached Tecnostile to be involved with the Bugatti project. The configuration and the specifications of the Bugatti V12 were decided between Stanzani and Tecnostile’s three musketeers, with input from Romano Artioli regarding the number of turbochargers and valves. Tecnostile also negotiated with Yamaha regarding the patent on the five-valve configuration, providing in exchange their technology for the triple functions of their differential (limited slip, differential and torque transfer).
Initially, Tecnostile worked as a consultant to Bugatti Automobili, and it remained a separate legal entity in order to continue manufacturing motors for forklifts, but later, the three musketeers joined the Bugatti technical team, with Pedrazzi heading the technical department and Bevini, the advanced research section. Benedetti took on the role of supervising most of the design and engineering projects that Bugatti Automobili undertook for external clients.
When Bugatti Automobili closed down, the three went back to Tecnostile, which they sold off as an ongoing business in 2000, retiring for good.
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