Page 8 - Sample pages "Bugatti, The Italian Decade" by Gautam Sen

OOK orn in Bologna, Italy, on 20
July 1936, Paolo Stanzani
NE BB spent his entire life in the city.
I He graduated in mechanical
F engineering from the University
of Bologna and stayed on as an
rE assistant, before joining Lamborghini Automobili
N OKS in 1963, on his 27th birthday. Initially, he and the
E O
small team of engineers and technicians worked at
N I S
the Lamborghini Trattori factory, and then opposite
O G T
the not-yet-finished factory in Sant’Agata where a
S N
small workshop was rented for the technical office
B AK E
and workshop for the testing and assembly of the
W
prototype engines.
EO EhT
It was in this workshop that the Lamborghini
FIN N
BO 350 GTV prototype engine, designed by Giotto
O
Bizzarrini, was readied with the help of Mario
I
Vecchi, Oliviero Pedrazzi and Achille Bevini, under
E TN
the stewardship of Giampaolo Dallara, and ably
N assisted by Stanzani. The pretty prototype body,
O
I N
designed by Franco Scaglione, was made by
S
F artisan craftsmen who were not attuned to serial
dream car. Stanzani again served as the liaison,
T
production. Thus, when Lamborghini turned to monitoring progress, a role he continued to
A
N Carrozzeria Touring for the manufacture of the play during the development of the subsequent AK bodies, the coachbuilder redesigned the car, Lamborghini models, the Espada and the Jarama.
O
O Z
softening the edges and modifying the front into a
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more classical style. In 1968, when Ferruccio Lamborghini was
S
O NT
compelled to concentrate on his other businesses,
N
Stanzani’searlyresponsibilitywastocompletethe he appointed Stanzani as the chief executive
B OA
calculations for the parts of the engine that were officer of Lamborghini Automobili, thereby
being modified, then follow through with the testing precipitating the exit of erstwhile engineering
E T
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A
of the parts, and the assembly of the first engines.
chief Dallara, who moved on to De Tomaso. In the
L
IN
He supervised the road tests with the driver New
process, Stanzani also took over the mantle as
N
A
T
Zealander, Bob Wallace. When production began,
Lamborghini’s engineering chief. As the technical OF
D
Stanzani visited Carrozzeria Touring regularly
head of Lamborghini, Stanzani embarked on
S
to check for quality control concerning paint,
TN
two very ambitious projects: one, to design a
electrical work, door and panel fit and so on.
replacement for the epochal Miura, and the other
L
to develop a more accessible baby supercar in
O
Stanzani again assisted the engineering team led
A
answer to Ferrari’s popular Dino, as well as to
S
by Dallara in the design of Lamborghini’s next all-
O
D
capture a slice of the action that Porsche’s very
new model, the Miura. Most importantly, he became
T
successful 911 had cornered.
the main point of contact from Lamborghini’s side
N A
L
©
in the development of the car’s design, interacting For the Lamborghini Urraco, a new V8 was
O
with Marcello Gandini from the moment of the developed. The short V8 allowed the gearbox to
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first official meeting between Lamborghini and be flanged on to the engine and the suspension
O
TS
Bertone’s chief designer in late November 1965. was simpler MacPhersons for both the front and
N
Since then, the cordial professional relationship the rear. The chassis frame was made of boxed
A
O
A
hasdevelopedintoatruefriendship. sections, with the body welded on to create a
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lightweight monocoque.
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For the Lamborghini Marzal concept, the
P
L
Lamborghini engineers obliged Gandini’s request The crowning glory of Stanzani’s career was the
to halve the V12 for a slant six to power the replacement for the Miura, the revolutionary AN
D
O
©
DALT