Paolo Stanzani

Paolo Stanzani
Born	(1936-07-20)20 July 1936 Bologna, Italy
Died	January 18, 2017(2017-01-18) (aged 80) Bologna, Italy
Alma mater	University of Bologna
Occupation	Mechanical engineer

Paolo Stanzani (20 July 1936 – 18 January 2017) was an Italian mechanical engineer and automotive designer.

Biography Introduction

Lamborghini Countach

After graduating in 1962 in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Bologna, Stanzani was immediately hired by Automobili Ferruccio Lamborghini S.p.A. on September 30, 1963 as assistant to Engineer Gianpaolo Dallara, then the Company's Technical Director. He worked for Lamborghini for many years until 1975 and then established his own consultancy company and worked for several manufacturers including the reborn Bugatti Automobili. He is considered one of the "noble fathers" of the first Lamborghini production, in particular he had an important technical role in the creation of famous models, such as the "Miura", and was the father of the "Espada", the "Urraco", the "Countach", the Bugatti EB110.

Early life and designs

His first idea and invention at the age of 16 was a patent for a milk heating device that prevented the milk from boiling over. He sold the patent and used the proceeds to buy a Laverda 75 small motorcycle. He also conceived a system to make headlights swivel with the direction of the driver steering input, an idea presented to FIAT staff who however showed no interest. The same idea was later implemented by Citroen.

Career at Lamborghini

Stanzani worked at Lamborghini from 1963 until 1975 during a productive and successful period for the company when several models were launched and sold. The first large task for Stanzani was to modify (rework) the engine of the first Lamborghini, the 350 GT to make it more suitable for everyday 'road car' usage. In order to be paid in full, ex-Ferrari engine designer Giotto Bizzarrini had reached the goals set by Ferruccio by designing an engine with racing parts. Stanzani's task was to reduce the cost of parts (for example reverting from machined connecting rods to cast ones) and to alter cam-shafts and carburettors to have a torque output that was more favourable at the lower engine speeds.

Until 1967 Paolo Stanzani dealt in particular with dimensional-structural calculations, with the 'Reparto Esperienze' Testing Department (Engine test rooms, Road tests, Homologation) and relations with the body shops (Touring, Bertone, Marazzi, Zagato, Silat). It is the era of the 350 GT, 400 GT, Islero and above all the Miura. Stanzani is one of the fathers of the Miura. At the time of its development the Miura contained numerous innovative features for a road car, such as a transversely mounted V12 engine with integral transmission, a fruit of the talents and successful collaboration between Dallara, Stanzani and Bizzarrini (for the engine). The open mind to try new things in Lamborghini led Stanzani to make it his goal to "Do today what others will do tomorrow" (“Fare oggi quello che altri faranno domani”).

From 1967 Stanzani took on the position of General Manager and from 1968 he became also Technical Director, taking over from Giampaolo Dallara who had decided to leave the company. These are the years in which legendary models such as the Espada, the Jarama, the Miura S, the Miura SV, the Urraco and the Countach enter production. While still in Lamborghini, Paolo Stanzani heads the development of the BMW Turbo concept, with styling designed by Paul Bracq (the shape will be evolved six years later for the BMW M1 supercar), a car created to celebrate the 1972 Munich Olympics. The chassis is borrowed from the Lamborghini Urraco, while the engine is a 2.0 four-cylinder derived from that of the 2002tii.

After the sale of 51% of the company shares by Ferruccio Lamborghini to swiss Georges-Henri Rossetti and the remaining 49% to his colleague René Leimer, Stanzani found it difficult to obtain decisions and financial support from the new owners and therefore left Lamborghini Automobili in February 1975. The company would go bankrupt in 1978.

Work beyond supercars

Stanzani made some personal considerations on the social benefit of designing and selling high performance vehicles to wealthy individuals, which he started to view as not so beneficial to society. Therefore he chose to work for a company under the ENI Group (Ente Nazionale Idrocarburi) that built water dams (for example on the Ridracoli water dam, situated between Forli' and Florence). Between 1979 and 1986 he worked on contract design for some car manufacturers (Renault, Alfa Romeo, Suzuki) and founded an engineering and business administration studio in Bologna. This studio grew over time, becoming the PRO Group, operating in Information Technology as a global partner of companies offering software for business management and technical project management.

The rebirth of Bugatti

Stanzani had always kept a friendly relationship with Ferruccio Lamborghini after 1975. During the 1980s the Italian engineer had considered the idea of a new supercar, to which he gave the codename FL12 (an acronym for 'Ferruccio Lamborghini 12 Cylinders'). Ferruccio Lamborghini supported the idea if it could bear his name. From 1986 to 1987 the support of Ferruccio Lamborghini became more of a moral one rather than financial one as it became clear that the costs would be substantial and Romano Artioli (vehicle importer for several brands in Italy) was interested in taking the project in an altogether more grand direction.

In the initial agreements for the Bugatti company and the vehicle development in Campogalliano (Modena), Stanzani was appointed Sole Director (Amministratore Unico) of Bugatti Automobili S.p.A. and given a 35% share of the company. Stanzani engaged with the staff at Tecnostile to design and develop the chassis, engine, suspension and other elements of the car which would become the EB110.

Stanzani was Managing and Technical Director of Bugatti Automobili until July 1990 and left after a power struggle with Artioli without having the possibility to take part in the EB110s launch. Bugatti Automobili would go bankrupt in 1995.

After Bugatti

Stanzani was called into F1 by Beppe Lucchini to lead the Scuderia Italia. Here in 1991 he was reunited with Engineer Gianpaolo Dallara, supplier of the composite chassis for the team based in Brescia. He led Scuderia Italia until 1996, and was the promoter of the team's merger with Minardi in 1994.

After Formula 1

After the merger between BMS Scuderia Italia and Minardi, Stanzani was falling out of love with the Formula 1 environment in which very large funding was required to stay on the grid. He therefore left the team in 1995 and with some partners founded a company dedicated to renewable energy power generation.