Carlo Chiti

Carlo Chiti (19 December 1924 – 7 July 1994) was an Italian racing car and engine designer best known for his long association with Alfa Romeo's racing department.

Born in Pistoia, Tuscany, Chiti graduated with a degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Pisa in Italy in 1953. He joined Alfa Romeo in 1952 and designed the Alfa Romeo 3000 CM sports car,. When Alfa Romeo's competition department was closed down in the late 1950s Chiti was invited to join Scuderia Ferrari.

At Ferrari Chiti was involved with the design of the Ferrari 156 Sharknose cars, with which Phil Hill won the 1961 championship. In 1962 Chiti walked out to join the breakway ATS Formula One team formed by a number of disaffected ex-Ferrari personnel. The ATS project was not successful and did not last long and in 1963 Chiti re-entered competitive motor racing through a new project, Autodelta.

Autodelta enabled Chiti to rekindle his association with Alfa Romeo, for whom he designed a V8 and then a flat-12 engine for their Alfa Romeo Tipo 33 sportscars. These were eventually successful, winning the world championship for makes in 1975. At this time, Chiti became involved in Formula One again, through the Brabham team, who signed an agreement with Alfa Romeo to use Chiti's engines. There was some success – Niki Lauda won two races in a Brabham BT46 with the Alfa engine in the 1978 Formula One season. Brabham designer Gordon Murray persuaded Chiti to produce a V12 engine to allow ground effect to be exploited by the team. However, during the 1979 Formula One season, Brabham's owner Bernie Ecclestone announced that the team would switch to Ford for the next season, prompting Chiti to seek permission from Alfa Romeo to start developing a Formula One car on their behalf. The partnership with Brabham finished before the end of the season.

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