Mauro Forghieri - Lamborghini and Bugatti

Lamborghini and Bugatti

After leaving Ferrari in 1987, Forghieri joined Lamborghini Engineering, a department created by Lee Iacocca, the then CEO of Chrysler, who had bought the Emilian car firm Lamborghini.

In that organisation, which had the ex-Ferrari Daniele Audetto as sports director, Forghieri designed the naturally aspirated Lamborghini 3512 V12 engine, which made its racing debut at the 1989 Brazilian Grand Prix. The V12 engine was used exclusively by the Larrousse team in the 1989 F1 season.

Following the encouraging performance of the engine, the project of designing a whole car was conceived, thanks to financing by the Mexican businessman Fernando Gonzalez Luna. The car, whose bodywork was designed by Mario Tolentino, was slated for a 1991 debut, but the day before the official presentation to the press, Gonzalez Luna disappeared with a conspicuous amount of money that had been paid by sponsors. Nevertheless, the car debuted thanks to financing by Carlo Patrucco, of the newly created Modena Team (also known as Lambo).

The latter was an unsuccessful enterprise, however, and Forghieri left Lamborghini soon afterwards. In 1992, he became the technical director of the re-emerging Bugatti, where he stayed until 1994. In the same year, he was also called as an expert in the trial relating to the death of driver Ayrton Senna on the Imola track.