Giulio Alfieri (10 July 1924 – 20 March 2002) was an Italian

automobile A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...

engineer Engineers, as practitioners of engineering, are professionals who Invention, invent, design, build, maintain and test machines, complex systems, structures, gadgets and materials. They aim to fulfill functional objectives and requirements while ...

, affiliated with

Maserati Maserati S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury vehicle manufacturer. Established on 1 December 1914 in Bologna, Italy, the company's headquarters are now in Modena, and its emblem is a trident. The company has been owned by Stellantis since 2021. Ma ...

Modena Modena (, ; ; ; ; ) is a city and ''comune'' (municipality) on the south side of the Po Valley, in the Province of Modena, in the Emilia-Romagna region of northern Italy. It has 184,739 inhabitants as of 2025. A town, and seat of an archbis ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

since 1953, where he was central to the development of racing and production cars in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Alfieri was born in

Parma Parma (; ) is a city in the northern Italian region of Emilia-Romagna known for its architecture, Giuseppe Verdi, music, art, prosciutto (ham), Parmesan, cheese and surrounding countryside. With a population of 198,986 inhabitants as of 2025, ...

. After graduating from the Politecnico of Milan, he first worked on

steam turbine A steam turbine or steam turbine engine is a machine or heat engine that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam and uses it to do mechanical work utilising a rotating output shaft. Its modern manifestation was invented by Sir Charles Par ...

s for the shipping industry ''Cantieri Navali of Tirreno'', in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, before joining the automaker

Innocenti Innocenti () was an Italian machinery works, originally established by Ferdinando Innocenti in 1933 in Lambrate, a neighborhood on the eastern outskirts of Milan. Over the years, they produced Lambretta scooters as well as a range of automobiles, ...

in 1949. Employed in September 1953 by

Adolfo Orsi Adolfo Orsi (23 March 1888 – 20 December 1972) was an Italian industrialist, known for owning the Maserati automobile maker. Born within a poor family in Sant'Agnese, near Modena, Orsi lost his father in 1899 - an event that forced him to star ...

, Alfieri joined the technical staff of

alongside

Gioacchino Colombo Gioacchino Colombo (9 January 1903 – 24 April 1988) was an Italian automobile engine designer. Biography Born in Legnano, Colombo began work as an apprentice to Vittorio Jano at Alfa Romeo. In 1937, he designed the 158 engine for the Alfet ...

, Vittorio Bellentani and two others. He was best known for the

Maserati 3500 GT The Maserati 3500 GT (''Tipo 101'') and the Maserati 3500 GT Spyder (''Tipo 101/C'') are 2-door coupé and convertible grand tourers made by Italian car manufacturer Maserati between 1957 and 1964. It was a seminal vehicle for Maserati as the comp ...

design (1957) and the

Maserati Birdcage The Maserati Tipo 60/61 (commonly referred to as the Maserati Birdcage) are a series of sports racing cars produced between 1959 and 1961 by Italian automobile manufacturer Maserati for privateers racing in sports car events including the 24 Hours ...

(1961), both employing the

superleggera Superleggera (Italian for ''Superlight'') is a custom tube and alloy panel automobile coachwork construction technology developed by Felice Bianchi Anderloni of Italian coachbuilder Carrozzeria Touring Superleggera. A separate chassis was sti ...

lightweight body. Alfieri worked on the six- and eight-cylinder engines used in the

Maserati A6 Maserati A6 were a series of grand tourers, racing sports cars and single seaters made by Maserati of Italy between 1947 and 1956. They were named for Alfieri Maserati (one of the Maserati brothers, founders of Maserati) and for their straight-s ...

(1955),

Maserati 250F The Maserati 250F was a racing car made by Maserati of Italy used in '2.5 litre' Formula One racing between January 1954 and November 1960. Twenty-six examples were made. Mechanical details The 250F principally used the SSG, 220 bhp (at 7400r ...

(1957), as well as V8 racing engines, later to be used as a basis for the V6 of

Maserati Merak The Maserati Merak (''Tipo AM122'') is a mid-engined 2+2 sports car produced by Maserati between 1972 and 1983. The Merak was closely related to the Maserati Bora, sharing part of its structure and body panels, but was powered by a 3.0 L V6 in ...

and

Citroën SM The Citroën SM is a high-performance coupé produced by the French manufacturer Citroën from 1970 to 1975. The SM placed third in the 1971 European Car of the Year contest, trailing its stablemate Citroën GS, and won the 1972 Motor Trend Car ...

(1969). Alfieri also developed the prototype 4.0 L V8 engine for the SM, tested over 12,000 kilometers, proving that the capabilities of the chassis could easily accommodate a 50% increase in power. The engine was then removed and preserved, while the rest of the car was destroyed by

Alejandro de Tomaso Alejandro de Tomaso (10 July 1928 in Buenos Aires – 21 May 2003 in Modena, Italy) was an Argentine racing driver and businessman. His name is sometimes seen in an Italianised form as Alessandro de Tomaso. He participated in two Formula One World ...

. The ''SM Club of France'' created a replica of this car using the actual engine from the original and displayed it at the 2010 ''

Rétromobile Rétromobile is an annual classic auto show held in February in the French city of Paris. First held in 1976, the show is hosted at the Paris expo Porte de Versailles, a convention centre A convention center (American and British English ...

'' show in

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

. He also contributed to V12 prototype engines intended for use in Cooper-

for

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

racing (1966). Alfieri produced a chassis design for the

Momo Mirage The Momo Mirage is an American Grand Touring coupe built in Italy. Several prototypes were completed in the early 1970s before the project was cancelled. History Conception The Momo Mirage was created by Peter Kalikow, with considerable input f ...

, a few of which were then produced by

Automobili Stanguellini Automobili Stanguellini was an Italian sport cars manufacturer based in Modena. The company was founded by Vittorio Stanguellini and was mostly active between 1946 and 1960. They produced racing cars until 1981, when Vittorio Stanguellini died. S ...

before the project was cancelled. As Maserati was taken over in 1975 by

, Alfieri ended over 20 years of service for the Modenese company. De Tomaso had tried to buy Maserati in 1968 from the Orsi family. This failed primarily on Giulio Alfieri's resistance. After de Tomaso bought Maserati in August 1975, he dismissed Alfieri on the day of taking over the business. He was succeeded by Aurelio Bertocchi, the son of longtime Maserati test driver Guerrino Bertocchi. Alfieri later worked for

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. ( , ), usually referred to as Lamborghini or colloquially Lambo, is an Italian manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its su ...

with Ubaldo Sgarzi on V8 and V12 engines (1975–1987). He died in

in 2002.

Gallery: Cars of Alfieri

File:Maserati 250 F, Bj. 1957 (1977-08-14) Südkehre.jpg, Maserati 250F File:1958 Maserati 3500 GT coupé - white - fvr.jpg, Maserati 3500 GT File:Maserati 4000 Quattro-porte - Flickr - mick - Lumix.jpg, Maserati Quattroporte I File:Maserati Bora 01 new.jpg, Maserati Bora File:Maserati Khamsin.jpg, Maserati Khamsin File:1972 Citroen SM US model.jpg, Motor of Citroën SM File:Lamborghini Countach - Flickr - exfordy (2).jpg, Lamborghini Countach S

Notes

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Alfieri, Giulio 1924 births 2002 deaths Engineers from Parma Italian automotive engineers Italian automobile designers Polytechnic University of Milan alumni Italian motorsport people Maserati people Lamborghini people 20th-century Italian engineers