Valerio Colotti (19 April 1925 – 19 January 2008) was an Italian automotive engineer, known for his early work with

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

and

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 ...

chassis and transmission systems. Born in

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 ...

, Colotti joined

in 1948, working under

Aurelio Lampredi Aurelio Lampredi (16 June 1917 – 1 June 1989) was an Italian automobile and aircraft engine designer. Early career Lampredi was born in Livorno, Tuscany. He studied mechanical engineering at the Institut Technique Supérieur in Fribourg. A cl ...

, followed by employment with

(1953–1957), until the company dropped factory works racing. In 1958 he started his own company, known as Tec-Mec (''Studio Tecnica Meccanica''). Tec-Mec, assisted by

Giorgio Scarlatti Giorgio Scarlatti (2 October 1921 – 26 July 1990) was a racing driver from Italy. He participated in 15 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on 13 May 1956. Formula One career Scarlatti was born in Rome. He got interested in ra ...

, built the tipo F/415

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 ...

car, mostly based on the

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 ...

, in which Colotti had been deeply involved. The car raced only at the 1959 USA Grand Prix, where driver Fritz d'Orey was forced to retire after qualifying 17th. Colotti collaborated also with

Behra-Porsche Behra-Porsche was a Formula One constructor which entered four World Championship Grands Prix across the 1959 and 1960 seasons. The constructor started - and finished - two races, both in the 1960 season, but scored no championship points in the pr ...

(1959),

Stirling Moss Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss (17 September 1929 – 12 April 2020) was a British racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competed in Formula One from to . Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers to never win the Formula On ...

Cooper T51 The Cooper T51 was a Formula One and Formula Two racing car designed by Owen Maddock and built by the Cooper Car Company for the 1959 Formula One season. The T51 earned a significant place in motor racing history when Jack Brabham drove the car ...

and Scirocco-Powell. Colotti's cooperation with Alf Francis lead to the widely used in competition Colotti-Francis gearbox systems. With

Wolfgang von Trips Wolfgang Alexander Albert Eduard Maximilian Reichsgraf Berghe von Trips (; 4 May 1928 – 10 September 1961), also known as Wolfgang Graf Berghe von Trips, was a German racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to . Nicknamed "Taffy", von ...

he designed the ''Trips-Colotti-Auto Union'' (TCA). Colotti's company is now called Colotti Trasmissioni and is run by his son Marco after his brother Paolo (1956-2016) died.Colotti Trasmissioni
homepage

External links

Official Website

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Colotti, Valerio Italian automobile designers Engineers from Modena 1925 births 2008 deaths Ferrari people Maserati people Formula One team owners Formula One designers Italian motorsport people