Enrico Nardi (1907 in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

– 23 August 1966) was an Italian racing car driver and designer. He worked at

Lancia Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...

between 1929 and 1937 as a truck engineer, racing car driver, and later, advisor to

Vincenzo Lancia Vincenzo Lancia (24 August 1881 – 15 February 1937) was an Italian racing driver, engineer and founder of Lancia. Vincenzo Lancia was born in the small village of Fobello on 24 August 1881, close to Turin; his family tree starts in Fabell ...

. He was moderately successful as a driver by 1932, when, with Augusto Monaco, he created the '' Nardi-Monaco ''Chichibio''.Setright, p.1491. Nardi himself also competed in

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

, sharing a

Fiat 508 The 508 Balilla was a compact car designed and developed by Fiat in 1932. It was, effectively, the replacement of the Fiat 509, although production of the earlier model had ceased back in 1929. It had a three-speed transmission (increased to four ...

Balilla with J. McCain in 1935 and with M. Trivero in 1936, as well as a

Lancia Augusta The Lancia Augusta is a small passenger car produced by Italian car manufacturer Lancia between 1933 and 1936. It made its première at the 1932 Paris Motor Show. The car was powered by a 1,196 cc Lancia V4 engine. During the 1920s, Lancia had b ...

Berlina with Vittorio Mazzonis in 1937, and a

Lancia Aprilia The Lancia Aprilia (1937–1949) is a family car manufactured by Lancia, one of the first designed using wind tunnel in collaboration with Battista Farina and Politecnico di Torino, achieving a record low drag coefficient of 0.47. The ''berlinetta ...

''speciale'' in 1938 with Pier Ugo Gobbato (1918–2008), the son of

Alfa Romeo Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian luxury car manufacturer and a subsidiary of Stellantis. The company was founded on 24 June 1910, in Milan, Italy. "Alfa" is an acronym of its founding name, "Anonima Lombarda Fabbrica Automobili." ...

CEO

Ugo Gobbato Ugo Gobbato (Volpago del Montello, 16 July 1888 – Milan, 28 April 1945) was an Italian engineer and Managing Director of Alfa Romeo 1933 to 1945. He studied in Germany where he graduated in mechanical engineering at the Technical University of ...

. Working at

Scuderia Ferrari Scuderia Ferrari Società per Azioni, S.p.A. () is the racing division of luxury Italian auto manufacturer Ferrari and the racing team that competes in Formula One racing. The team is also known by the nickname "The Prancing Horse", in refere ...

from 1937 until 1946, Nardi became known for setting up the

(chassis for the 1940

Auto Avio Costruzioni 815 The Auto Avio Costruzioni 815 was the first car to be fully designed and built by Enzo Ferrari. Legal issues with former associates Alfa Romeo prevented Ferrari from creating the Ferrari marque. The 815 raced at the 1940 Brescia Grand Prix, where ...

), and doing the development work following Massimino's design; he also co-drove an 815 with owner

Lotario Rangoni ''Lotario'' ("Lothair", HWV 26) is an opera seria in three acts by George Frideric Handel. The Italian-language libretto was adapted from Antonio Salvi's ''Adelaide''.The opera was first given at the King's Theatre in London on 2 December 1729. ...

in the 1940

Nardi-Danese

After World War II, he and Renato Danese established a workshop in ''Via Vincenzo Lancia'',

Torino Turin ( , Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital from 1861 to 1865. T ...

, building racing cars, prototypes and small-series special designs. *''750 Nardi'' *''Nardi-Danese 1500 sport''. Fitted for the Roman driver

Marco Crespi Marco Crespi (born 5 November 1978) is an Italian professional golfer. Career Crespi was born in Monza, Italy. He turned professional in 2002. Crespi played on the Challenge Tour in 2006–09 and 2012–13. He was invited to the 2012 Telenet ...

, 8-cylinder as in the

. * Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 variations Nardi himself raced the ''

monoposto An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

'' (one-seater, or GP type), in

Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti The Dolomites Gold Cup Race (translation: ''Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti'') was a car race on public roads open to traffic, which was run in the Dolomite Mountains of northern Italy for ten years from 1947 to 1956. It took place along an anti-cl ...

hillclimb, winning in 1947 and 1948). It was also entered by three drivers in the 1952

Targa Florio The Targa Florio was a public road endurance automobile race held in the mountains of Sicily near the island's capital of Palermo. Founded in 1906, it was the oldest sports car racing event, part of the World Sportscar Championship between 1955 ...

, but failed to finish.

Nardi & C. S.a.S.

His own workshop was established in Via Lancia (1951), focusing on prototypes and tuning equipment. Amongst the prototypes were: *an F2 prototype developed with

Gianni Lancia Gianni Lancia (16 November 1924 – 30 June 2014) was an Italian automobile engineer, industrialist and racing enthusiast, known for running the Lancia carmaker in Turin (1949–55). Born in Fobello (near Biella), he was the older son of Vincen ...

(1952). *two ''Raggio Azzurro'' (''Blue Ray'') prototypes, designed by Michelotti and built by

Vignale Vignale is the luxury car sub-brand of Ford Motor Company used in automobiles sold in Europe.Lancia Aurelia The Lancia Aurelia is a car produced by Italian manufacturer Lancia from 1950 to the summer of 1958. It is noted for using one of the first series-production V6 engines. Several body styles were offered: 4-door saloon, 2-door GT coupé (B20), ...

's (B20 1955, B24 1958). *the 4CV, a 750 cc

Panhard Panhard was a French motor vehicle manufacturer that began as one of the first makers of automobiles. It was a manufacturer of light tactical and military vehicles. Its final incarnation, now owned by Renault Trucks Defense, was formed ...

-powered racer intended for

Le Mans Le Mans (, ) is a city in northwestern France on the Sarthe River where it meets the Huisne. Traditionally the capital of the province of Maine, it is now the capital of the Sarthe department and the seat of the Roman Catholic diocese of Le Man ...

(1953), as well as the 750 LM

Crosley Crosley was a small, independent American manufacturer of subcompact cars, bordering on microcars. At first called the Crosley Corporation and later Crosley Motors Incorporated, the Cincinnati, Ohio, firm was active from 1939 to 1952, inter ...

(1950–54). A 750 Spider was presented at 37th Paris salon (1950), body by

Pietro Frua Pietro Frua (2 May 1913 - 28 June 1983) was one of the leading Italian coachbuilders and car designers during the 1950s and 1960s. Early years Frua was born in Turin, the centre of coachbuilding in northern Italy. He was the fourth son of Angela, ...

. *The ''Bisiluro Damolnar'' (''bisiluro'' meaning ''twin torpedo'') was built by

Mario Damonte is a character created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. He is the title character of the ''Mario'' franchise and the mascot of Japanese video game company Nintendo. Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his cr ...

Carlo Mollino Carlo Mollino (6 May 1905 – 27 August 1973) was an Italian architect, designer, photographer and educator. Biography Carlo Mollino was born on May 6, 1905, in Turin, a major industrial city and cultural center in northwest Italy. He was the o ...

, & Nardi, using a Gianni engine. It ran at

(1955) and is currently in the

Museo della Scienza e della Tecnologia "Leonardo da Vinci" Museo Nazionale Scienza e Tecnologia Leonardo da Vinci in Milan, dedicated to painter and scientist Leonardo da Vinci, is the largest science and technology museum in Italy. It was opened on 5 February 1953 and inaugurated by Prime Minister Alci ...

Milano Milan ( , , Lombard: ; it, Milano ) is a city in northern Italy, capital of Lombardy, and the second-most populous city proper in Italy after Rome. The city proper has a population of about 1.4 million, while its metropolitan city has ...

. *''Silver Ray'', a

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

Golden Commando V8 350 bhp-engined Michelotti-bodied coupe for William Simpson of Coral Gables FL (1960). *single-seater on

VW Beetle The Volkswagen Beetle—officially the Volkswagen Type 1, informally in German (meaning "beetle"), in parts of the English-speaking world the Bug, and known by many other nicknames in other languages—is a two-door, rear-engine economy car, ...

components,

Formula Vee Formula Vee (Formula Fau Vee in Brazil and Germany) or Formula Volkswagen is a popular open wheel, single-seater junior motor racing formula, with relatively low costs in comparison to Formula Ford. On the international stage, Niki Lauda, E ...

prototype, for Hubert Brundage (1959). ''Officine Nardi'' (meaning, "Nardi workshop") ceased to work with car prototypes in the mid-50s and specialized in speed-enhancing parts such as manifolds, crankshafts, camshafts. It has become most known for the Nardi steering wheel, initially (in 1951) using

walnut A walnut is the edible seed of a drupe of any tree of the genus ''Juglans'' (family Juglandaceae), particularly the Persian or English walnut, '' Juglans regia''. Although culinarily considered a "nut" and used as such, it is not a true ...

but mostly using African

mahogany Mahogany is a straight-grained, reddish-brown timber of three tropical hardwood species of the genus ''Swietenia'', indigenous to the AmericasBridgewater, Samuel (2012). ''A Natural History of Belize: Inside the Maya Forest''. Austin: Unive ...

wood. The Nardi wheel was first fitted to a 1952

Pegaso Pegaso (, "Pegasus") was a Spanish manufacturer of trucks, buses, tractors, armored vehicles, and, for a while, to train apprentices, and have a good brand image, some sports cars. The parent company, Enasa, was created in 1946 and based in the ...

. Nardi also made floor gearshift conversions for the Peugeot 403 and 404 models. Nardi died from

blood poisoning Sepsis, formerly known as septicemia (septicaemia in British English) or blood poisoning, is a life-threatening condition that arises when the body's response to infection causes injury to its own tissues and organs. This initial stage is foll ...

from

exhaust gas Exhaust gas or flue gas is emitted as a result of the combustion of fuels such as natural gas, gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel, fuel oil, biodiesel blends, or coal. According to the type of engine, it is discharged into the atmosphere through an ...

, after which his workshop was run by Barbero (1966–69) and Iseglio.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nardi, Enrico Italian automobile designers Italian racing drivers Engineers from Bologna 1907 births 1966 deaths Sportspeople from Bologna