Kyosho 1980 Fiat 131 Abarth vs 1983 Lancia 037

For Ferrari race fans the 1950s were a Golden Age and one of the men most responsible was Aurelio Lampredi. Not because he won races himself; he wasn’t even a driver. He was an engineer; the man tasked with designing an engine that could win in the new Formula One world championship that had been established in 1950. And he did; his 4.5L V12 delivered Ferrari its first-ever F1 win—at the 1951 British Grand Prix. When the F1 engine rules were changed for 1952 and big V12s were outlawed, Lampredi simply carved four cylinders out of one bank of his V12 and carried on. That Lampredi inline-4 powered Alberto Ascari to six wins in the eight F1 races held in 1952—along with Ferrari’s first F1 title, and they repeated in ’53. Along the way, Lampredi engines also chalked up sports car wins at Le Mans, the Mille Miglia, and the Carrera Panamericana, along with two consecutive World Sportscar Championships (1953 and ’54). Four world championships in two different racing formats in the span of three seasons is impressive, but what does that have to do with the cars on these pages, which are neither Ferraris nor from the 1950s? More than you think!

Despite his success, Lampredi was unceremoniously replaced by Vittorio Jano who was brought