OBITUARY
Mauro Forghieri, who has died at the age of 87, is widely regarded as one of the key players in the history of Scuderia Ferrari.
His stint with the company as technical director and both chassis and engine designer lasted from 1959 to 1987, encompassing some of its most memorable successes. He is credited by the team with an involvement in 54 grand prix wins and nine world championships.
The fact that he survived for nearly three decades in an organisation noted for internal turmoil and a revolving door of top personnel says much about his close relationship with Enzo Ferrari. They didn’t always agree, but the Commendatore had a huge amount of respect for the younger man, and usually backed his vision.
Forghieri was born in Modena in 1935. His father Reclus was a machinist and mechanic who worked with Enzo Ferrari at Alfa Romeo in the 1930s, and again from the early days of the new Ferrari marque after the Second World War.
The younger Forghieri studied mechanical engineering at the University of Bologna, and in 1957 he undertook a form of apprenticeship at Ferrari. At one stage he
