Franco Angelini -Il "Mago" di Roma

Franco Angelini (*1933, † 2012) 

was a Roman through and through. He was born in this ancient city and spent his entire professional and personal life there. His love and absolute passion for engines and engineering in general became apparent in his early youth.

His childhood and adolescence were heavily influenced by the hardships of World War II, which ended when Franco was just 12 years old. His father, who worked for the state railways, wanted Franco to study. However, after a year of studies, Franco dug his heels in and left school, preferring to work instead. At just 13 years old, he started working at Giovanni Pellegrini's lathe workshop on Via San Cosimato, which also housed a Moto Mondial dealership and service center. He was not happy in the job, though, as he had to perform menial tasks. It did not take long before Franco returned to his studies, successfully graduating at the age of 17. He then returned to his previous workplace, but this time in a different role, working as a mechanic for FB Mondial (Fratelli Boselli). This is where he gained the most experience from his older colleagues, which he later utilized to the fullest throughout his life. For a short period, he also worked at Ciampino Airport (Aeroporto di Ciampino), maintaining service vehicles. It was here that he began dreaming of his own workshop where he could focus on tuning car engines. Soon after, he opened his first small workshop in Rome's Gianicolense district, repairing everything from cars and motorcycles to trucks. Word of his skill in tuning motorcycles and small Fiats quickly spread across Rome. In the 1950s, pre-war cars were still in circulation, and their technical imperfections offered great potential for improvement and tuning.

The Fiat 600, which was highly popular at the time, was modified by a wide range of tuners, but they usually limited themselves to minor adjustments like lightening the flywheel or installing an open exhaust system. Franco, however, went much deeper—he lightened moving engine components while simultaneously working on the brakes and chassis. As a result, his work delivered much more comprehensive outcomes.

Soon, in the 1960s, real gems began appearing on the market, such as the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint, Giulia TI, and Giulietta Spider. Very interesting cars were also being produced by Fiat and Lancia at the time, but Franco was clearly drawn to Alfa Romeo.

The first car he began tuning for racing purposes in his workshop on Via dei Quattro Venti was an Alfa Giulietta Berlina. This was followed by an Alfa Romeo Giulia TZ, which was even driven in a few races by Ignazio Giunti.

The scope of the modifications covered virtually all engine parts and components. This included modifying the intake ports in the cylinder head so that the fuel-air mixture flowed with minimal resistance, working on the valve seats and mating surfaces, and slightly skimming the head to alter the compression ratio. Another significant modification involved the lubrication of the connecting rod bearings on the crankshaft; in the stock configuration, the two middle bearings for the 2nd and 3rd cylinders were lubricated with oil from the oil pan, while the two outer ones were fed via oil galleries in the crankshaft. The modifications thus included drilling lubrication holes to these journal bearings as well.

The carburetors were not left untouched either; the diffuser diameter was reduced to 34 mm, but it was drilled around the perimeter so that it maintained a diameter of 34 mm at lower RPMs, while expanding to 36 mm at higher RPMs. The air filter was removed, and the first exhaust silencer was eliminated. These modifications resulted in a power increase from 74 horsepower to 80–85 hp.

As the number of customers grew, the workshop on Via dei Quattro Venti was no longer sufficient, and the time came for the final move to an address familiar to most of us—Circonvallazione Gianicolense. It is worth mentioning that in addition to a bank loan, Franco received significant help from the brothers Pietro and Adolfo De Acutis, who provided him with a loan of 14 million lire. And it was right here that the most fascinating chapter of the man known as il Mago (the Wizard) began.

Franco's workshop soon became an authorized service center for Raganelli, the largest Alfa Romeo dealership in Rome. However, during one of his trips to Milan, Franco met Engineer Accardi from Alfa Romeo, who sent his inspectors to examine the workshop. They were left in shock by what they saw—due to its cleanliness, expertise, and professionalism, the workshop resembled a surgical clinic. The equipment and tools were also of a very high standard, allowing Franco to become an authorized service center directly under the parent company Alfa Romeo, rather than the Roman dealership. Furthermore, it also became an authorized Autodelta workshop. A competitive "battle" soon ignited between the two entities, as Angelini's cars frequently beat the official Autodelta works cars in races. Carlo Chiti held Franco in high esteem, but the supply of racing parts from Autodelta was often delayed, and Autodelta was particularly reluctant to send newly designed parts to Rome. This situation eventually led Franco to start designing and manufacturing the parts himself. Only pistons and valves were purchased from official manufacturers. Stock cylinder heads were sourced directly from the Alfa Romeo factory.

In the end, however, Franco also resorted to modifying the pistons, fitting them with only a single scraper ring; new oil holes were drilled, and more powerful oil pumps were used to prevent a drop in oil pressure. Crankshafts were also lightened, balanced, and then sent to a specialized company for nitriding. Camshafts were manufactured de novo with altered valve lift profiles.

Yet, for us fans of this Roman tuning firm, it is always the Alfa Romeo GTA, roaming the circuits in its iconic red and white livery, that springs to mind.

The modifications to this car were immense and affected nearly all of its components. Even the welds on the steel bodywork parts were modified. The anti-roll bars were changed, and a custom integrated roll cage was installed with a maximum emphasis on weight reduction, becoming an integral part of the bodywork and significantly stiffening it.

The stock limited-slip differential with a 20% lock was adjusted to 38%. As previously mentioned, the pistons were custom-made by companies like Borgo or Mahle. Through lightening, the flywheel shed up to 1 kg of its weight, and the valves were constructed from a metal used in aerospace turbines called Nimonic. The valve seats were made of bronze with a phosphated surface. The piston, connecting rod, and bolts for all four cylinders were always precisely balanced to match each other's weight perfectly. The oil pan was enlarged, and a higher-capacity oil pump was installed.

Franco experimented with the length of the intake runners, finding that longer runners provided more torque, whereas shorter ones improved cylinder filling. Everything was a matter of hundreds of trials and regular dyno testing, where the engines underwent literal torture.

The exhaust headers consisted of four individual pipes of equal length to ensure easier and smoother cylinder scavenging. The exhaust system was shortened, with the outlet exiting from the side. All these modifications allowed the engine to rev up to 9,000 RPM and achieve a maximum output of up to 180 horsepower! No one else could squeeze out more. Considering that the stock 1,600 cc engine in the GTA version delivered 115 horsepower, this is an incredible increase. However, Franco did not just focus on achieving high performance figures; his main priority was the reliability of his engines. This is why they all underwent so many grueling endurance tests on the dynamometer, where they often ran at 9,000 RPM for several minutes at a time.

The gearboxes were also subject to modifications and improvements. They were completely disassembled, the gears ground and polished, and then broken in for 24 hours in a special oil intended to final-polish and smooth the mating surfaces. Racing cars were fitted with Colotti gearboxes featuring a first gear shifted toward the driver and down—commonly known as a dog-leg layout.

Franco also developed his own 16-valve cylinder head for the engine. The first Giulia equipped with this head was sold to a well-known enthusiast, Dr. Luciano della Noce. In the 1970s, Franco hired two young, enthusiastic, and highly talented engineers—Patrizio Dessi and Giuseppe Roggi—whose calculations helped where practical experience fell short.

Franco was not just a mechanic; he had an excellent eye for people and could sense hidden driving talent among young racers. Among his most successful drivers was Luigi Rinaldi, who tragically lost his life in Brno, and Aldo Cerruti, who raced under the pseudonym "Baronio." Towering above all names, however, was Ignazio Giunti, who was nearly unbeatable in his Alfa GTA Angelini and earned the nickname Reuccio di Vallelunga (The Little King of Vallelunga).

The extent of the modifications and the results achieved by the red and white Alfas on European circuits made the management of Autodelta itself heavily nervous. Their works cars often lagged behind the vehicles from the Roman workshop on the track. For this reason, in a pragmatic move, Carlo Chiti offered Franco the opportunity to officially enter his cars under Autodelta. Franco proudly rejected this offer, although in hindsight, he later evaluated it as his worst decision.

Franco's clientele was a very heterogeneous group of people. Some simply wanted the engine of their Alfa Romeo properly tuned and set up without major interventions. On the other hand, well-to-do customers—such as lawyers, businessmen, and doctors—frequently visited, desiring much more extensive modifications and willing to pay hefty sums.

Franco's workshop was renowned for being very expensive, but many prospective clients failed to realize that engine tuning involved not only very costly, often one-off custom-manufactured parts, but above all, dozens of hours of highly meticulous labor.

Franco also modified official Giulias for the Rome police force. Legend has it that he even fitted some units with an Alfa GTA engine tuned to 170 horsepower.

Similarly, in 2011, an Alfa Romeo 1750 Berlina appeared for sale on the Italian classifieds site autobelle.it. It featured a twin-plug GTA cylinder head, displacement increased to 1,900 cc, and a wide array of chassis modifications, all commissioned from Franco by an Alitalia airline pilot. The car was finished in silver metallic, and from the outside, only the eye of a true enthusiast would notice any changes. The rear was decorated with nothing more than a small badge reading ANGELINI.

PHOTO: Unfortunately, no copyright-free photos are available. I am providing a link to websites where you can view numerous photos of the engines and Franco Angelini himself.