Vittorio Jano

Vittorio Jano (1891 to 1965) was an Italian automobile designer of Hungarian descent, active in European racing car engine design from the 1920s through the 1960s. Born in San Giorgio Canavese to Hungarian immigrants, he worked at Rapid and Fiat before moving to Alfa Romeo in 1923 as chief engineer, where his first design, the P2, won the first world championship for Grand Prix cars in 1925. He also produced the P3 of 1932 and the 12C of 1936, then moved to Lancia in 1937, where he worked on the Aurelia and the Lancia D50. When Ferrari took over the D50 effort in 1955 it inherited Jano, who designed the Jano V12 introduced in the 290 MM in 1956 and the Dino V6 engines that became the basis of Ferrari's smaller engines. He died on 13 March 1965.