Augusto Monaco

The article concerns Augusto Monaco (1903-97), an Italian automobile engineer. See elsewhere for Augusto Monaco (born 1970), a futsal-player representing Argentina national futsal team in 2000 FIFA Futsal World Championship

Augusto Camillo Pietro Monaco (15 March 1903 – 4 November 1997) was an Italian engineer, best known for his racing cars from the early 1930s.

Monaco was born in Buenos Aires, where he earned a degree in engineering before relocating to Turin in the early 1920s, where he made his automobile engineering contributions:

  • 1927 Monaco-Baudo with Antonio Baudo, a single-cylinder 500 cm3 side-valved engine;
  • 1932 Nardi-Monaco with Enrico Nardi, a front-wheeled twin-cylinder JAP engine (998 cm3, 65 bhp) nicknamed Chichibio, and winning several hillclimbs;
  • 1935 Trossi-Monaco with Carlo Felice Trossi, a 16-cylinder (250 bhp, 3982 cm3) race car, uncompetitive due to an unsuitable 75/25 weight distribution.

Since then he declined an offer to join Fiat, and among several engineering projects, was involved in developing synthetic diamonds, a Swiss-patented invention (1948). Augusto Monaco moved to Livorno in the early 1960s, where he worked on hydraulic systems until his retirement. He died in Livorno, 1997.