He was an amateur race driver in the 1930s
(driving Alfa Romeos) who decided to build his own cars after the Second
World War. His idea was to create a race series using his to be cheap single
seaters, with mainly Fiat parts (1100 engine and 500 suspension).
Ex-Fiat personnel were employed - Giacosa
and Savonuzzi for engineering, Taruffi to manage the team and later Porsche
and von Eberhorst for further technical work. The result was the D46, later
forming the basis for the 202 road car.
Later Cisitalia went on to develop a mid-engined,
four wheel drive formula one car, designed by Ferry Porsche. This
used a 1.5-litre flat-12 supercharged engine with 450bhp ! This project, along with
others including a large five seater car and a tractor, ultimately caused
the financial downfall of the company, which entered receivership in 1949.
It continued to produce and develop cars until about 1952.
The Formula One project was separated from
the rest of the company and transferred to Argentina where it continued
development for some time under the name of Societa Autocar.
Cisitalia
(the name comes from Consorzio Industriale Sportive Italia)
was founded at Turin in 1946 by Piero Dusio, an ex-footballer who had become
a rich industrialist through the success of his own firm, CISI (textiles,
banks, sports goods, hotels).
D46
This won its first race at Turin in Spetember
1946 (and also came second, third and fifth), and some backing was found
for a one make series. This, however, did not last long before collapsing.
Despite this several cars were sold and used by a variety of people in
racing. About 40 cars built during 1946 and 47.
1946
saw the first car, the D46 completed. Designed by Giacosa it used a Fiat
1090cc engine with 65bhp, a tubular chassis and a three-speed semi-automatic
transmission, the latter also designed by Giacosa. Aluminium drum brakes
were fitted to all four wheels. The bodywork was in aluminium and made
by Motto. With a wheelbase of 2008mm and tracks of 1220mm/1120mm (front/rear)
it had a total weight of 350kg. Such a light weight enabled the D46 to
reach over 170km/h.
202
Released to the world at the Italian Grand
Prix in 1947, it immediately gained much admiration for its styling - including
being displayed in the New York Museum of Modern Art.
1947 also saw the 202 MM (Mille Miglia)
released. Designed by Vignale at Stabilimento Farina, it was a competition
version of the standard car and led the Mille Miglia in that year (driven
by Nuvolari) until problems forced him into second place (behind an 8C2900
Alfa Romeo !). Visually identifiable by having two small 'aeroscreens'
and fins on the rear wings. It was popularly known as the 202 MM 'Nuvolari'
after his Mille Miglia drive.
Spider variants were also made, designed
by Vignale and called the 202SC they were built by various carozzeria with
small detail differences. The coupe was known as the Gran Sport and was
built from 1947 to 1952. Production was around 153 cars.
Click on the images below for a larger version.
The
202 was a coupe based on the D46 racecar spaceframe chassis. Suspension
was basically Fiat 1100 parts, with a transverse leaf spring and lower
wishbones at the front, with a live axle and longitudinal leaf springs
at the rear. The engine was still the 1100 (1089cc) unit, but with various
modifications (including two twin Webers and help from Carlo Abarth) it
produced 60bhp. Combined with a kerb weight of around 760kg the car was
endowed with good performance. The body, a two seater coupe, was originally
designed by Pinin Farina. It was reworked by Vignale (with only small detail
changes being made such as a single piece windscreen, revised grille and
larger bumpers) who then produced the production bodies.
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Technical Details
| Engine | 1089cc (68x75mm) in-line four with 60bhp@5500rpm |
| Suspension | front : independent with lower wishbones, transverse leaf spring and telescopic dampers
rear : live axle with leaf springs wheelbase : 2400mm track (front/rear) : 1258mm/1247mm |
| Brakes | drums all round |
| Transmission | 4 speed manual |
| Steering | worm and roller |
| Empty weight | 765kg |
202D
The new car was first shown at the 1952
Geneva Motorshow and in total three coupes and two spiders were built,
powered by BPM engines of either 2.8 or 2-litres. Each example has minor
detail differences from the others, two are known to be still in existence.
The last GT cars built by Cisitalia, only five examples of the 202D were built
between 1952 and 1955. Developed by Savonuzzi the first example was a coupe
constructed in aluminium by Stabilimenti Farina. It was powered by a 2772cc
in-line four cylinder BPM engine, derived from their maritime motors and
produced 160bhp @ 5,300rpm. The front suspension was independent whilst
the rear used a modified Lancia Aurelia B20 GT de Dion setup. For the Mille
Miglia that year a competition version was produced, with two twin carburettors,
180bhp and various other changes such as no bumpers. The wheelbase was
2,450mm whilst the empty weight was 850kg. A four speed gearbox was fitted,
as were disc brakes on all four wheels. It was going well until the clutch
disc gave way and Dusio (who was driving) was forced to retire.
The Cisitalia 202 featured heavily in the
1947 Mille Miglia (finishing second, third and fourth), below are two images from that race.
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303 DF
Built from 1951 to 1953, still using the 1089cc engine.
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The last cars
Following the 202D Cisitalia went down the same route as many other small manufacturers and began building cars based more completely on Fiat mechanicals. These included a 1900 based coupé and a 70bhp version of the Fiat 1100. Around 100 were built of the latter, as well as a Volvo engined variant. From 1961 to 1965 the last model, the Coupé Tourism Special rolled off the production line in small numbers. This was basically a rebodied Fiat 600 fitted with 750cc and 850cc engines.
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For more pictures of various Cisitalia cars, see our Trofeo Lumezzane, Mille Miglia 2001 and Mille Miglia 2002 picture galleries.
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