1948 Cisitalia 202 Corsa

Founded in 1939 by Turinese textile industrialist Piero Dusio to manufacture sports equipment, Consorzio Industriale Sportivo Italia (Cisitalia) amassed a fortune for its owner, a former football player and president of Juventus, by making military uniforms during WW2. An experienced amateur driver, Dusio used his fortune to become involved in the sport he loved. After winning his class in the 1937 Mille Miglia, he began to explore the possibility of building his own racing cars. Cisitalia’s first model was the D46, which appeared in 1946: a small single-seater using a tubular steel space-frame chassis, crafted at Cisitalia’s bicycle factory, to support readily available Fiat mechanicals such as the Fiat 1089cc engine and Fiat 500 suspension. After fifty D46s had been sold and the model had achieved a debut victory in the Coppa Andrea Brezzi in Turin, Cisitalia focused on building a small passenger car based on the D46, including its Fiat components and space-frame chassis. In the summer of 1946, the 202 CMM (Coupé Mille Miglia) was initially designed by Dante Giacosa and continued by Giovanni Savonuzzi (hired by Dusio in August 1945). The first coupé was built by Alfredo Vignale, at the time departmental head at Stabilimenti Farina, and it allowed him to set up his own carrozzeria. The Cisitalia 202 SMM (Spyder Mille Miglia) was derived directly from the coupé. After Nuvolari’s epic effort, subsequent competition spiders were known as 202 SMM Nuvolaris. Savonuzzi’s design was submitted to Battista Pinin Farina as an initial concept for the new 202 Gran Sport coupé, and it inspired the master to create one of the most significant examples of body styling in automotive history. Cisitalia provided Pinin Farina with the chassis on which the body was placed. The body was more or less handcrafted, with its aluminum panels shaped over wooden forms. Its shapes are the culmination of all the previous research: the hood, body, fenders and headlights are integral to the continuously flowing surface, rather than added on, creating an overall sense of beauty and speed. Unveiled in 1947 at the Coachbuilders’ exhibition at the Milan Triennale and at the Paris Motor Show, it won the Coppa d’Oro at the Villa d’Este Concours d’Elegance. The Cisitalia 202 Gran Sport was defined as “a rolling sculpture” in 1951, when it was chosen, along with seven other cars, for an exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York (MoMA). The progenitor of all modern sports cars, the 202 stands as a timeless bridge between pre- and post-war sports car design. Its lines had a strong impact on the aesthetics of car design at the time, breaking with tradition and introducing new concepts in style. Coupé versions of the 202 were the first to be produced; a cabriolet followed. The 202 was built around low-cost Fiat components, including a redesigned chassis and a 1089cc four-cylinder engine delivering [XX] horsepower. The first Gran Sport model has only two seats and is the first car in history to carry the brand name on the rear as well. The first development, the 202 Berlinetta, or B, can instead accommodate four people (three in front and one, uncomfortably, behind) and is distinguished by its more massive grille and chrome bumpers. The 1951 202 C has a trunk accessible from outside and a wider rear window. The early 202 grille was aluminum, with 23 individual teeth shaped like a “D” with the curved part facing forward, and a narrow surround. The later 202 had a chrome-plated grille with 18 thicker teeth and a thicker surround. The twin windscreen was later replaced with a one-piece curved windscreen. The 202 body production by Pinin Farina soon shifted to Stabilimenti Farina and, to a lesser extent, Vignale. Both built the 202 to Battista Pinin Farina’s original design, although there are some differences. It was expensive, and only 170 were produced between 1947 and 1952: 153 coupés and 17 cabriolets.

Cisitalia chassis no. 066 is one of three special “Corsa” coupés prepared for the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio races in 1948. Dante Giacosa, who helped Piero Dusio start Cisitalia, states in his autobiography “I miei 40 anni di progettazione alla Fiat” that these cars were the prototypes of the later 202 coupé and that they were built by Stabilimenti Farina. These early cars have a chassis tag reading “TIPO D46 SPORT”, as they were an evolution of the D46 “monoposto” racing cars into a “biposto” configuration. Once production increased, the tags on the later coupés were changed to “TIPO 202”. It is theorized that about 65 chassis numbers had been pre-allocated for production cars, primarily by Pinin Farina, so the next available chassis numbers, 066 and 067, were used for the “Squadra Piero Dusio” factory team cars for the 1948 race season. Cisitalia chassis no. 066, together with its “sister” Corsa coupés, differs from the later production cars in many ways. For example, the inverted arch tube in the lower door sills, which was added on later cars for extra strength, was not yet present. Many weight-saving measures were applied, and official factory documents report a weight of only 727 kg without fuel. There are no coachbuilder stampings on the body panels of 066 but, as noted above, Giacosa states that it was built by Stabilimenti Farina, and period photos show chassis no. 066 in front of that coachbuilder’s factory. The third Corsa coupé (chassis no. 007) was also reportedly built by Pinin Farina. Like the other Corsa coupés, Cisitalia chassis no. 066 had special features such as: driving lights in the grille; a third windshield wiper; vertical “shark” gill-type side vents; hood louvers; an air vent hole in the rear window; air inlets below the headlights to cool the brakes; rear vents to duct air out of the cabin; no rear trunk (the spare tire is mounted behind the seats); and no taillights, except for “banana” license plate lights; rear wheel spats. The first major race for chassis no. 066 was the 32nd Targa Florio, held on April 3–4, 1948. It was combined with the 8th Giro di Sicilia, since the race was run around the perimeter of Sicily, a distance of 1,080 km. According to Count Giovanni Lurani, the course had about 11,000 corners! This twisty course allowed Cisitalia 202 Corsa chassis 066, fitted with engine 206MM and driven by Macchieraldo, to finish 3rd overall, while chassis 067, with engine 207MM, was 2nd, both close behind the Ferrari 166 S of Biondetti and Troubetzkoy. Note that at this time none of the cars had vent louvers in their hoods. The next major race for the Cisitalia 202 Corsa was the XV Mille Miglia, run on May 2, 1948, but only one of the three Corsa coupés finished: chassis 067, in 5th place overall. Cisitalia factory racing documents state that 066, again driven by Macchieraldo (and fitted with engine 200MM), retired in Rome with a broken connecting rod bolt. The engines had been swapped around: after the Targa Florio they were likely rebuilt, and there was little concern as to which car they went back into. The hood vent louvers were added at this time to cool the engines, which reportedly generated a surprising amount of heat for a displacement of only 1100cc. After the 1948 Mille Miglia, chassis no. 066 was sold by the factory with engine 207MM. From John de Boer’s research, it appears that the car went to France and was painted blue. It was later exported to the U.S.A., where it was listed for sale, went through several changes of ownership and had a fairly troubled life, at one point losing its engine as well. It eventually ended up in the hands of the current owner, who restored it, even managing to reunite the chassis with its matching 207MM engine.