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Cisitalia was
founded by the Italian businessman Piero Dusio in the year 1946.
Piero Dusio was a racing car enthusiast of the purest water. Building
racing- and sportscars was his passion and because he earned a fortune
with his business he did not have to make a living out of it...
The first Cisitalia models were advanced racingcars built with space
frames, aluminium body's and advanced suspensions.
In all cases Cisitalia used Fiat engines and parts. All Cisitalia's were
powered by the 1100 cc. Fiat four cylinder engine. The engine was tuned
and fitted with two carburettors giving a power output of 50 up to 60
bhp.
The advanced and very light Cisitalia's were successful racingcars; Tazio Nuvolari
ended second in the 1947 Mille Miglia and Piero Taruffi was winner of
the Italian Championships in 1947 with Cisitalia...
In the year 1948 Cisitalia presented the revolutionary 202 Gran Sport Coupe, designed by Pinin Farina.
The Cisitalia 202 Gran Sport Coupe was designed with a very modern, all
enveloping body, in which every external part was integrated. The car
looked very slick and clean an was to become the trendsetter of all GT
sportscars to come. Pinin Farina and Cisitalia were honored by the New
York Museum of Modern Art who adopted the 202 Gran Sport in their
collection. The 202 was the only car honoured this way ever and can
still be admired in the New York Museum of Modern Art...
Based on the
Cisitalia 202 many bodywork variant were introduced, amongst others the
streamline models
202 Motto and the 202 Savonizzi Coupe. Also convertibles were available
designed by Pinin Farina, Vignale and Frua.
In the year 1948 the first Cisitalia Grand Prix racingcar was presented,
business was flourishing so why not built a potential winner?
The Cisitalia G.P. racingcar was developed by Cisitalia in cooperation with
Carlo Abarth, Ferdinant Porsche, Robert Eberan von Eberhorst and others.
This strong team and the large bank account of Dusio made it possible
for the racingcar to be far ahead of it's time...
The Cisitalia G.P. racingcar was equipped with a 12 cylinder
boxer-engine with four camshafts and a compressor; giving a power-output
of 300 bhp. out of only 1500 cc...
Unfortunately the Cisitalia G.P. racingcar was never able to proof it's
promising specifications, in 1949 the firm went bankrupt because of the
G.P. racingcar project...
After a
period of approximately one and a half years refinancing the business
Cisitalia rised up again. This time the company was managed by Carlo
Dusio, Piero Dusio's son.
Some time before the new start Piero Dusio moved to Argentina. Sources
tell there were plans to move Cisitalia production to Argentina,
this did not happen.
Cisitalia entered business again with the famous 202 model. Production
of the 202 was ceased in 1952 after 485 Cisitalia 202 models built
since 1948.
The period 1952-1958 is not clear to us. Sources do not mention anything
about it or just a fraction. One source, the book Collectors Cars by Lee
Culpepper mentions the car we present in these pages; the Cisitalia
Pinin Farina Coupe or "203" as we will call it.
The information makes us believe that there was at least one Cisitalia
model developed between 1952 and 1958 and that there should exist a
convertible version too...both designed by Pinin Farina. The
"203" was built, like the 202, with Fiat parts and based on a
fiat model. The "203", we believe, is based on a Fiat 1200
or 1400 floor section and was equipped with the 1100 cc. Fiat four-cylinder engine like
the 202. Now the engine is fitted with only one carburettor.
The Cisitalia 202 was built on a separate chassis, the "203"
was built with a unitary body structure. The body panels were hand
beaten
out of steel and welded seamlessly on a reinforced Fiat floorsection.
Only few "203's" have been built, Lee Culpepper states that a
"few" have been built also because of the enormous sales price
of $ 8.500 in the mid fifties...production ended in 1958.
Lee Culpepper also mentions the use of a 2.8 litre aluminium-alloy four
cylinder engine in this model. The engine came from B.P.M. Marine. These
engines produced 160 bhp. at 5300 rpm. and gave the car a top-speed of
145 mph. (232 km/h.)
From the year 1959 until 1964 Cisitalia tried to survive building
cheaper cars based on the Fiat 600. They were not successful because
Fiat built very nice models themselves and Abarth was very competitive
tuning the standard Fiat models. In the year 1964 Cisitalia ceased
production and closed the factory gate.
Nowadays the
make is sleeping and owned by a family living in Argentina. Like we
told you Piero Dusio, the founder, moved to Argentina in the late
fifties so maybe the name is still in the family. Cisitalia seems to
have an official internet site www.cisitalia.com.ar but we were not able
to reach the site...
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