Cisitalia Sports Car Books - History and Construction

Il mistero 204 - La prima Abarth, l'ultima Cisitalia

Who really designed the Cisitalia-Abarth 204, the car in which Nuvolari achieved the last success of his extraordinary career? Why was this winning model, desirable to drivers, built in no more than eight examples? And how many were actually made? Why was the 204, designed and built by Cisitalia, 'given' to Carlo Abarth? And what is the real story of the 'death' of Cisitalia and the birth of Abarth?

The answers to these and many other questions are contained in this book, with pictures and documents never published before: among others, the contract between Cisitalia and Porsche to build the F.1 360 Grand Prix and other models with highly advanced features. You can also discover the protagonists of those incredible days, at the end of the 1940s, when one of the most important brands in automotive history, the Abarth Scorpion, was created.

Finally, to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of engineer Giovanni Savonuzzi, the 'father' of the Cisitalia 202 and many other famous models, including the Gilda show prototype, a chapter is dedicated to this great designer and engineer, who was all too soon forgotten.

Text in Italian.

Cisitalia - Una storia di coraggio e passione

Today, perhaps, few automobile history lovers know what Cisitalia was. It was an almost 'family-owned' marque which, immediately after the Second World War, was able to produce masterpieces like the 202 coupé bodied by Pininfarina, as a result of the inspiration and courage of Piero Dusio, a wealthy Piedmont industrialist. And it is a car that has been on display at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in the past.
That's not all, because the small manufacturer also produced a series of racing single-seaters, the agile and fast D46, as they did the Grand Prix, designed by none other than Ferdinand Porsche.

The book is written by Nino Balestra, who is also the author of other volumes on the history Cisitalia with the opportunity of covering the entire production of the marque, from 1946 to the mid-60s. Precious archive pictures -some unpublished - complete the work, which closes with the meticulous restoration of a 202 Cabriolet, which has been brought back to its original splendour.

Text in Italian.