1946 Cisitalia D46

The Cisitalia D46 single seater (monoposto) made its racing debut in 1946 and was built through 1948 with approximately thirty-one examples created. Among the list of drivers who piloted the D46 include Tazio Nuvolari, Alberto Ascari, and Piero Taruffi. The Cisitalia D46 was a small, four-cylinder race car with a spaceframe chassis that would provide the basis for future, larger Grand Prix cars including the complex Cisitalia 360.

The Turin-based Cisitalia (derived from 'Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia') was formed near the end of World War II by Italian entrepreneur Piero Dusio, and it entered bankruptcy in 1963. Along with race cars, the company built several road-going vehicles, but most never reached large-scale production.

Dante Giacosa was commissioned to create the design for the D46, with many of the mechanical components sourced from the Fiat road-going and readily available vehicle. Giacosa was very familiar with Fiat components as he was the designer of the Fiat 500 Topolino, penned before the onset of World War II. Cisitalia modified many of the components to make them suitable for competition, including adding a dry sump lubrication system to the engine, along with a custom cylinder head, lightweight connecting rods, higher compression pistons, and a forged crankshaft.

The lightweight D46, weighing approximately 400 kg (880 lbs), equipped with the 60 horsepower, 1100cc engine (upwards of 70 bhp depending on tune and configuration), was very competitive in the voiturette series.

by Dan Vaughan

Chassis number: 007
Engine number: 0065

The name Cisitalia is derived from 'Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia' a business conglomerate founded in Turin in 1946 and controlled by the wealthy industrialist and sportsman Piero Dusio. Cisitalia was the first vehicle manufacturer to create and organize one-make car races.

This example retains the original chassis, original engine, original pre-selector gearbox, as well as the original body panels and the seat frame. It is one of the original seven factory race cars campaigned by the factory.

Dante Giacosa designed the D46, which made its successful debut in 1946. The 1100cc engine and suspension were derived from Fiat's production models but were modified extensively for racing. The engine received modifications such as dry sump lubrication, a custom cylinder head, a forged crankshaft, lightweight connecting rods, and higher compression pistons that increased the power output to 60-70 bhp.

With a lightweight space frame, the entire car weighed less than 400 kg (880 lb.), so the available power was more than enough for competitive performance.

Such highly talented drivers as Tazio Nuvolari, Ascari, and Taruffi, piloted D46s to multiple successes against more powerful but less efficient and older racing cars.

Chassis '007' competed in dozens of races including the most stand-out of '007's' historical attributes is that it competed in the 1949 Czech Grand Prix, making it eligible for all the historic Grand Prix's events, including Monaco.

Interestingly, this car is believed by the founder and President of the Cisitalia Club North America and Dr. Sergio Lugo, a marque expert in Argentina, to be the exact car driven by company founder Piero Dusio to victory in the 1946 Coppa Brezzi. This D-46 was also on the Cisitalia show stand at the 1946 Prague Motor Show.

This history of s/n 007 is fastidiously documented and undoubted, a distinction that is somewhat unusual due to several factors including spotty period records, casual record keeping, the intrinsically rough lives led by racing cars, and the sheer number of years elapsed since they were built. I

Dr. Ed Godshalk, who is a leading Cisitalia expert and restorer in the United States, and the US representative of the Cisitalia International Club, has studied the original car closely and compared it to numerous period archives. In his opinion the car is certainly one of the factory team cars that raced in the 1946 Coppa Brezzi. Based on studied details, the car is believed to have been driven by either double Le Mans winner Raymond Sommer (#6) or Louis Chiron (#12), Piero Taruffi (#32) or Piero Dusio (#56).