The Cisitalia Grand Prix is a single-seater car for the 1.5-litre supercharged race car class, prewar called voiturette, postwar promoted to Grand Prix class (later F1), built by Italian sports car manufacturer Cisitalia and introduced in 1949.[1][2] It was designed on behalf of Cisitalia by Porsche between 1946–47, and is therefore also known by its Porsche project number, Type 360.[3][4]
An extremely advanced design, Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive layout and four-wheel-drive on top of state of the art Grand Prix technology, it proved too complex to build for the small Italian firm—leading to a lengthy development and eventually to the financial downfall of the company. Between Cisitalia's 1949 liquidation and the fact that due to lack of entries, supercharged engines, and all large F1 engines, were banned for the 1952 Formula One season that was run according to F2 rules, the car never raced in Grands Prix.[5]
The Type 360 is also noticeable for using an early form of sequential manual transmission, and was one of the first race cars to do so.
History
The car was commissioned by Piero Dusio in 1946 after Porsche family members had been imprisoned by French Occupation Zone authorities in December 1945. Ferry Porsche was released after six months. Dusio paid a large sum of money upfront, part of which was used to free 71 year old Ferdinand Porsche in August 1947 from the French prison in which he was being held effectively for ransom. Dusio gave Porsche only 16 months to complete the car which proved too short a time to sort out the advanced design.
Design
The 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix was turned into a Voiturette race for smaller, 1500cc supercharged cars, like the factory Alfa Romeo 158/159 Alfetta and Maserati 4CL and 4CLT. Mercedes, believing that these rules might get adopted for GP racing, decided to invest in a new, smaller model, the V8-powered Mercedes-Benz W165, which took a double victory in the race. Engineers of Auto Union racing cars had witnessed Mercedes testing a "Tripoli car" at the old Hockenheimring in April 1939,[6] which inspired them to develop a similar project. The Auto Union Typ E was a Porsche-designed, never completed 1,482 cc (53.0 x 56.0 mm) flat-12, 2-stage Roots supercharged racer developed in 1939 and 1940. It was projected to deliver well over 260 PS at 9,000 rpm.[7]
In 1946, the Voiturette rules were promoted to Grand Prix motor racing rules, later called Formula One. The Auto Union concept provided the basis of the Cisitalia 360 car which was built in Italy by Cisitalia personnel with help from former Porsche employee Robert Eberan von Eberhorst[8] around a
Legacy
By the time the only prototype was finished Dusio was out of cash. The car languished in development until 1951, at one point being shipped off to Argentina to try to persuade president Juan Perón to invest in the company. By 1952 Formula One rules had changed and while Dusio attempted to source a 2-liter motor for the car a lack of funds relegated one of the most advanced Grand Prix cars of its day to a few Formula Libre events and quick retirement. The car is currently on display in the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart.
External links
References
- Karl E. Ludvigsen. Porsche : origin of the species Bentley, 2012^
- Cisitalia The Cortile, retrieved 19 May 2021^
- A Look Back at Porsche's Type 360 Cisitalia Grand Prix Race-car 31 August 2021^