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Automotive Lifestyle
VINTAGE: Carlo Abarth’s Original Racecar
The very-lightweight Cisitalia-Abarth 204A is the last Cisitalia, the first Abarth and the final car raced to victory by the great Tazio Nuvolari.
The Cisitalia-Abarth 204A was the first complete race car built by the legendary performance tuner Carlo Abarth. (Photo: Wouter Melissen)
Acting as Porsche's official representative in Italy, Austrian-born Carlo Abarth joined the fledgling Cisitalia company early in 1947. This was the result of agreement between Cisitalia founder Piero Dusio and the Porsche family to develop a revolutionary Grand Prix car following Porsche designs.
Unfortunately, the project proved too ambitious and despite numerous successes, Cisitalia went bankrupt less-than two years later. As compensation for his services, Abarth received several racing cars in various states of completion when the assets were liquidated.
Among them were two complete examples and a third that was still under construction of the Cisitalia 204A model, which Abarth had helped develop. The type had made its debut in May 1948 and was the first Cisitalia that showed the Porsche influence.
It used an all-new steel-tubular chassis with the twin-trailing-arm and transverse-torsion-bar front suspension that was so typical of all Porsche-developed cars of the era. Consisting of a live axle with a transverse leaf spring, the rear end was more conventional. Compared with the existing and already very successful 202 chassis, the Cisitalia 204A was considerably lighter.
What was carried over from the existing Cisitalia lineup was the Fiat-sourced four-cylinder engine. The production-based unit displaced 1,089 cc and featured a single, laterally mounted camshaft that actuated the valves through push-rods.
Equipped with Carlo Abarth's tuning kit that included twin Weber carburetors, the performance of the diminutive engine was impressive. Running on exotic fuel with 50 percent alcohol, it could produce as much as 80 horsepower. It was mated to a four-speed manual gearbox, which was also of Fiat origins.
To make the most of the lightweight chassis, aerodynamicist Giovanni Savonuzzi was tasked to design a very efficient body. He was helped by the Porsche-style front end, which allowed for a considerably lower nose.
Savonuzzi penned a tightly wrapped body that more closely resembled Cisitalia's single seaters than the 202 sports racer it was due to replace. On the original design, the 204A still featured an all-enveloping nose but this was later replaced by cycle fenders. The bodies were built by Rocco Motto, who specialized in lightweight constructions.
Unfortunately, the project proved too ambitious and despite numerous successes, Cisitalia went bankrupt less-than two years later. As compensation for his services, Abarth received several racing cars in various states of completion when the assets were liquidated.
Among them were two complete examples and a third that was still under construction of the Cisitalia 204A model, which Abarth had helped develop. The type had made its debut in May 1948 and was the first Cisitalia that showed the Porsche influence.
It used an all-new steel-tubular chassis with the twin-trailing-arm and transverse-torsion-bar front suspension that was so typical of all Porsche-developed cars of the era. Consisting of a live axle with a transverse leaf spring, the rear end was more conventional. Compared with the existing and already very successful 202 chassis, the Cisitalia 204A was considerably lighter.
What was carried over from the existing Cisitalia lineup was the Fiat-sourced four-cylinder engine. The production-based unit displaced 1,089 cc and featured a single, laterally mounted camshaft that actuated the valves through push-rods.
Equipped with Carlo Abarth's tuning kit that included twin Weber carburetors, the performance of the diminutive engine was impressive. Running on exotic fuel with 50 percent alcohol, it could produce as much as 80 horsepower. It was mated to a four-speed manual gearbox, which was also of Fiat origins.
To make the most of the lightweight chassis, aerodynamicist Giovanni Savonuzzi was tasked to design a very efficient body. He was helped by the Porsche-style front end, which allowed for a considerably lower nose.
Savonuzzi penned a tightly wrapped body that more closely resembled Cisitalia's single seaters than the 202 sports racer it was due to replace. On the original design, the 204A still featured an all-enveloping nose but this was later replaced by cycle fenders. The bodies were built by Rocco Motto, who specialized in lightweight constructions.
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