Cisitalia D46 History
The Fiat-based single-seat voiturette that launched Cisitalia — a featherweight monoposto raced by Nuvolari and Ascari.
Photo: “File:1947 Cisitalia D46 Monoposto - red - fvl (4610987096).jpg” by Rex Gray / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0
History
The D46 was Cisitalia's founding product, designed by Dante Giacosa (creator of the Fiat Topolino) and built from heavily modified Fiat 1100 components. Weighing under 400 kg and producing 60–70 bhp from a dry-sump-lubricated 1,100 cc four-cylinder, it was shrewdly competitive in the postwar voiturette class.
Approximately 31 examples were built between 1946 and 1948. Seven cars were entered at the inaugural Coppa Brezzi race in Turin's Valentino Park on 1 September 1946, driven by established names including Tazio Nuvolari, Alberto Ascari, and Piero Taruffi. The D46s quickly came to dominate the Italian voiturette series, validating Dusio's ambitions and funding his next, far more expensive chapter.
Generations
Single generation · D46 monoposto
Photo: “File:1947 Cisitalia D46 Monoposto - red - fvl (4610987096).jpg” by Rex Gray / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0
Featherweight Fiat 1100-based voiturette designed by Dante Giacosa; roughly 31 built and raced by Nuvolari, Ascari, and Taruffi.
1946 Photo: “File:1946 Cisitalia D46 01.jpg” by Huhu Uet / Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
1948 Photo: “File:1948 Cisitalia D46, 4 cylinder, 1089cm3, 65hp, 170kmh, photo 1.JPG” by Alf van Beem / Wikimedia Commons — CC0 1.0
Body styles
- Single-seat open-wheel racer (monoposto)
Related models
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