Source
Automobili Stanguellini is an Italian maker of small sports cars, based in Modena and founded by Vittorio Stanguellini; it was most active between 1946 and 1960.[1] They continued to produce competition cars until 1981, when Vittorio Stanguellini died; thenceforth, the company devoted to vintage cars.
The Stanguellini family had a long involvement with the motor car. Vittorio's grandfather founded an engineering company in 1879, and his father was the first one in Modena to register a car (in 1910, registration "MO 1"). "By the time Vittorio took over, in 1929, the family business included a FIAT agency.
Vittorio Stanguellini began tuning and modifying Maserati, Alfa Romeo and Fiat cars for racing. He was a friendly rival of Enzo Ferrari in Modena beginning in the late 1920s.[3] Vittorio then formed Squadra Corse Stanguellini in 1938 and quickly found success when he modified a Maserati 6CM which took the overall victory at the 1938 Targa Florio.
Stanguellini's cars competed in countless sports car racing events, minor and major (such as the 1957 24 Hours of Le Mans) alike. Vittorio Stanguellini used his experience tuning Fiats in the pre-war days, and having raced them under the Squadra Stanguellini flag, he based his small racers on Fiat components. Focusing on the 750 & 1100 cc classes (winning numerous National victories), Stanguellini sports cars were beautifully engineered cars with light-alloy cylinder blocks, twin overhead camshafts (bialbero) and dual side-draught Weber carburettors. This would add up to a claimed 60 bhp (40 kW) at 7500 rpm from the 741 cc sports engine and 90 bhp (70 kW) at 7000 rpm from the larger engine, providing top speeds of around 180 km/h (110 mph) and 190 km/h (120 mph) respectively.
Unlike many other of the so-called "Etceterinis", Stanguellini were loath to use foreign parts, instead relying on Fiat as much as possible. Bodywork was usually by local Carrozzeria Reggiano.
Vittorio Stanguellini tried very hard to gain a win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. However, with his limited resources, he never was able to achieve this. His best finish was a fourth in class.
CS01101
Source
It was 1947 the year of grace of the brand founded in 1879 by Celso Stanguellini, originally dedicated to the construction of orchestral gables and then passed to the automotive field as Fiat representative for Modena and the province. Precisely that year, the same in which the first car conceived entirely under the name of Enzo Ferrari debuted, the Ferrari 125S, Celso Stanguellini, who in previous years had gained excellent fame for its elaborations on a Fiat basis of which he was representative for Modena and surroundings, under the guidance of his nephew Vittorio, made the great leap and built for the first time on his own a steel tube frame and an aluminum body that made his berlinetta light just 550 kg
What was Stanguellini like? The very light modenese boat designed by Eng. Alberto Massimino a 1089 cc four-cylinder from 60 HP to 6000 rpm in a single-shaft version (a more powerful twin-shaft variant will also arrive) derived from that of the Fiat 1100, powered by two 32 mm Weber carburettors.
The Modenese boat made her race debut on 11 May 1947 at the Piacenza GP with the first owner, Ferdinando Righetti from Modena, gentleman driver and personal friend of Celso Stanguellini and Enzo Ferrari, who after retiring from the racing career led to the 125S of the newly born Scuderia Ferrari entrusted to Franco Cortese and Giuseppe Farina made their debut in the same event of the Italian Championship. The two Reds, however, were unlucky: Farina collided with a test elm destroying the car, while Cortese retired three laps from the end due to a fuel pump failure. The annals report that the race was won by Guido Barbieri on Maserati 6CS / 46, lined up in the major class S + 1.1 (over 1100 cc), covering 30 laps in 55 '24 ", but the S1.1 class ranking shows that Righetti completed the 30 laps scheduled in 55 '09 ".600, that is, first with almost fifteen seconds of gap.
Just four days later the famous "Sassi-Superga" uphill race took place in Turin. Ferrari was absent, but it was still Righetti who won the race on the Stanguellini CS01101. The Modenese was repeated three days later with a class victory in the subsequent Asti GP and then on May 25 on the city circuit of the "Terme di Caracalla", in that GP of Rome in '47 remembered because it was the first Ferrari victory in history. In fact, Franco Cortese won the 125S, but it was Righetti who signed the fastest lap at the tenth of the 40 laps, before retiring due to carburetion problems. The performances of Righetti and his Stanguellini did not go unnoticed at Drake, who convinced him to sell the car to get married at his stable.
The car then passed to Vincenzo Auricchio, of the homonymous family of well-known cheese industrialists, who made his debut driving the CS01101 with a fourth class place in the Vercelli GP, while he finished second at the next Vigevano GP behind the Ferrari driver Cortese. A parenthesis to the 1000 Miglia with a 15th class place paired with Piero Bozzini and Auricchio returned to the podium behind Cortese. But it is the "Acerbo Cup" scheduled on the Pescara circuit on August 15, 1947 that will remain etched in the annals. Halfway through the race Auricchio took the lead and beat the more powerful Ferrari 159 S (which had taken the place of the 125 S and boasted a new 1903 cc and 125 HP V12 engine) with a gap of over 7 seconds. Enzo Ferrari filed an appeal, but Eng. Pasquale Borracci in charge of the technical checks wrote in his report: "the Stanguellini is an aerodynamic masterpiece" and the victory was validated.
With a third place and a fast lap at the Lido of Venice circuit, Auricchio became Italian Champion in 1100 class International Sport and moved to a more powerful Maserati, selling the car to the Neapolitan Giuseppe Ruggiero, of whom we remember a "Brazilian Cup" at Bari where he finished fifth behind Chico Landi on Ferrari 166 S, Felice Bonetto and Achille Varzi on Cisitalia D46 and Franco Cortese (who replaced a sick Tazio Nuvolari) always on 166C. Still a few minor races with Ruggiero and in 1949 the surprising Stanguellini was purchased by the Apulian Aurelio Lorenzetti who employed it at the 1000 Miglia of 1948 placing sixth in the 1951 Sicilian Gold Cup and third the same year on the Senigallia circuit.
It was in 1953 that the Stanguellini 1100 Sport Internazionale ended up in the hands of the young Sicilian driver Giuseppe Picciotto, who made his debut there at the Giro di Sicilia that same year. Picciotto distinguished himself above all for his audacity and in his palmarés the best performances will remain two third places of class at the Giro di Sicilia of '55 and the Nissena Cup of '57, the year in which the car retired. Excellent results considering that the car had now nine years of racing behind it and the opponents were competing on much more modern and powerful vehicles.
Today many of these cars are gone, but the Stanguellini 1100 Sport Internazionale CS01101 has returned to Sicily with the same sound it once had. That of a rough and dangerous motoring, which still had to know the excesses and poisons of today's Formula 1.
Source
Bandini Automobili was an Italian automobile manufacturer operating between 1946 and 1992. It was named after its founder Ilario Bandini.
Founded in 1946 in Bandini’s hometown Forlì, the first Bandini used a modified Fiat 1100 engine, the body was made from hand hammered aluminum and the chassis from aviation-grade tubular steel. Many other post-war Italian sports car companies followed a similar design. But Bandini’s sharp mind, racing knowledge and his eye for detail ensured that Bandini cars were a force to be reckoned with in Europe and the US.
Interest in America surged when Bandini Siluros, with their screaming 750-cc engines and wildly flared front fenders, won SCCA class championships in 1955 and 1957. His slightly modified Crosley engines became famous thanks their DOHC Bandini heads. Bandini himself continued to race in Italy, including the Mille Miglia, while newer models were being built and developed at the factory. One of these included the new 1957 Sport International "Saponetta". It was a two-seat sports car with a tubular steel frame and room for engines of up to 1.0 liter. The design of the car body was very striking. The smooth lines and petite dimensions gave the car the Italian nickname "Saponetta" (little soap). The Formula 3 car of 1954[citation needed] had disc brakes on all four wheels, following closely on the 1951 C-type Jaguar. The Zagato bodied Bandini GT raced in Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring. The coupé by Corna was a 1000 cc and the engine was mounted in front.
Ilario divided his time between design and manufacturing of the cars, and as a race driver. He entered and drove his cars in more than 60 races, both hillclimb events and track racing, including the Mille Miglia from 1947 until 1965, achieving 19 first-place finishes and 18 podiums in the 750cc and 1000cc classes
In the United States, Bandini cars won the SCCA HM class championship in 1955[1] thanks to driver Dolph Vilardi. In 1957 Melvin Sachs won the HM class,[2] one of five Bandini's in the first ten positions. The successes resulted in Ilario being presented with the Gold Key of Daytona and later in 1981 the Laurea H.C. award in mechanical engineering from PRODEO university of New York. In 1959 he produced one of the most successful Formula Juniors. Bandinis won SCCA Class HMod races well into the mid-1960s. A Bandini Siluro won the SCCA Southwest Regional Championship from 1961–1963 and the Saponetta took 3rd place in the National Hmod class in 1961. Bandini continued to make one-off cars well into the 1980s. Ilario, sometimes known as the "great Drake of Forli" died in 1992.
Source
Siata (Società Italiana Auto Trasformazioni Accessori in English Italian Car Transformation Accessories Company) was an Italian car tuning shop and manufacturer founded in 1926 by amateur race car driver Giorgio Ambrosini.
Siata initially sold performance parts to modify and tune cars manufactured by Fiat. After World War II, the company began making its own sports cars under the Siata brand until its eventual bankruptcy following the first Arab oil embargo in the mid-1970s.
Production of the Siata's first wholly original design the Siata Amica began in 1948 and continued through 1952. The Amica was powered by a Fiat 500 cc engine capable of producing 22 horsepower with an optional 750 cc unit producing 25 horsepower. The Amica was available in both two-seater convertible/spider and coupé configurations.
A specially modified Amica known as the Fiat Siata 500 Pescara won the 1948 Italian Road Racing Championship fitted with a five-speed manual gearbox and a modified 500 cc engine producing 40 horsepower. Only two 500 Pescaras were ever built with only one surviving model. The surviving car also competed in the 1991 Historic Millie Miglia.
The Daina was based on heavily modified Fiat 1400 mechanics; the frame was reinforced and shortened while the engine was tuned by Siata. The Daina could be had with a 1.4L (1,395 cc), 1.5L (1,500 cc) or 1.8L (1,817 cc) overhead valve I4 engine, all of which were sourced from Fiat. From 1950 to 1958 there were approximately 50 Daina Series cars produced. However, only a few of the Series were produced after 1953. About 20 Daina Sport (coupes) are thought to have been built, only six are known to exist today. A cabriolet version called the Gran Sport comprised most of the Daina Series cars. The Gran Sport had a steel body with an aluminum hood designed by Stabilimenti Farina (3 all aluminum bodied Gran Sports were made as well) but when they closed in 1953, Bertone took over production with a coupe model of their own design called the "Sport".
Following the Amica, Siata introduced the 300BC Barchetta Sport Spider in 1951. The Barchetta Sport Spider was designed by Mario Revelli de Beaumont and built by Nuccio Bertone and Rocco Motto. Around 50 production models were created and predominantly featured either a 750 cc Crosley or 1100 cc Fiat engine. During this time Siata also created the Cucciolo ("puppy") motor sold in kit form by Ducati and later used to power Ducati's first complete mopeds and motorcycles starting in 1952.
Siata introduced the 208S in 1953 featuring Fiat's 2.0 liter 8V engine. 35 cars were produced between 1953 and 1955 priced at 5300 dollars and available in both convertible and hard top. The car rose to prominence after actor and race car driver Steve McQueen purchased model BS523 from Los Angeles-based Siata importer Ernie McAfee in the mid-1950s. McQueen reportedly re badged the car with Ferrari emblems and dubbed the car his "Little Ferrari".
In 1968, after a detailed market research among Italian youth, Siata launched the Siata Spring, a sports car based on parts from Fiat 850, with a front end styled by Enrico Fumia in 1966. The Siata Spring was produced until 1970, when Siata went bankrupt, but the assembly line was purchased by a newly formed company called ORSA (Officina Realizzazioni Sarde Automobili). They moved it to an assembly plant near Cagliari, where it resumed the production of the Spring, which was now based on the SEAT 850 Special. Because of this the engine displacement increased to 903cc with 47BHP, and it gained disc brakes on the front wheels and a higher top speed of 125 km/h (77.6 mph). Due to the 1973 oil crisis sales of sports cars in Italy went down, forcing ORSA to end the production of the Spring in 1975.
Siata raced in the Mille Miglia and the Italian Road Racing Championship in 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952 and 1955. A 1500 cc Siata Daina driven by Dick Irish and Bob Fergus finished 1st in its class and third overall at the 1952 12 Hours of Sebring.
Source
The Milanese coachbuilder Carrozzeria Colli was established by Giuseppe Colli in 1931 and included his four sons, Mario, Candido, Beniamino and Tarcisio. The company was specialized in using aluminium its works. The first automobiles it made were racing cars using Fiat 1100 mechanicals and chassis, also Fiat 500, Lancia Astura and Aprilia were used as basis. During the World War II the company worked for airforces and after the war made car bodies. After the war they made couple of Alfa Romeo 6C 2500SS, (Fiat 6C 1500cc) Lancia Aprilia based cars and for the 1947 Villa d'Este a Fiat 500 barchetta.
Colli made one very special prototype in 1946, the Aerauto PL.5C roadable aircraft. From the 1950s it worked with Alfa Romeo making cars such as 6C 3000CM and its own single variant of Disco Volante. The company built also Giulietta and Giulia estate cars in the 1960s. In 1955 Colli constructed the very shortly used Arzani-Volpini Formula One car utilising a twin-supercharged Maserati 1500 inline-four engine.Colli
Colli made car bodies until 1973.
Early successes and the national title 1949-1951
Source
In 1949, Ermini entered three cars in the Mille Miglia, the cars were too fast (they went in top with Bormioli and Montanari) but they had to withdrew due to breaking of the valve's screw adjustment.
The problem was solved with the help of engineer Alberto Massimino.
During the Sport season, Ermini's car won with Sbraci's Grand Sport Prix the Firenze-Fiesole , The Collina Pistoiese Cup, the prestigious 3° place overall/ 1° in class at the Napoli Grand Prix, the 4° overall/ 1° in class at the Dolomiti Golden Cup and overall victory at the Toscana's Cup with the Torpedo Ermini of Bormioli.
These placements allowed the Venetian pilot to be ranked at the 4th place in the Sport class 1100's Italian league.
During the year 1949 they obtained a lot of success and request to purchase the Ermini engines with Fiat crank-case increased. (They developed 82CV at 6200g/m).
During the season '49- '50 the Ermini Company constructed about 10 engines which were installed in different gentlemen's racing cars (Fiat-Stanguellini, Fiat-1100S, Fiat-Leone, Fiat-Petrini, SVA, Tinarelli etc…) replacing the less powerful engine.
It was the variety and the number of vehicles that replaced with the Fiat-Ermini engine that created confusion during research and historical cataloging of Florentine cars (often the construction of the entire car was wrongly attributed to the Florentine workshop so a lot of cars that were equipped with FIAT-ERMINI engine (like some Fiat-Stanguellini 1100 sport) never given the right motor classification which contributed to the success of those not so fast cars equipped with Fiat 1100 engine.
In 1950 Ermini encouraged by good results and the economic income, he commission to Glico in Milan a tubular chassis with an oval section to make its cars more competitive.
In that year he prepared three cars: two Torpedos and a Berlinetta, their bodys were built by Motto Torino.
In 1950 CSAI new rules imposed the use of 80 octane petrol thus undermining the competition of Cisitalia-Abarth and the Fiat-Stanguellini, which until the previous year had used special alcohol mixture to enhance their engines and now couldn't compete to the power of Fiat-Ermini engine.
The results will come soon and over the prestigious affirming of the Fiat-Ermini engine at the Mille Miglia (11°place/13° overall in class) with Montanari and Cappelli at the Umbria tour (2°placeoverall in class) with Montanari, during the Collina Pistoiese's Cup they won with Tergi, and they obtained the victory in class during the Susa-Moncenisio with the touring driver Ugo Puma.
The year triumphantly ended with the conquest of the Italian 1100 Sport Championship with Piero Scotti who won in class the Targa Florio and the Toscana's Cup.
By the end of the year 6 engines were sold and in 1951 three cars were built equipped by Tubular Glico chassis Torpedo shape. Two of these were bodied by Motto Torino and the other was bodied by the Mariani workshop in Pistoia.
Source
With 357 the activity of Pasquino Ermini as a builder ends. Ermini's death in 1958 will anticipate the closure of the Ermini Workshop in 1962 by a few years. The 22 sports covered in the previous 6 posts, however, are not enough on their own to outline the full scope of the work done in Florence. As mentioned above, in fact, there were many gentlemen drivers or trainers who decided to improve the performance of their sports by using the Ermini cylinder head for their Fiat engines, or who built a Sport around that engine. This applies both to the special twin-shaft head to be applied to the Fiat base, but also to some Type 114 engines.
The following cars will often be updated before and after using the Ermini engine. To simplify, only the versions with Ermini engine will be shown, leaving out the initial versions or the various evolutions.
01-Benedetti Fiat 1100 Golden Wing.
The first of these derivatives was built in 1948 by Aldo Benedetti, starting from a Fiat 1100 that competed in the 1940 Mille Miglia. The bodywork was made by the Golden Wing.
02-Bortolami Fiat 1100S Motto.
Made by Rocco Motto in 1949 for Antonio Bortolami on Fiat 1100S mechanics, he will continue his long career with Antonio Pozzato.
03-Excelsior Gilco 1100 Spider Colli
Sport motor Fiat 1100 with twin-shaft head Ermini and Gilco chassis made for Luigi Scotti in 1951 and bodied by Colli.
04-Fona 1100 Sport Spider
Second sport built by Achille Fona. The Fiat chassis was not modified and the bodywork made summarily was updated several times.
05-Leone Fiat Ermini 1100 Sport
From the Officine Elettromeccaniche of Vincenzo Leone in 1948, an 1100 Sport boat was built together with Giovanni Savonuzzi and Virgilio Conrero. The engine was a Fiat 1100 but with the possibility of mounting a 1200. It was recharged in torpedo by Motto and sold to Mario Parsechi in 1950. In 1951 it will be entrusted to the care of Mario Bernardini and will receive an Ermini twin-shaft head.
06- Petrini PM 1100.
Vincenzo Petrini from Vercelli, in building his motor sport Fiat 1100 made use of the advice of the aeronautical engineer Pierangelo Mortara, in force at the Avia of Francis Lombardi. This aeronautical approach is noted in the construction of the tubular frame, made in a closed structure, as a support for a nacelle. The car thus obtained was christened PM 1100 (Petrini-Mortar to).
07- Pezzoli - Benedetti Fiat Ermini
Made in 1948 by Italo Pezzoli and equipped with a Fiat 1100 engine on a tubular chassis of its own conception, it will already receive a Fiat Ermini twin-shaft engine the following year. Modified by the Benedetti brothers, it was updated in the bodywork in 1952. Often attributed to Tinarelli.
08-Scotti Fiat 1100.
Giancarlo Scotti, son of the Fiat dealer in Florence Renato Scotti, competed in the 1948 Mille Miglia on board a sport derived from a 1938 Fiat 1100. Following an accident, he was entrusted to the Mariani body shop in Pistoia and recharged.
09-Sighinolfi Fiat 1100
Similar in design to the Stanguellini, it was equipped with a tubular chassis designed by Giovanardi and Campana bodywork. Initially equipped with a single-shaft Fiat 1100 engine, it was repeatedly updated during its long career.
10-Tinarelli Fiat Ermini 1100.
Equipped with frame made by Rinaldo Tinarelli and Fiat 1100 engine with Ermini head and Motto bodywork for the Graziani driver. It will end in Sicily with a boat body.
11-Stanguellini Fiat 1100 Golden Wing
Several specimens were set up. The car entrusted to Terigi for the 1948 Mille Miglia had chassis # 284964 and engine # 316189. Later he will mount an Ermini engine with which Brandi will race the Mille Miglia. Montanari ran the Coppa delle Dolomiti in 1950 with a new engine.
12-Stanguellini 1100 Sport CS01110
Just like Ermini in 1947, Stanguellini also in 1950 decided to build a twin-mast head for the Fiat monobloc. A small series of boats was set up for a number of customers, but some preferred to mount the Ermini head, like Aldo Terigi on his CS01110.
13-Stanguellini 1100 Sport CS01114
Chassis number CS01114 was sold without an engine around 1951. Finished in Sicily, it will be equipped with an Ermini engine and bodywork. Will use plates and documents related to another sport, derived from a 1947-48 Fiat 508c by Gaetano Distefano
14-Stanguellini 1100 Sport CS01115
The CS01115 which was by Supremo Montanari will also use the Ermini head in place of the twin-shaft Stanguellini CS0124.
15-SVA Fiat Ermini 1100
16-Cisitalia Ermini 1100
Made by Giovanni Savonuzzi for Ugo Puma. Equipped with chassis derived from that of a Maserati 4CLT and torpedo body. The body was updated in a boat by Motto on the occasion of the Mille Miglia in 1952 and to be registered it had to be certified by Cisitalia, thanks to the interest of Savonuzzi and will be renamed Cisitalia-Ermin i with chassis 0101. On this occasion, he will also receive the new Type 114 engine (# 003). Following an accident, it will be modified again with a bodywork completely similar to that of the 2 Sport Motto international barchetta.
17-Valenzi Ermini 1100
Built in 1952 on a Gilco chassis by Renato Valenzi for the pilot Enzo Buzzetti and bodied by Schiaretti, it was originally equipped with a Fiat 1100 engine. In 1953 it will receive an Ermini Tipo 114 engine (# 005). Finished in the USA, it will return to Italy with the engine of the 357 Scaglietti # 1255.
18-Luyendijk Ermini Sport
19-Swaab Special (HVZ Hirondelle)
For completeness, I report the sport with which Jaap Luyendijk ran to Zandvoort in 1956, equipped with an Ermini head (on SIMCA engine, according to the chronicles of the time). The car was purchased by John Swaab, owner of the Swaab garage, who used the engine for his special, called HVZ Hirondelle (named after the driver Henk van Zalinge) in 1958, before breaking the Ermini warhead. The history of this car is very long and impossible ity to repair the Ermini cylinder head, the owners who followed each other gradually employed DKW, Skoda and even Porsche engines.
20-Fiat 1100ES Pininfarina
At the request of a customer, an Ermini Tipo 114 engine (# 007) will be used on a modified Pininfarina 1100ES.
1946 Fiat Ermini Sport Bertone/Ortolani DOHC, Chassis 279904
Chassis no. 279904 - Engine no.10-6551
Only surviving car of limited production. The car was commissioned to Bertone by Scuderia Milan. In 1946, Tazio Nuvolari supposedly participated in some races with this car. The first car equipped with the famous DOHC ERMINI engine. In 1952, the front was modified by Ortolani body shop, in the shape of the Ferrari 225 S
Carrozzeria Ala d’Oro was founded in 1946, and located in Reggio Emilia, by Franco Bertani, a gentleman driver Italian champion in 1938 1100cc class, and Officine Reggiane in Reggio Emilia. Officine Reggiane was a small factory that grew up during the war, manufacturing parts for airplanes, mainly wings and cockpits, and therefor had nothing to do at the end of the war. The workforce was rescued by Bertani with the set up of Carrozzeria Ala d’Oro. The Ala d’Oro bodied most part of the first Stanguellini production cars and several sports models, plus artisans cars and trucks.
Built by Giuseppe Falanga in his Palermo workshop in 1949, this Fiat 1100-based barchetta was the third built and the third supplied to Antonio Di Salvo of Bagheria. The car took the name RAOR from the initials of Mr Falanga’s workshop and race car preparation business, Riparazione Automobilistiche Officine Riunite (RAOR). With the bodywork constructed in aluminium by Sperandeo, mechanically the barchetta boasted a tuned Fiat 1100 engine with high lift camshaft and followers, large oil sump and specially reinforced cylinder head to cope with a higher compression ratio, a quick-shift four speed gearbox, independent front suspension, a live rear axle with hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers, and hydraulically operated brakes at each corner. All of this was based around a strengthened Fiat 1100B chassis
Source
Motto was an Italian coachbuilding company established in Turin in 1932 by Rocco Motto. The company produced bodies on the chassis of a.o. Ferraris, Cadillacs, Delahayes, Fiat, Renault, Lancia, Salmson and many more.
"CA-MO" was the telex address for Carrozzeria Rocco Motto, and those letters were at some time incorporated into Motto's badge. Some Motto body badges are metal script, some are block letters, some have the word "Torino" included. Motto was best known as a carrozzeria for lightweight competition cars, and one-off specials.
Rocco motto was born in 1904 in Rivarossa. He became an orphan during the first World War. Like many other boys in his village, little Rocco began working the iron. He was a quick learner and soon he started working for several coachbuilders in the area. In 1925 he became a team leader at Martelleria Maggiora of Turin. In 1932 he opened his own workshop in the Via Orta in Turin. His main activity was to build body shells for the leading coachbuilders and major car companies of that era, including Pininfarina, Ghia and Lancia.
Rocco Motto was blessed to have a very capable staff who designed and crafted the bodies, while he took care of the finishing touches. Rocco Motto soon developed his own style with clean and simple lines, but also smooth and flowing with hardly any unnecessary detailling.
After the end of WWII Rocco Motto moved to the Via Bardonecchia, where he specialized in aluminium racing car bodies. Between 1946 and 1949 Motto was responsible for the bodies of cars like Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Cisitalia, Bandini and Ermini. Motto's reputation was growing day by day, thanks to the very competitive Cisitalia D46 and 204, as well as a small number of special Lancia Aprilia Sport, developed by Gianni Basso and bodied by Motto. The name of Motto stepped over the Italian borders with the production of bodies on Talbot-Lago and Renault. He also worked on some Jaguars, a Delahaye 150, the '51 Monte Carlo Rally winning Delahaye 175 and an MG that won the same rally in 1953. Furthermore, Motto created some Lancia Aurelia racing cars and the Siata Daina and 208S.
Motto's fame even crossed the Atlantic Ocean where some models with bodywork by Motto were sold, like the Cadillac LaSalle of 1953. Two of Motto's admirers were the famed designers Virgil Exner and Raymond Loewy. Motto built the famous Lancia Flaminia Loraymo at Loewy's request. Loewy chose Motto after many other coachbuilders had refused the job because of the complexity of the work.
In 1963, Porsche became interested in Motto's skills and they commissioned him to build the streamlined body of the special Porsche 356B Abarth GTL.
When the coachbuilding days were over in 1965, Rocco and his son Francesco devoted themselves to the production of caravans and commercial vehicles. Rocco Motto died in 1996 at the age of 92.
1948 Fiat 1100 S Spyder Motto, Chassis 794048
one off
This sports-racing car (1100 S for Sports) is absolutely typical of Italy's entirely charming and engaging Fiat-based racing specials that were produced in very considerable quantity both before and after the Second World War. In relative terms the Italian motor sporting community was huge during the 1930s and '40s, including numerous small-time motor engineers, garage owners and simply enthusiastic amateur special-builders. In the contemporary Fiat 750 and 1100 cc production passenger cars they had a readily available and affordable reservoir of chassis, running gear, engine and transmission parts with which to weave their craftsman magic. The Fiat 1100 engine was particularly responsive to relatively simple modification and tuning, while some specialists actually went far beyond that, even to the extent of casting special cylinder heads and sometimes blocks to accept Fiat internals.
This particular car was based upon a Fiat chassis built before Italy entered the global conflict in 1940. The car was sold by the Italian Ministry of Defence in 1948. The chassis is believed to have been modified by Stanguellini. The car was bodied by Carrozzeria Motto, shape, design and style are in fact very similar to the Cisitalia Spyder bodied by Rocco Motto in that period.
The car raced the 1948 MM with the number 395 and the team Achille Pedretti – Giuseppe Alessio.
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source
Source