Nuvolari's Cisitalia Abarth 204A Spider brought back to life

The late great Mantuan ace better known to the world as Tazio Nuvolari is back in the news thanks to the efforts of a few diehards who have resurrected the very last car he ever raced and brought it back to its original pristine glory. The car in question is this Cisitalia Abarth 204A Spider from 1950 which Nuvolari drove in anger in the Palermo – Monte Pellegrini hill climb of that very year. I do not have the exact details of who scored fastest time of the day and won that event but it is a fact that Nuvolari piloted this very rare Cisitalia to fifth overall and first in class!

Nuvolari and Cisitalia plus Abarth are tremendous names in Italian motor racing and while much has been written about Il Montavano Volante (literally The Flying Mantuan), not much is known about the Cisitalia Abarth. This was one of just seven units built, two of them by Piero Dusio’s Cisitalia concern before the textile magnate cum Grand Prix race team owner went bankrupt. The entire Cisitalia outfit was then taken over by Carlo Abarth who made another five of these 204A Spiders. What is interesting is that this racer used a slightly breathed on Fiat Type 106 four-cylinder engine displacing 1089cc (cylinder dimensions measuring 68 x 75mm) which featured a single overhead camshaft operating two valves per cylinder. Breathing through twin Weber 36 DR4 SP carbs, this tiny engine with dry sump lubrication, produced 62bhp at the then dizzy engine speed of 5800rpm. Transmission was the standard Fiat 4-speed manual ’box.

While the engine was a proven entity in everyday road use, its fitment in a special lightweight chassis and body was what made it so potent. The frame was made up of twin oval section tubular long members with appropriate cross members to deliver that much needed stiffness. Given that Ferdinand Porsche had designed the ill-fated 16-cylinder 1.5-litre supercharged Cisitalia Grand Prix car (with all-wheel-drive to boot!), the front suspension of this 204A Spider did display some remnants of the Porsche influence with the torsion bars and hydraulic shock absorbers up front while the rear suspension encompassed a rigid axle, twin longitudinal leaf springs and hydraulic shock absorbers. The entire car weighed just under 485 kilos and with the relevant final drive ratio depending on the type of circuit it was raced at, it had a top speed of anywhere between 160 to 190km/h.

This particular car was found by Sergio Lugo, the well known Argentine classic car collector and a high ranking FIVA member. Lugo and his team worked to restore the car back to its original glory in a taxing two and a half year spell but when it was revealed to enthusiasts in April this year (at the National Automobile Museum Giovanni Agnelli in Turin) one could make out that the turnout was well worth the effort. Given that of the seven 204A’s built, it was thought that only four remained in existence, two apiece in Japan and the US, but Sergio Lugo’s persistence to unearth the Nuvolari example now means that the most important of them all has been brought back to life and will now reside in Argentina.

Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este 2013

Just about the time this magazine went into press was held the latest edition of one of the world’s greatest classic car events – the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este! Held on the historic lawns of the Grand Hotel Villa d’Este on the shores of Lake Como, the event this year had lined up some glorious machinery which has been the hallmark of this legendary concours d’elegance right from the very first such event on the same premises in the early 1930s! Since the time it has been restructured in the 1990s, it has now risen to the pinnacle of all such classic car events in the world.

Apart from the glorious automotive rolling sculptures from over a century, the event would also witness a special section dedicated to 60 Years of the Chevrolet Corvette while another would focus on 90 years of BMW Motorrad, both these displays being held on the even larger Villa Erba which adjoins the Villa d’Este. And as is tradition, the Concorso d’Eleganza Villa d’Este remains unique in having a special concours for motorcycles – the Concorso di Motociclette (established since 2011) and also a class for the latest prototypes and concepts to showcase future technology. Sure enough we will have a full coverage of the event in our next issue.