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Cisitalia D46 - The monoposto for everyone!

Name: Cisitalia D46 1947
Brand: Cisitalia

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Created on April 14, 2021

Text:

Daniel Reinhard

Photos:

Daniel Reinhard

Bonhams

Daniel Reinhard

Bonhams

Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Constructed by Dante Giacosa

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Essentially based on Fiat components

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - A stroke of genius

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - A black spot where the exhaust ends

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Light and yet very stiff for the time

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - With a Fiat four-cylinder engine

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The simple cockpit

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The seats are trimmed with red leather

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The seat shell

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Oil temperature

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Cooling water thermometer

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - detail on the steering wheel

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Driven by big names

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The Fiat four-cylinder engine

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The engine cover

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - With Solex carburetor

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - A monoposto in the classic sense

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Spoked wheels

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The drum brakes

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Suspension and drum brake

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Short, round rear end

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - the wheel hub in detail

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The suspension

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The exhaust pipe

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The car shows some traces of time

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The Cisitalia lettering

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The exhaust manifolds

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - lettering and coat of arms

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - One pedal

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The aerodynamically shaped fuel filler cap

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Cisitalia lettering illuminated from behind

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - With cars like this you seem to have to lean hard into the bend

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - In the slalom on the Stans police grounds

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - On the bend

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Cooler with sunglasses

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Some monopostos and three Aston Martins in the background

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The owners with their toys

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - In a slightly different body shape

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The open cockpit on both sides and the high seating position make excessive leaning into the bend indispensable

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Most beautiful in motion

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Around the Pilone

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The gentleman with the sunglasses again

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Nothing but style and beautiful cars

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The toys in rank and file

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - The engine

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - Into the bend

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Cisitalia D46 Monoposto (1947) - A thing of beauty, such an early monoposto

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Summary

With the Cisitalia D46 Monoposto, the legendary post-war racing car designer Piero Dusio pursued one goal above all: to organize profitable car races as quickly as possible despite the recession! His goal was achieved and the D46 enjoyed great popularity worldwide - even among the big names of the time! This article describes the history of the great monoposto and shows it in many modern and historical pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

The D46 - a revolutionary stroke of genius
Big names in a small car
About the model
How does the little monoposto drive?
The test car
"Cisi" meeting in Stans in the mid-seventies

Estimated reading time: 6min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Piero Dusio was Italy's legendary and pioneering post-war racing car designer and founded his own company in Turin in 1946 under the name Cisitalia, encouraged and supported by racing driver and engineer Piero Taruffi. Dante Giacosa, a talented young engineer, was commissioned by Dusio to design a racing car for the poor man. It was to be a monoposto, i.e. a single-seater open-top racing car essentially based on Fiat components. At the time, Dusio already had the idea of conquering the world with these racing cars and organizing profitable car races again as quickly as possible despite the recession so soon after the war.

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