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SVA 813 Monoposto - Savonuzzi's oddball

Name: SVA 813 Monoposto 1950
Brand: SVA

This article was auto-translated. We apologize if some words are confusing or simply amusing. Would you like to help us improve?

Created on January 7, 2022

Text:

Karl Ludvigsen (Übersetzung: Paul Krüger)

Photos:

Museo Nazionale dell'Automobile Torino (Fondo Savonuzzi) / Ludvigsen Partners

With the bodywork by Rocco Motto, the SVA was a picture of a racing car. The oil flap for the dry sump lubrication system is located behind the hood. Hard to recognize: the coachbuilder has immortalized himself in front of the rear wheel.

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Designer Giovanni Savonuzzi at the wheel of his elegantly shaped midget racer

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After studying engineering at Turin Polytechnic, Giovanni Savonuzzi initially worked for Fiat Aviazione and Cisitalia

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Savonuzzi at the wheel of a Cisitalia D46, which he had finished developing on the basis of a design by Dante Giacosa.

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Construction drawing of the chassis. Clearly visible: the horizontal engine and the drive train offset to the left

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The tub under the cockpit increased the rigidity of the light alloy frame and at the same time reduced drag.

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The side members were drilled through to save weight where the statics allowed and tapered towards the rear.

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The rear view of the chassis shows the design of the De Dion rear axle with spring-damper units and drive shafts of different lengths.

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The front view of the chassis reveals the longitudinal spring rods and a filigree anti-roll bar. Difficult to recognize, but present: the telescopic shock absorbers at the end of the upper wishbones

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Although not as complex as the tubular frame of the Cisitalia D46, the chassis of the SVA 1950 was certainly up to date.

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The SVA brakes had ribbed drums all round. On the front axle, they each had an air scoop below the tie rod for better cooling.

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The 813-cubic-inch four-cylinder in its installation position: rotated 90 degrees to the right.

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All auxiliary units of the four-cylinder engine were driven by spur gears. Clockwise from the top: supercharger, fuel pump, oil pump, water pump, ignition solenoid. To the right of the fuel pump is the flat-flow carburetor.

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The Centric supercharger is almost as big as the entire engine. The cooling water flows through the "exhaust manifold"

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The side view of the engine shows the slightly slanted spark plugs for the largest possible valve diameter.

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Patent drawing of Savonuzzi's unique valve control system with four cross-shaped torsion springs (4) and central silicone damper (1)

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Patent drawing of the multi-part, dismountable crankshaft. The bottom row shows the overlapping of the journals and how they are secured by a cross bolt.

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The crankshaft with roller bearings and its characteristic locking bolts was a work of art in itself.

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Known as the Centric supercharger before the war, the blower was then called the Shorrock supercharger after its inventor.

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View into the engine compartment of the SVA: the huge vane loader covers almost the entire engine.

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The engine compartment of the SVA is cramped. It's hard to imagine that there was even room for "upright" engines.

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The steering rod threads through between the "water manifold" and the supercharger. Behind it is the maintenance hatch for spark plugs and cylinder head

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This early body with lower pout is an inconsistency in the SVA development. It was discarded in favor of the Motto body.

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Virgilio Conrero on his first test drives with the SVA.

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The small hood in front of the windshield serves to ventilate the footwell. Seen here from the outside: the maintenance hatch behind the front wheel

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Cockpit offset to the right with a huge, yet elegant wooden steering wheel. The axle tube of the De Dion rear axle peeps out between the rear wheel and the body.

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SVA with a lady at the wheel. Unfortunately, it is not known who she was.

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In the winter of 1950, Swiss driver Rudolf Fischer tested an SVA with a turbocharged 1100cc engine for its Formula 1 suitability. However, the car did not satisfy him.

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This SVA in Vincenzo Leone's workshop is also equipped with the upright 1100cc engine. It is presumably the car with which Ugo Puma won the Moncenisio hill climb, and the same one that Rudi Fischer had previously rejected.

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This replica from 2004 is unfortunately not 100 percent accurate. It also lacks the maintenance flap for the spark plugs.

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The SVA with its 813-cubic-inch engine has survived in this pitiful condition and is now in a collection in Turin together with the engine molds. The lines for the oil cooler run in the foreground.

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The surviving SVA chassis from Edoardo Tenconi's collection with retrofitted "De Dion swing axle"

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The Falcone F3 with Moto Guzzi engine looked like a scaled-down version of the Alfa 158

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Falcone chassis: transversely mounted V2 and front axle with telescopic dampers and short coil springs

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The coil springs are easier to recognize in the front view. A Moto Guzzi emblem sits above the radiator grille.

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The rear view clearly shows the friction dampers of the rear spring rods below the axle tube and the chrome-plated exhaust pipe.

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Ugo Puma at the wheel of the Falcone F3. Unfortunately, Formula 3 was unable to establish itself in Italy and the car only competed in a few races.

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Summary

Nowhere was motorsport more passionately practiced after the war than in Italy. Everywhere, small two-man businesses sprang up to try their hand at building racing cars - sometimes with more, sometimes with less success. The Americans, of all people, were responsible for one of the most beautiful and sophisticated of these. This article tells the story of the SVA, with which the former Cisitalia engineer Giovanni Savonuzzi wanted to conquer the USA, and shows it in many historical pictures.

This article contains the following chapters

Development aid from Austria
Savonuzzi sets up his own business
Three Italians meet in the workshop
Request from America
Independent of Fiat
Different drivetrains
Patents for perfection
Inspiringly elegant body
New start with new financial backer
Savonuzzi's last coup
Ghia, Chrysler and Opel

Estimated reading time: 17min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Italy was once home to numerous small companies that built exotic sports and racing cars, always combining unusual ideas with exotic technology in their quest for success. One of them was Società Valdostana Automobili - SVA for short - in Turin, which had its brief heyday at the end of the 1940s, during which no more than two cars and a few other chassis were produced. However, the legendary design of this racing car deserves to be presented to the world in more detail. SVA can best be regarded as the brainchild of the Turin-based company Cisitalia. This company, founded by the industrialist and passionate car enthusiast Piero Dusio, caused a sensation with its modern, sleek and elegant sports cars in the 1940s, when the major Italian car manufacturers were still recovering from the hardships of the war years. However, Cisitalia's first car in 1947 was the 1.1-liter single-seater D46, in which Hans Stuck and Tazio Nuvolari, among other famous racing drivers, were able to build on their pre-war successes.

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