In 1946, former racing driver Piero Dusio founded the company Cisitalia (Compagnie Industriale Sportiva Italia – Italian Industrial Company of Sports Cars) in Turin.
The racing car’s design featured brilliant engineering solutions: an aluminum body weighing just 630 kg, mounted on a chromium-molybdenum alloy frame; all-wheel drive, with the ability to disconnect the front wheels from the driver’s seat while driving; a five-speed synchronized gearbox; independent suspension on all wheels with longitudinal torsion bars instead of leaf springs on the front wheels (designed by Professor Porsche).
On December 15, 1945, the Porsche father and son were arrested in Baden-Baden by the French occupation authorities for using French prison labor at the KdF (Kraft durch Freude) factory. Ferry Porsche was soon released from prison, but his father remained there for another year. On December 20, 1946, Dusio met with Porsche representatives in Kitzbühel. Present were Ferry Porsche, his sister Luisa Piech, and chief engineer Karl Rabe. After discussing promising projects, the parties agreed to develop the Type 360 Grand Prix racing car and build it at the Cisitalia plant in Turin. The design team, consisting of Ferry Porsche (engine), Schmidt (transmission), Komenda (body), and Mickl (calculations), was led by Karl Rabe. The money received for this work went toward paying Professor Porsche’s bail, and he was released on August 1, 1947. When 72-year-old Ferdinand arrived in Gmund, he was satisfied with the completed drawings, exclaiming, “I can’t add a single screw!” Incidentally, due to Porsche’s involvement in the design of the Cisitalia Type 360, the car is often mistakenly referred to as the Porsche Type 360.
Since 1952, Grand Prix regulations prohibited the use of supercharged engines, so the idea of upholding the honor and glory of Argentine motorsports was reduced to attempting to set a new South American speed record. For this purpose, racing driver Klemar Bucci was invited to conduct a lap on the airfield’s runway. However, unfavorable air temperatures, a lack of spark plugs, and high-grade gasoline prevented the car from achieving its full potential, although it did manage to reach an average speed of 233 kilometers per hour, sufficient to break the previous record.
Under the CIS brand, it produced single-seater racing cars equipped with 1089 cc Fiat engines producing 60 hp, akin to the post-war “Formula Junior.” These cars were successfully raced by renowned racing drivers of the time, including Nuvolari, Taruffi, Stuck, and Bonetto. Dusio’s collaboration with Porsche began with his acquaintance with engineers Rudolf Hruschka (later founder of the Alfa Romeo Alfasud) and Carlo Abarth. After some time, Eberan von Eberhorst, who had gained extensive experience with the Auto Union Grand Prix team (he later left Cisitalia along with Carlo Abarth), joined the group of like-minded individuals. Nuvolari and Millanta, an Italian automotive journalist, also participated in these meetings. At the time, Porsche CEO Ferdinand was imprisoned in France.
Unfortunately, a host of unforeseen problems arose around the project’s implementation in Turin. Most of them stemmed from a lack of funding. Things weren’t going well, and at the end of 1948, the Cisitalia company went bankrupt. However, Dusio, who combined the passion of a racing driver with the tenacity of an entrepreneur, clung to the project with a death grip and managed to complete one of the two Type 360 cars. The second prototype was little more than a collection of spare parts at the time. A total of six cars were planned.
Zayezd provodilsya s privodom tol’ko na zadniye kolesa: iz-za otsutstviya perednikh koles nuzhnogo diametra nevozmozhno bylo ustanovit’ pravil’nyye peredatochnyye chisla. Pri podderzhke Tekhnologicheskogo instituta Buenos-Ayresa nadezhnost’ avtomobilya podnyali nastol’ko, chto stalo vozmozhnym yego uchastiye vo vneformul’noy gonke na avtodrome Buenos-Ayresa v 1953 godu. Vo vremya prokhozhdeniya trenirovochnogo kruga dvigatel’ razvil te samyye 385 l.s. pri 9000 oborotov v minutu. Vozmozhno, iz-za togo, chto toplivo-vozdushnaya smes’ byla slishkom bednoy, odin ili dva porshnya progoreli. Dvigatel’ snyali, razobrali i ustanovili zapasnyye porshni. Posle togo kak motor vernuli na mesto, zametili, chto ostalos’ neskol’ko melkikh detaley. V samoy gonke pervyy krug pokazal, chto Bucci ne spravlyayetsya s upravleniyem. Na vtoroy krug za rul’ sel Felice Bonetto, veteran komand Alfa Romeo, Maserati i Lancia, no vskore i on vernulsya s tyanushchimsya za avtomobilem shleyfom dyma: iz treshchiny v truboprovode vybilos’ maslo. V rezul’tate mashinu snyali s gonki. Show less 1,017 / 5,000 The race was conducted with rear-wheel drive only: the lack of front wheels of the required diameter made it impossible to set the correct gear ratios. With the support of the Buenos Aires Institute of Technology, the car’s reliability was improved to the point that it was eligible for participation in a non-formula race at the Buenos Aires Autodrome in 1953. During a practice lap, the engine produced the same 385 hp at 9,000 rpm. Perhaps due to the fuel-air mixture being too lean, one or two pistons burned out. The engine was removed, disassembled, and replaced with spare pistons. After the engine was reinstalled, it was noticed that several small “superfluous” parts remained. In the race itself, the first lap revealed that the Bucci was struggling to handle. Felice Bonetto, a veteran of Alfa Romeo, Maserati, and Lancia, took the wheel for the second lap, but he soon returned with a trail of smoke trailing behind his car: oil had leaked from a crack in a pipe. As a result, the car was withdrawn from the race.
In 1950, the car was exhibited at the Turin Motor Show, on the Abarth stand, since by that time the Cisitalia company was on the verge of bankruptcy…
Dusio’s long-standing ties with Argentina’s President, General Peron, raised hopes that work on the car could be continued in South America. However, in Buenos Aires, the project was finally abandoned. The Type 360 was in danger of being forgotten, destined to become the victim of failed modernization attempts.
