User:Steve Limpus/sandbox

The origin of modern FIA GT racing is to be found in Italian post-war Grand Touring Motor Racing 1949-1957, where the first race for GT cars was held in 1949 at Monza,    before becoming an official category of Italian motor racing, and then becoming an official category of the FIA World Sportscar Championship in 1954, under 'Appendix J' of the FIA International Sporting code. Grand Touring car design evolved from vintage and pre-war fast touring cars and streamlined closed sports cars.

1949 Coppa Inter-Europa
The first race specifically for Grand Touring (Italian: Gran Turismo) or GT motor cars is acknowledged to be the 1949 Coppa Inter-Europa,    held over three hours on 29 May, at the 6.3 kilometer Autodromo Nazionale di Monza (Italy). The regulations for the race were drawn up by Count Giovanni Lurani Cernuschi (popularly known as Johnny Lurani): a senior representative of Italy's national governing body of motorsport, the Commissione Sportiva Automobilistica Italiana (CSAI), and later a senior member the world governing body, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). Johnny Lurani had been instrumental in designing the regulations for the Italian 1937 Turismo Nazionale championship, whereby production vehicles approved by the CSAI were raced with the original chassis and engine layout as specified in the factory catalog and available for customers to buy; engines could be tuned and bored out, but the bodywork had to conform to regulations. The CSAI were concerned that FIA (known as AIACR at the time) 'Annexe C' Sports cars were becoming little more than thinly-disguised two-seat Grand Prix racers, far removed from the cars ordinary motorists could purchase from the manufacturers' catalogs. The CSAI was shut down by the Italian Fascist government under Mussolini at the end of 1937, and replaced with a new organisation called FASI. The Italian Fascists, as in Nazi Germany, sought control of motor racing as an important vehicle for national prestige and propaganda. FASI replaced Turismo Nazionale with the less strictly regulated Sports Nazionale championship, which ran in 1938 and 1939. Postwar, the CSAI was re-established and in 1947 Italian national championships were held for both Sports Internazionale (FIA Annexe C sports cars) and Sports Nazionale. Sports Nazionale was abolished in 1948, creating an opportunity for a new category in 1949.

Cisitalia 202 SC, Maserati A6 1500 & Ferrari 166 'Inter'
It was hoped by Italian motor industry observers that the small and struggling Italian sports and racing car manufacturer, Cisitalia, would find in Lurani's new 1949 Coppa Inter-Europa regulations (initially called Turismo Veloce or Fast Touring) a category for it's Cisitalia Tipo 202 SC—the road-going production coupé version of Cisitalia's single-seat D46 racing car and two-seat 202 open sports car. However, it was discovered that Ferrari's coupé version of its 166 sports car was also eligible, as the regulations stipulated body form and dimensions but did not at this time specify a minimum production quantity. The Fiat based 1100 cc four-cylinder Cisitaila was no match on the race track for Ferrari's hand-built 2000 cc V12, and Ferrari dominated the 1949 Coppa Inter-Europa taking the first three places. An 1100 cc class was hurriedly created, but not in time to save Cisitalia's business fortunes—the company's owner Piero Dusio had already decamped to Argentina. The Cisitalia 202 SC gained considerable fame for the outstanding design of its Pininfarina coachwork, and is credited with greatly influencing the style of subsequent berlinetta or fastback gran turismo coupés.

Another important early gran turismo represented at the 1949 Coppa Inter-Europa was the Maserati A6 1500, driven to a 1500 cc class win by Franco Bordoni, former fighter ace of the Regia Aeronautica who had debuted as a pilota da corsa at the 1949 Mille Miglia. The A6 1500 was the first road going production automobile to be offered by the Maserati factory, featuring a tubular chassis with independent front suspension and coil springs, the 1500 cc six-cylinder being derived from the Maserati brothers pre-war voiturette racing engines. The body of the A6 1500 was an elegant two-door fast-back coupe body, also by Pinin Farina.

The overall victorious Ferrari 166 S coupé model, driven by Bruno Sterzi and known after the race as the Ferrari 166 'Inter', is recognized as the first Ferrari gran turismo.

Gran Turismo Origins
The Italian gran turismo concept of a small, light-weight and aerodynamic coupé had originated gradually in the 1930s, coming into full effect in the 1950s. It was appreciated in Italy, at least as early as 1931, that compared to a traditional open two-seat sports car, the increase in weight and frontal area of an enclosed cabin for the driver and mechanic (or passenger) could be offset by the benefits of streamlining to reduce drag. Independent carrozzeria (coachbuilders) provided light and flexible fabric coachwork for powerful short-wheelbase fast-touring chassis by manufacturers such as Alfa Romeo. Later, Carrozzeria Touring of Milan would pioneer sophisticated Superleggera (super light-weight) aluminium bodywork, allowing for even more aerodynamic forms. The additional comfort of an enclosed cabin was beneficial for the Mille Miglia (Thousand Miles) road-race held in Italy's often wintry north. The first automobile to be named Gran Turismo was Alfa Romeo's 6C 1750 GT, the fabric-bodied Berlinetta model by Carrozzeria Touring being winner of the Vetture Chiuse (closed car) category at the 1931 Mille Miglia. An improved and supercharged version, the 6C 1750 GTC Gran Turismo Compressore, won the Vetture a Guida Interna (internally driven car) category of the 1932 Mille Miglia.

Another important early model was the Fiat 508 Balilla, from which were constructed the SIATA and Fiat aerodynamic gran turismo-style Berlinetta Mille Miglias of 1933 and 1935. SIATA was a Turin, Italy-based Fiat tuner, typical of a popular class of Italian artisan manufacturers of small gran turismo, sports and racing cars--usually Fiat based--that came to be known in the 1970s as Etceterini, such as Nardi, Abarth, Ermini and, in 1946, Cisitalia. Enzo Ferrari, whose Scuderia Ferrari had been the racing division of Alfa Romeo from 1929 until 1938, parted ways from Alfa Romeo in 1939: Ferrari's first car—itself an Etceterini—the Fiat-based Auto Avio Costruzioni 815 racing sports car, debuted at the 1940 Mille Miglia. Two were produced. The first real Ferrari, the V12 125 S, also a racing sports car, debuted in 1947 at the Piacenza racing circuit. Again, only two were produced, but they rapidly evolved into the 159 and 166 models, including the 1949 Ferarri 166 Inter.

A closed sports coupé almost prevailed at Le Mans in 1938, when a Carrozziera Touring-bodied Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B, driven by Raymond Sommer and Clemente Bionedetti, lead the famous 24-hour race from the third lap until early Sunday afternoon, retiring only due to engine problems.

Johnny Lurani was impressed by the dominant performance at the Mille Miglia in 1940, by a Carroziera Touring-bodied BMW 328 coupé, winning the event at over 100 mph average speed, driven by Fritz Huschke von Hanstein and Walter Bäumer: "'The BMW team included a splendid aerodynamic Berlinetta, wind tunnel designed by German specialsits, that was extremely fast at 135 mph... I couldn't believe the speeds these BMWs were capable of.'"After the success of the 1949 Coppa Inter-Europa the CSAI officially introduced a new class, called Gran Turismo Internazionale, for 1950. The regulations were drawn up by Johhny Lurani and fellow Italian motor racing journalist and organizer Corrado Filippini, requiring for qualification the production of thirty models per year, thereby ruling out, for the time being, Ferrari's hand-built berlinettas.



1950 Coppa Inter-Europa
The 1950 Coppa Inter-Europa at Monza was held in March. Separate races were held for sports cars, and for Gran Turismo cars in four classes: 750, 1100, 1500 and over 1500.

Ferrari entered, and won, the Sports car 2000 class with a Ferrari 166 MM berlinetta, while an Alfa Romeo Sperimentale (over 2000 class) won the sports car race overall.

The Gran Turismo race was contested by Lancia Aprilia, Cisitalia 202B, Stanguellini GT 1100, Fiat 500, Alfa Romeo 2500 and Fiat Zagato. The overall winner was WWII fighter ace Franco Bordoni's Maserati A6 1500.

1950 Targa Florio
The annual Targa Florio in Sicily was held the first weekend of April, and featured a Gran Turismo Internazionale category for the first time, in two classes: 1500 and over 1500. Contested by Lancia Aprilia, Cisitalia 202, Fiat 1100, Maserati A6, and even a solitary British Bristol (based on the successful pre-war BMW 328), the Gran Turismo Internaionzle category was won by Argentinian driver, Adolfo Schwelm Cruz, in an Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS.



1950 Mille Miglia
On the third weekend of April 1950, it was the turn of the annual Mille Miglia, one-thousand miles from Brescia to Rome and back over closed public roads, to include a Gran Turismo Internazionale category for the first time. Twenty-four cars were entered in the Gran Turismo Internazionale category, including Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS Coupé Touring, Cisitalia 202B berlinetta and Fiat 1100 S coupé. The field was rounded out by a solitary Fiat-based SIATA Daina. Alfa Romeo took first place in the Gran Turismo Internazionale category (a creditable tenth overall) and second place in category, followed by three Cisitalias. The overall race winning Ferrari 195 S was also a berlinetta coupe, but in the over 2000 Sports car class.

The Mille Miglia, held from 1927 to 1957, was central to the evolution of the gran turismo concept. The event was one of the most important on the Italian motor-sport calendar, and could attract up to five million spectators. Winning drivers such as Tazio Nuvolari, Rudolf Caracciola, and Stirling Moss; and manufacturers such as Alfa Romeo, BMW, Ferrari and Porsche would become household names. According to Enzo Ferrari: "'In my opinion, the Mille Miglia was an epoch-making event, which told a wonderful story. The Mille Miglia created our cars and the Italian automobile industry. The Mille Miglia permitted the birth of GT, or grand touring cars, which are now sold all over the world. The Mille Miglia proved that by racing over open roads for 1,000 miles, there were great technical lessons to be learned by the petrol and oil companies and by brake, clutch, transmission, electrical and lighting component manufacturers, fully justifying the old adage that motor racing improves the breed.'"The Mille Miglia is still celebrated today as one of the world's premier historic racing events.

Schwelm Cruz and Alfa Romeo repeated the success the 1950 Targa Florio and Mille Miglia by winning the Gran Turismo category at the Coppa della Toscana in June. An Alfa Romeo 6C 2500, driven by Salvatore Ammendola, was also victorious in the Gran Turismo category of the Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti in July, run through the Dolomite Mountains, starting and finishing in the town of Cortina d'Ampezzo. An Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 took the Gran Turismo honours again at the Giro delle Calabria in August. Like the Bristol 400, the Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 was based on pre-war design, and is considered by some to be the last of the classic Alfa Romeos.

1951 Campionato Gran Turismo Internazionale
For 1951 the CSAI organised an Italian national championship for the Gran Turismo Internazionale category in four classes: 750, 1500, 2000 and over 2000 cc. Interest was attracted from manufacturers such as Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati, Ferrari, Fiat and SIATA. The championship was held over ten events, including all the classic long-distance road races (the Giro di Sicilia, the Mille Miglia, the Coppa della Toscana, the Giro dell'Umbria, the Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti, the Giro delle Calabrie and the Stella Alpina) as well as three circuit races (the Coppa Inter-Europa at Monza, the Circuito di Caracalla night race in Rome, and the 6 Ore di Pescara).



1951 Ferrari 212 Export
Ferrari's response for the new Gran Tursimo championship was the road/race Ferrari 212. Twenty-seven short-wheelbase competition versions called Export, some with increasingly popular gran turismo-style berlinetta coupé coachwork, were produced for enthusiasts (Ferrari called the very first example 212 MM ) while the road verson was called Inter. The Ferrari 212 Export featured long-range fuel tanks, high compression pistons and triple Weber 32 DCF carburettors; power was 170 bhp from the 2600cc Gioacchino Colombo-designed 'short-block' V12 engine, evolved from the earlier Ferrari 166 (2000cc) and 195 (2300cc). All versions came with the standard Ferrari five-speed non-synchromesh gearbox and hydraulic drum brakes. All 1951 Ferraris shared a double tube frame chassis design evolved from the 166. Double-wishbone front suspension with transverse leaf spring, and live rear axle with semi-elliptic leaf springs and radius rods were employed. The Ferrari 212 Export (212 MM) gran turismo berlinetta (chassis no. 0070M) debuted in first-place overall at the April 1951 Coppa Inter-Europa, driven by Luigi Villoresi, and in June (chassis no. 0092E) was first in the Gran Turismo category at the Coppa della Toscana driven by Milanese Ferrari concessionaire and proprietor of Scuderia Guastalla, Franco Cornacchia. The 212 Export continued to serve Ferrari well in the Sports and GT categories until replaced by the 225 S, and although it would later be overshadowed by the internationally famous 250 GT, the 212 Export was an important model in the successful line of Colombo-engined V12 GT cars that made Ferrari legendary.



1951 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT
Even more impressive than the new Ferrari was the stunnng Gran Turismo racing debut of Lancia's Aurelia B20 GT.

Lancia had begun production in 1950 of their technically advanced Aurelia sedan. At the 1951 Turin Motor Show, the Pinin Farina-bodied Gran Tursimo B20 Coupé version was unveiled to an enthusiastic motoring public. Here, finally, according to author Jonathan Wood, was a fully realized production GT car, representing the starting point of the definitive Grand Tourer: "'This outwardly conventional saloon bristled with innovation and ingenuity, in which the masterly hand of Vittorio Jano is apparent. In the B20 are elements of the Cistalia of 1947, coupés which Pinin undertook on a 6C Alfa Romeo and Maserati in 1948, along with the Fiat 1100 S coupé with its rear accommodation for children. The original Aurelia had been under-powered and, in 1951, the V6 was enlarged to 1991 cc, which was also extended to the coupé, though in 75 rather than 70 bhp form as the B20 was developed as a sporting model in its own right. In addition the B20 had a shorter wheelbase and a higher rear axle ratio, making it a 100 mph car. Lancia chose the Gran Turismo name for its new model and the suggestion could only have come from Vittorio Jano hinself, for had he not been responsible for the original 1750 Alfa Romeo of the same name back in 1929?'"Four semi-ufficiali works B20 GTs, together with a number of privateer entrants, were sent to the Mille Miglia in April, 1951, where the factory Bracco / Maglioli car finished second overall, behind only a Ferarri sports racer of twice the engine capacity. Lancia Aurelias swept the GT 2.0 Liter division. In June 1951, Bracco was partnered with the 'father of GT racing' himself, Johnny Lurani, to race a B20 GT at Le Mans, where they were victorious in the 2.0 Liter sportscar division, placing a very creditable 12th overall. A 1-2 finish at the famous Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti, among other victories including the 6 Ore di Pescara, rounded out an astonishing debut racing season for this ground-breaking automobile, winning its division in the Italian GT Championship for Umberto Castiglionoi in 1951. Lancia B20 GTs would go on to win the Over 2.0 Liter Italian GT Championship in 1953, 1954 and 1955 with the B20-2500.

1952

1952 Mille Miglia
The Conte and friend of Porsche racing director Huschke von Hanstein was also in 1952 for Porsche the first success in the Mille Miglia took: a class win on a 356 with 1,500 cc engine (overall 46). His passenger was Constantin Berckheim. Lurani had previously been achieved in 1933 and 1948 class wins at the 1000-mile race in Italy.

1952 Fiat 8V "Otto Vu"
A surprise to the international press, who were not expecting a gran turismo berlinetta from Italy's largest manufacturer of standard touring models, the Fiat 8V "Otto Vu" was unveiled at the Geneva Salon in March 1952 to international acclaim. Although not raced by the factory, the Otto Vu was raced by a number of private owners. Vincenzo Auricchio and Piero Bozzinio raced to fifth in the Gran Turismo category of the 1952 Mille Miglia, and Ovidio Capelli placed third in the GT 2000 cc class at the Giro della Toscana in June, with a special race-spec lightweight Zagato coupe; the GT category overall at this event was won by Franco Cornacchia's Ferrari 212 Export (refer above). Capelli and the 8V Zagato topped this accomplishment by winning the GT category of the Pescara 12 Hours in August, ahead of two Lancias. The new Fiat 8V garnered sufficient competition points over the season to become the national two-liter GT Champion. Elio Zagato, the coachbuilder's son, was also successful in competition with the Otto Vu in 1954 and 1955, attracting further customer interest and leading Zagato to eventually develop two different GT racing versions.

The 8V Otto Vu earned its name courtesy of its high performance V8 engine (Ford having already trademarked "V8") ...

1953: World Sports Car Championship
From the earliest days of the motor car, manufacturers looked to promote their products by competing against other makes. The first competitions were more in the nature of reliability trials, and during the early 1900s a number of city-to-city events were held from Paris to destinations such as Bordeaux, Venice and Berlin. These events were oftened sponsored by newspaper publishers, eager for exciting news to report to their readers. The city-to-city events, on rough roads with primitive machines, were also highly dangerous, and were banned by French authorities following twelve fatalities (including Marcel Renault) during the aborted 1903 Paris-Madrid race.