In the early 1950s, Detroit noticed that MG and Jaguar were becoming more popular, but not too much. In the end, Ford’s answer would be the Thunderbird, but before that, the company thought about having someone else create and build a sports coupe body with a Ford engine. Cisitalia was one of these plans, and it is still running after being completely restored. The Karmann Ghia was a popular Volkswagen model in the 1950s and later decades. It combined the simple frame of a VW with Italian bodywork. But Volkswagen wasn’t the first car company to try this mix. Henry Ford II, the Deuce who made the Ferrari-beating GT40 possible, got a fun little sports car from Cisitalia, a manufacturer not very well known, and planned to combine Ford’s engines with Italian bodies. A prototype was made, but the mass production didn’t happen. Bring a Trailer is now selling the 1953 Cisitalia 808XF Coupe Prototype. It is the Italian-American grand tourer that might have been, with a Mercury flathead V-8 engine and a design inspired by Turin. To begin, we’ll look at “Cisitalia.” This word was first used in our studies in 1946. Ghia, Pininfarina, and Italdesign are all well-known and established Italian design companies. Cisitalia isn’t famous, but it could be. Cisitalia was the company that built the invoice-pricing by racing legend Tazio Nuvolari. Ferry Porsche worked for that company. In fact, the money he earned from developing the Cisitalia Type 360 was used to pay his father, Ferdinand Porsche’s bail. The French jailed Ferdinand after WWII. Henry Ford II’s 202 was a stylish, small car with an aluminum body. Like a gem, it was expensive and only the wealthy could afford it. Why not share the idea with everyone? The Deuce’s first thought was that. 808XF Ghia built it, and Ford’s powertrain was used. Giovanni Savonuzzi of Cisitalia created the inside. The 256-cubic-inch Mercury flathead V-8 engine with two carburetors and the three-speed column-shift manual transmission give the car its strength. The original model had an automatic transmission because it was meant to be a grand tourer and not a sports car. The rear axle is De Dion-style with Lincoln parts; the front has a Mercury double-spring suspension, and drum brakes are on all four wheels. This sample was sent to the United States for testing in 1952. Ford’s engineers thought that making a production model would be too expensive, so the company finally made the Thunderbird as a fully domestic product. The car was displayed in New York City and later purchased by the seller’s uncle after it had been offered to Road & Track for $7,500, which was considered a steep price at that time. It has been in the same family for more than 50 years. After being repaired, it was displayed at last year’s Greenwich Concours d’Elegance, where it quickly won several awards, just like it always does. Please examine it when you can. This car, which looks like a hardtop Corvette from the 1950s, is an example of the auto industry’s hopeful trust. Back then, nearly everything could be done. Instead of an Italian-American Ford with a V-8 engine, we got the Karmann Ghia. This Cisitalia is one of the most interesting display cars. It’s a lovely picture of what might have been. Bidding will stop on December 11.
