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From the VeloceToday Archives, April, 2011

By Pete Vack

In Part I we described how Savonuzzi created the 202 Cisitalia, a new DOHC engine to power a new line of Cisitalia, designed a record-breaking motorboat and more. But his career had hardly begun. Part II takes him from Ghia to the exciting work with Chrysler Turbines to Fiat and retirement.

Going to Ghia

In 1953 Giovanni Savonuzzi went on to Ghia, which at the time was a hotbed of activity and anonymity. Chrysler was there; Boano had left and a series of freelancers were hired, including Michelotti and Frua. Everyone was doing something and individual accomplishments were somehow left behind, even Chrysler’s Virgil Exner’s. It wasn’t until David Burgess-Wise was doing research for his book on Ghia in the 1980s that it became clear that the famous Ghia Chryslers, in particular the gorgeous K models, were in fact Chrysler designs, handed to Ghia for their translation into metal. 1 It was, perhaps, the kind of environment Savonuzzi enjoyed, but it was not the place to polish his star. Ironically, he became more famous for his work at Ghia than for anything else, before or since.

Savonuzzi’s role in the design of the Cisitalia 202 was significant but unheralded. The Cisitalia 202 at the New York Museum of Modern Art. Photo by Jerry Lehrer.

From the VeloceToday Archives, March, 2011

By Pete Vack

During a career that spanned all facets of automobile design, mechanical innovations and inventive research, Giovanni Savonuzzi was not only a superb stylist but also a brilliant engineer – a rare combination of technical prowess and design artistry fused by his training in aeronautics.