The Amazing Story of the Autosuds of Napoli

By Gioacchino Rosa Rosa
as told to Pete Vack

In 1957, Count Giovanni Lurani proposed a new Junior Formula, as a training ground for race drivers, similar to the short-lived 1946 Cisitalia D-46 Monoposto class instigated by Piero Dusio in 1946. The old 500 cc Formula III had served this purpose, but was largely limited to Great Britain and now was in need of updating. Formula II, the next step, was being used as a development arena by Lotus, Cooper, Porsche and Ferrari and the grids were populated by Formula I drivers. Lurani’s proposal was quickly adopted by the FIA.

The new formula would be based on a stock block and head configuration with proprietary 1100 cc engines. There was no doubt Lurani had in mind the Fiat 1100, but there were German, English and French engines which would also qualify. The Italians quickly made cars for the new formula, and the first race was held on January 1958 at Monza.

Word spread quickly and by the second race many would be race manufacturers were jumping into the act. Most, like Stanguellini, Bandini and OSCA, were from the North, in the area of Modena, Forli and Bologna, but the enthusiasm for the new formula also spread to the South, reaching Naples where I lived.

Gioacchino proudly stands next to his Lancia Flaminia in 1958. The Lancia transaxle (of the de Dion type) inspired him to incorporate four wheel independent suspension into the design of the Autosud Formula Junior.

There were many race car fans in and around Naples, and one such enthusiast was Mr. Armando De Martino, who had the means to own a wonderful Alfa Romeo 1900 Sprint Touring-Superleggera.

In 1958 I was 23 years old and my job was in the timber business (I was managing the Tropical Timber Sawmill of my family). In fact, I was planning to exhibit our kind of new tropical timber in a fair at Naples, scheduled for June, when I met De Martino, who was also involved in the exhibition. Though I was not a qualified engineer, I had attended the Liceo Scientifico, and studied design principles, which I later put to good use in the design of radio controlled aircraft. Due to our common interests, we became good friends in a very short time.

De Martino lived in the village of Vico Equense, a small town near Castellammare de Stabia, and also knew my cousins, Ciro & Gioacchino Ingenito. They, in turn, owned and operated a small factory, named Arredalsud, in Castellammare which manufactured school desks and chairs. This furniture was often made of tubing, so Ciro and Gioacchino were experts at welding various types and sizes of steel tubes.

It didn’t take De Martino long to figure out that here were all the elements of a race car manufacturer. One day De Martino said to me, “I am willing to do some hill climbing races with a Formula Junior. Why you don’t design a chassis and have it constructed in your cousins’ factory?” He added, “I have an old Fiat 1100 sport car, a Coppa d’ Oro coupè. We can take engine and other parts to put on new chassis. Maybe we would not compete with Ferrari, but we’d have fun all the same!”
De Martino figured that in addition to driving, he’d provide the money and impetus, as well as the donor car. I would act as the chief engineer, while my cousins would actually build the new machine. I discussed this with my cousins and we accepted De Martino’s offer, but we thought of it rather more like a youthful folly than a serious effort.

Work progressed rapidly, and the new race car was soon completed. The front suspension was taken from the donor Fiat 1100.

As I think back on those days, we must have been more serious than we thought, for things happened very quickly and very well.

While I busied myself with the concept and design, Ciro and Gioacchino made short work of De Martino’s old Fiat 1100. They pulled the engine, which was equipped with only one dual Weber and about 50 hp, pulled out the transmission and removed the front suspension and steering gear.

Back at the drawing board, I was planning something a little different than the typical Formula Junior. It so happens that at the time I owned a Lancia Flaminia Coupe Pininfarina, with the very advanced transaxle and four wheel independent suspension. I much admired this, and decided to make it a feature of our new race car. We found a Fiat 600 transaxle, turned it around and placed it at the end of the Fiat 1100 transmission shaft. We used the stock rear suspension from the 600.

At the rear, the 600 axle, bearing support, coil over shock and control arm can be seen.

The chassis was made with 4 tubes of medium diameter in a rectangular section and then joined with tubes of smaller diameters for a rigid, if somewhat heavy space frame. The 1100 front suspension was welded to front supports and the engine and transmission placed carefully into the new chassis. Many details were decided and changes made on the spot as we all worked out the complexities of independent suspension. Youthful enthusiasm does wonders, and suddenly, our race car was ready for a body. We found a coachbuilder in Naples, but he was not very skilled at his craft. But, we were all learning. The construction of car was not so fine, but all parts works well and chassis was strong enough.

Unique in conception, a little roughly finished, the first Autosud given the number 0010. 0011 and 0012 would follow the next year.
Quicker than we had imagined, the Autosud Junior Model ’58, chassis 0010, built expressly for Armando De Martino, was now ready for action. The name Autosud Napoli was chosen by Ciro like “Auto of Arredalsud”. The design of the pelican in the badge was taken from a metal paper weight on his desk.

A large Jaeger tachometer and four spoke steering wheel dominated the cockpit.

We had no idea where this path would take us, or that we would create two more versions of the AutoSud Formula Junior. Around the corner would be detours into the wonderful world of kart racing, which ironically, turned out to be the real training class for future Formula One drivers. All of this and more in Part II.