Grand touring car design evolved from
vintage and
pre-World War II fast
touring cars and
streamlined closed sports cars. Italy developed the first
gran turismo cars. The small, light-weight, and
aerodynamic coupés, named the "
Berlinetta", originated in the 1930s. A contemporary French concept, known as "
grande routière", emphasised style, elegance, luxury, and gentlemanly transcontinental touring; the
grande routières were often larger cars than the Italian
gran turismos. Italian designers saw that compared to
traditional open two-seat sports car, the increase in weight and frontal area of an enclosed cabin for the driver and mechanic 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 pioneered sophisticated
superleggera (super light-weight) aluminum bodywork, allowing for even more aerodynamic forms. The additional comfort of an enclosed cabin was beneficial for the
Mille Miglia road race held in Italy's often wintry north.
1929 Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GT The first car to be named "
gran turismo" was the 1929
Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 Gran Turismo, a sporting dual-purpose road/race chassis and engine specification that was available with a wide variety of body styles or
carrozzeria. The influential Weymann fabric-bodied
berlinetta version by Carrozzeria Touring, "an early example of what we generally perceive to be a GT car", An improved and
supercharged version, the 6C 1750 GTC
Gran Turismo Compressore, won the
Vetture a Guida Interna category of the 1932 Mille Miglia. The Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 was designed by Vittorio Jano, who would later be instrumental in the design of the 1951 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT.
1935 Fiat 508 Balilla S berlinetta From the basic
Fiat 508 Balilla touring chassis came 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. The Fiat and SIATA
berlinettas, influenced by the successful
Alfa Romeo 6C GT/GTC coupés, competed in the Mille Miglia endurance race and were significant among Weymann and Superleggera enclosed sporting cars appearing in the 1930s. They featured tuned Fiat engine and chassis, and bespoke
carrozzeria, in common with the landmark post-war
Cisitalia 202 SC, and are among the first
small-displacement gran turismos. File:Alfa-Romeo 6C-1750-GTC-Touring.JPG|
Alfa Romeo 6C 1750 GTC Berlinetta
carrozzeriacc touring Mille Miglia 1932 File:Fiat 508-S-Balilla BerlMM.JPG|
Fiat 508 Balilla S
berlinetta Mille Miglia 1935
1947 Cisitalia 202 SC The first recognised motor race specifically for
gran turismo cars was the 1949 Coppa Inter-Europa held at
Monza. It was initially hoped by Italian motor industry observers that the small and struggling Italian sports and racing car manufacturer, Cisitalia, would find in the 1949 Coppa Inter-Europa regulations (initially called
Turismo Veloce or Fast Touring) a category for its
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, the
Fiat-based 1100 cc
four-cylinder Cisitalia was no match on the race track for
Ferrari's new hand-built 2000 cc V12, and Ferrari dominated, 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 bankrupt owner
Piero Dusio had already decamped to Argentina. The
Cisitalia 202 SC gained considerable fame for the outstanding design of its
Pinin Farina coachwork, and is credited with greatly influencing the style of subsequent
berlinetta or
fastback gran turismo coupés. A Cisitalia 202 "GT" is exhibited at the
Museum of Modern Art in
New York City.
1947 Maserati A6 1500 The
Maserati A6 1500 won the 1500 cc class at the 1949 Coppa-Europa. It was driven 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 car 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 coupé body, also by Pinin Farina. File:Cisitalia 202 - Mille Miglia 2014 (16987804980).jpg|
Cisitalia Tipo 202 SC coupé
carrozzeria Pinin Farina 1947 File:Maserati A6 1500 - Museo Enzo Ferrari - fvr.jpg|
Maserati A6 1500 coupé
carrozzeria Pinin Farina 1947
1949 Ferrari 166 Inter Enzo Ferrari, whose
Scuderia Ferrari had been the racing division of
Alfa Romeo from 1929 until 1938, parted ways from Alfa Romeo in 1939: Enzo 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 car constructed in Ferrari's name, 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 Ferrari 166 Inter, a road-going berlinetta coupé with coachwork by Carrozzeria Touring and other coachbuilders. After that race, the national governing body of Italian motorsport, CSAI (
Commissione Sportiva Automobilistica Italiana), officially introduced a new class, called
Gran Turismo Internazionale, for cars with production over thirty units per year, thereby ruling out Ferrari's hand-built
berlinettas.
1951 Ferrari 212 Export Ferrari's response for the new Italian
Gran Turismo Internazionale championship in 1951 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 first example 212
MM) while the road version 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. File:1949 Ferrari 166 Inter Coupé Touring p2.JPG|
Ferrari 166 Inter coupé
carrozzeria touring 1949 File:Ermini 1100 Berlinetta Motto - MM 2014 - (14013102437).jpg|
Etceterini: Ermini 1100
berlinetta Motto 1950 File:Ferrari 212 Vignale 2 cropped.jpg|
Ferrari 212 Export Vignale coupé 1951
1951 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT 1951 was the debut of Lancia's
Aurelia B20 GT. Lancia had begun production in 1950 of their technically advanced Aurelia saloon; the design had been overseen by Vittorio Jano. and Sam Dawson, 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 litre sportscar division, placing 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 the debut racing season for this car, winning its division in the Italian GT Championship for Umberto Castiglioni in
1951. Lancia B20 GTs would go on to win the over 2.0 litre Italian GT Championship in 1953, 1954 and 1955 with the
B20-2500. File:1951-04-28 Mille Miglia 2nd Lancia Aurelia B20 Bracco e Maglioli.jpg|Lancia Aurelia B20 in the 1951 Mille Miglia File:1951 Lancia Aurelia GT 1a Serie, front left (Greenwich).jpg|1951 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT File:1951 Lancia Aurelia GT 1a Serie, rear right (Stratford).jpg|1951 Lancia Aurelia B20 GT
1952 Fiat 8V "Otto Vu" Zagato A surprise to the international press, who were not expecting a
gran turismo berlinetta from Italy's largest manufacturer of everyday 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
Coppa 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-litre GT Champion (a feat it repeated every year until 1959).
Elio Zagato, the coachbuilder's son, was 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 is named after its V8 engine (Since Ford had already trademarked "V8"). File:1955 Fiat 8V Zagato - red - fvl2 (4637745420).jpg|Fiat 8V Zagato File:1955 Fiat 8V Zagato - red - rvr (4637134539).jpg
1954 Mercedes-Benz 300SL The
German automotive industry was devastated by the second World War, but in the post-war period a small number of firms brought it to prominence again. "The post-war
Mercedes sports cars are in a way even more remarkable than those of
Porsche. The firm was particularly badly hit by the war and it was several years before anything but a nominal production of cars could be undertaken. In 1951 appeared the
"300", a luxurious and fast touring car with a single-camshaft six-cylinder engine of 2996 c.c. and chassis derived from the pre-war cars with swing-axle rear suspension. The
"300S" was a three-carburetor edition, but in 1952 great interest was aroused by the almost invincible performance in sports-car racing of a team of prototype cars of extremely advanced and interesting design. By 1954 these had undergone sufficient development to be placed on the market as the
"300SL", one of the costliest and most desirable cars of our time. The conventional chassis has been abandoned in favor of a complex structure of
welded tubes, although the coil spring suspension is retained, and exceptionally large brakes are fitted, inboard at the rear. The engine is sharply inclined to the near-side in the interests of a low bonnet-line, and with
Bosch fuel injection produces 240 bhp at 6,000 rpm. Claimed maximum speed is in excess of 160 mph and although the car is by no means small,
dry weight has been kept to 23
cwt. The depth of the multi-tubular frame prevents the use of conventional side-hinged doors and these cars are fitted with the roof-hinged "gull-wing" doors which characterise an exceedingly handsome and practical car. An open touring version is available. In competition the "300SL" has become a powerful contender, and abetted by the success of the
Grand Prix cars [and "
300 SLR"] has captured a substantial portion of the export market." File:Mercedes (1240346857).jpg|
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL File:Mercedes-Benz 300 SL Gullwing (4361015614) (cropped).jpg|Mercedes-Benz 300 SL
1956 Ferrari 250 GT 1953 saw the first serious attempt to series produce the Ferrari motor car, two models of the
Type 250 Europa being produced. The cars were an evolution of the previous models, available with either the
Colombo or
Lampredi versions of the 250 V12 engine, coil spring front suspension, an improved sports gearbox (four speeds) with
Porsche synchromesh, large
drum brakes and luxurious outfitting. A few appeared in motorsports but did not initially threaten the international
Mercedes-Benz 300 SL and
Porsche 356 competition. In 1957 Gendebien finished third overall in the Mille Miglia, and won the "index of performance".
Alfonso de Portago won the
Tour de France and GT races at
Montlhéry and
Castelfusano in a lightweight
Carrozzeria Scaglietti 250 GT. Gendebien became a
gran turismo specialist in 250 GTs when he wasn't driving sports racing
Ferrari Testa Rossas ("Red Heads" for their red engine covers), achieving success in both the Giro Sicilia and Tour de France. In 1958, sports racing
Testa Rossas swept the
Manufacturer's Championship, and in 1959 the T.R. engine was adapted to the 250 GT. The
spark plugs were relocated and each
cylinder now had a separate
intake port. Larger
Weber twin-choke carburetors were employed in a triple configuration (sports racing T.R.s employed six) and some special customer cars had three four-choke Webers (one
choke per cylinder).
Dry-sump lubrication was employed, and the
camshaft valve timing was only slightly less than the full-race
Testa Rossas. G.T. power was up to 267 bhp at 7,000 rpm (240 bhp at 6,800 rpm for road versions). Experiments were conducted with Dunlop disc brakes, which were adopted in 1960, along with an even shorter wheelbase for
competizione versions. In November 2016, it was reported that a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO was being offered for public sale—normally brokers negotiate deals between extremely wealthy collectors "behind closed doors". GTOs had previously been auctioned in 1990 and 2014. The 2017 sale was expected to reach US$56,000,000.00, the particular GTO concerned (the second of just thirty-six ever made) thus set to become the world's most expensive car. File:Ferrari 250 Europa.jpg|1953
Ferrari 250 Europa File:Ferrari 250 GT TdF - Villa d'Este 2014 - (14466769370).jpg|1957 Ferrari 250 GT Berlinetta Tour de France Scaglietti File:Ferrari-250-GT-Berlinetta-1.jpg|1959 Ferrari 250 GT
berlinetta SWB File:Ferrari 250 GTO at concorso.jpg|1962
Ferrari 250 GTO ==Impact of racing==