The car Henry Ford II described as the most beautiful Italian vehicle he had ever seen, has inspired the creation of a new concept model called the Cisitalia 202 E, which was unveiled in the flesh at the 82nd GenevaInternational Auto Salon. The modern day Cisitalia 202 concept is the work of eleven students of the Master course coordinated by Pininfarina Lead Designer Luca Borgogno and Maserati designer Luigi Giampaolo. The idea for the Cisitalia 202 E came from Chen Chin-Hsuan from Taiwan, who was aided by: Shaaz Abbasi Bin Saeed from India, Yaroslav Chumachenko from Ukraine, Yo Kobayashi from Japan, Vasily Kurkov from Russia, Andrea Leoncini, Daniela Spina and Pasquale Meli from Italy, and Soowan Park and Yoon Seul Ki and Soohan Yun from Korea.
The Cisitalia 202 E is a two seater coupe that measures 4,270mm long, 1,850mm wide and 1,240mm tall. It rides on a 2,650mm wheelbase.
The original 1947 Cisitalia was powered by a small displacement 1.1-liter inline four-cylinder engine delivering only 55bhp at 5500rpm, but thanks to the coupe's low kerb weight of just 780kg (1,720 lbs), it propelled it to a top speed of 165km/h (102mph).
In line with the times, the concept gets an unspecified, compact V8 engine producing 450bhp that is mounted up front driving the rear wheels.
“To encourage our students to overstep their limits, they must have the possibility of developing exciting, ambitious projects," said César Mendoza, Director of IED Turin.
"What greater challenge than to redesign one of the most beautiful cars in the world? An extraordinary opportunity. Taking advantage of this occasion and with the support of Cisitalia and the commitment of lecturers and coordinators, we have achieved outstanding results not only with regard to the life size model of the vehicle but in all the projects proposed, making it extremely difficult to single out that to be presented in Geneva," Mendoza concluded.
