Giovanni Savonuzzi (

Ferrara Ferrara (, ; egl, Fràra ) is a city and ''comune'' in Emilia-Romagna, northern Italy, capital of the Province of Ferrara. it had 132,009 inhabitants. It is situated northeast of Bologna, on the Po di Volano, a branch channel of the main stream ...

28 January 1911 –

18 February 1988) was an Italian automobile designer. Savonuzzi received a degree in

mechanical engineering Mechanical engineering is the study of physical machines that may involve force and movement. It is an engineering branch that combines engineering physics and mathematics principles with materials science, to design, analyze, manufacture, and ...

from Politecnico di Torino in 1939 and worked for

Fiat Aviazione Fiat Aviazione was an Italian aircraft manufacturer, at one time part of the Fiat group, focused mainly on military aviation. After World War I, Fiat consolidated several Italian small aircraft manufacturers, like Pomilio and Ansaldo. Most famous ...

and taught in

aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identifies ...

at the ''politecnico''. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

he served in

Albania Albania ( ; sq, Shqipëri or ), or , also or . officially the Republic of Albania ( sq, Republika e Shqipërisë), is a country in Southeastern Europe. It is located on the Adriatic and Ionian Seas within the Mediterranean Sea and shares ...

. In August 1945Windstone Woodfeller,
Ghia's Gilda: Siren Song for An Era
' in ''Motortrend'' on January 24, 2013. he succeeded

Dante Giacosa Dante Giacosa (3 January 1905 - 31 March 1996) was an Italian automobile designer and engineer responsible for a range of Italian automobile designs — and for refining the front-wheel drive layout to an industry-standard configuration. Front ...

as technical director of the Cisitalia carmaker, first completing Giacosa's

Cisitalia D46 Cisitalia was an Italian sports and racing car brand. The name "Cisitalia" derives from "Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia", a business conglomerate founded in Turin in 1946 and controlled by the wealthy industrialist and sportsman Piero Dusio ...

cigarshaped racing car. Before he left for in 1948 due to a disagreement, he had sketched out the Spider Nuvolari and the 202 CMM Aerodinamica Savonuzzi (to be built by Pinin Farina). He designed the SVA Midget racer while with '' Società Valdostana Automobili'' (SVA) 1948–49, lectured at ''politecnico'' and had some

freelance ''Freelance'' (sometimes spelled ''free-lance'' or ''free lance''), ''freelancer'', or ''freelance worker'', are terms commonly used for a person who is self-employed and not necessarily committed to a particular employer long-term. Freelance w ...

work, including for Cisitalia in 1951 under Carlo Dusio. He oversaw the production of the Ford-Cisitalia 808 project in 1952. As the technical director for

Carrozzeria Ghia Carrozzeria Ghia SpA (established 1916 in Turin) is an Italian automobile design and coachbuilding firm, established by Giacinto Ghia and Gariglio as "Carrozzeria Ghia & Gariglio". The headquarters are located at Corso Guglielmo Marconi, 4, Turin ...

under

Luigi Segre Luigi "Gigi" Segre (8 November 1919 – 28 February 1963) was an Italian automotive designer noted for his business and engineering acumen during his stewardship and ownership of Carrozzeria Ghia (1953–63), one of an Italy's premier automobile d ...

from 1953 to 1957, Savonuzzi developed the "Supersonic" series inspired by gas turbines (as a result of his access to

wind tunnel Wind tunnels are large tubes with air blowing through them which are used to replicate the interaction between air and an object flying through the air or moving along the ground. Researchers use wind tunnels to learn more about how an aircraft ...

s at the ''politecnico''). First one-off car was an

Alfa Romeo 1900 The Alfa Romeo 1900 is an automobile produced by Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo from 1950 until 1959. Designed by Orazio Satta, it was an important development for Alfa Romeo as the marque's first car built entirely on a production line and f ...

tuned by Virgilio Conrero for the

Mille Miglia The Mille Miglia (, ''Thousand Miles'') was an open-road, motorsport endurance race established in 1927 by the young Counts Francesco Mazzotti and Aymo Maggi, which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 (thirteen before World ...

race. He then applied this to Fiat 8V (14 chassises),

DeSoto Adventurer The DeSoto Adventurer is a full-sized automobile that was produced by DeSoto from 1956 through the 1960 model year. Introduced as a four-seat high-performance sports coupe concept car, the Adventurer ended up being DeSoto's special, limited-prod ...

II, Jaguar XK120 (three chassises) and Aston Martin DB2/4. Even more futuristic and bold styling saw the 1955 Ghia "Gilda" (named after Rita Hayworth), and a less radical Ferrari 410 Gilda Superamerica. From 1957 to 1969 Savonuzzi worked under research director George J. Huebner (1910–96) for the turbine department of

Chrysler Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at th ...

, being chief engineer for automotive research from 1962. The resulting

Chrysler Turbine Car The Chrysler Turbine Car is an experimental two-door hardtop coupe powered by a turbine engine and manufactured by Chrysler from 1963–1964. The bodywork was constructed by Italian design studio Carrozzeria Ghia and Chrysler completed the fina ...

1962–64 were not designed by Savonuzzi, but bodied by

. He also studied crash-proof cars. Following some time as Director of R&D under

Gianni Agnelli Giovanni "Gianni" Agnelli (; 12 March 192124 January 2003), nicknamed ("The Lawyer"), was an Italian industrialist and principal shareholder of Fiat. As the head of Fiat, he controlled 4.4% of Italy's GDP, 3.1% of its industrial workforce a ...

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

, he devoted himself to teaching at the ''politecnico'' until retirement in 1977. 1946-Cisitalia-202CMM.jpg , Cisitalia 202 CMM, 1946 1949 Cisitalia 202SMM Nuvolari rear.jpg , Cisitalia 202SMM Nuvolari, 1949 1954_Alfa_Romeo_1900SS_Ghia_Coupe.jpg ,

SS, 1953 1953 Fiat 8V Ghia Supersonic.JPG , Fiat 8V Supersonic, 1953 Jaguar XK120 Supersonic 1954 red vr TCE.jpg , Jaguar XK120 Supersonic, 1954 1955GhiaGildaStreamlineXCoupe-rear.jpg , Ghia "Gilda" Moto Guzzi Nibbio 2.jpg , Moto Guzzi Nibbio II, 1956

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Savonuzzi, Giovanni Italian automobile designers Cisitalia people Ghia people Chrysler people Fiat people People from Ferrara 1911 births 1988 deaths