Piero Dusio (13 October 1899 – 7 November 1975) was an Italian

footballer A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby le ...

, businessman and racing driver.Donatella Biffignandi,
Piero Dusio
' from museoauto.it, an online museum for automotive issues, last accessed on 12 November 2016.

Biography

Dusio was born at

Scurzolengo Scurzolengo is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Asti in the Italian region Piedmont, located about east of Turin and about northeast of Asti. Scurzolengo borders the following municipalities: Calliano, Castagnole Monferrato, and ...

province of Asti The Province of Asti ( it, Provincia di Asti, Piedmontese: ''Provincia d’Ast'') is a province in the Piedmont region of northern Italy. Its capital is the city of Asti. To the northwest it borders on the Metropolitan City of Turin; to the sou ...

. During his active football career he played as a as a

midfielder A midfielder is an outfield position in association football. Midfielders may play an exclusively defensive role, breaking up attacks, and are in that case known as defensive midfielders. As central midfielders often go across boundarie ...

and made three appearances for

Juventus Juventus Football Club (from la, iuventūs, 'youth'; ), colloquially known as Juve (), is a professional Association football, football club based in Turin, Piedmont, Italy, that competes in the Serie A, the top tier of the Italian football leagu ...

in 1921–22. His career ended in a knee injury, after which he started a textile business (oil cloth), which evolved into sporting goods as well as becoming supplier of military uniforms. He led the ''Juventus Organizzazione Sportiva Anonima'' (O.S.A.) 1941 to 1943, which became part of the

Cisitalia 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 ...

firm in 1944, and even was president of Juventus from 1942 to 1948. He raced in 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 ...

(1929–38), was sixth in

1936 Italian Grand Prix The 1936 Italian Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Monza on 13 September 1936. The 72 lap event was won by Bernd Rosemeyer. Classification References Italian Grand Prix Italian Grand Prix The Italian Grand Prix ( it, ...

, winning a class victory (50th overall) in

in a

Siata Siata (''Società Italiana Auto Trasformazioni Accessori'' in English ''Italian Car Transformation Accessories Company'') was an Italian car tuning shop and manufacturer founded in 1926 by amateur race car driver Giorgio Ambrosini. Siata initiall ...

500cc (1937), and formed the Scuderia Torino (1939). He commissioned

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 ...

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 ...

to develop a racing car (1944), and formed the "Consorzio Industriale Sportiva Italia" (1944). The firm became

and involved

Carlo Abarth Carlo Abarth (15 November 1908 – 24 October 1979), born Karl Albert Abarth, was an Italian automobile designer. Abarth was born in Austria, but later was naturalized as an Italian citizen; and at this time his first name Karl Albert was chang ...

Rudolf Hruska Rudolf Hruska (2 July 1915 in Vienna – 4 December 1995 in Turin) was an Austrian automobile designer and engineer, most famous for his design of various Alfa Romeo cars. After graduating Vienna University of Technology he worked for Magirus ...

and

Ferry Porsche Ferdinand Anton Ernst Porsche (19 September 1909 – 27 March 1998), mainly known as Ferry Porsche, was an Austrian-German technical automobile designer and automaker-entrepreneur. He operated Porsche AG in Stuttgart, Germany. His fathe ...

. Three D46's topped the local ''Coppa Brezzi'' (held with the

1946 Turin Grand Prix The 1946 Turin Grand Prix was a Grand Prix motor race held at Valentino Park on 1 September 1946. It is claimed to be the first ever Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for op ...

), Dusio taking 1st. Dusio continued financing racing car projects, but the expenses in engineering the complex 202MM almost ruined Cisitalia (1947), as well as involved the Juventus corporation. Consequently, Dusio moved to

Argentina Argentina (), officially the Argentine Republic ( es, link=no, República Argentina), is a country in the southern half of South America. Argentina covers an area of , making it the second-largest country in South America after Brazil, th ...

and established Autoar (Automotores Argentinos) S.A.I.C. (22 March 1949), financially supported by

Juan Peron ''Juan'' is a given name, the Spanish and Manx versions of ''John''. It is very common in Spain and in other Spanish-speaking communities around the world and in the Philippines, and also (pronounced differently) in the Isle of Man. In Spanish, t ...

. His son,

Carlo Dusio Carlo is a given name. It is an Italian form of Charles. It can refer to: *Carlo (name) * Monte Carlo *Carlingford, New South Wales, a suburb in north-west Sydney, New South Wales, Australia *A satirical song written by Dafydd Iwan about Prince Ch ...

continued to run a refinanced

company in

Turin Turin ( , Piedmontese language, Piedmontese: ; it, Torino ) is a city and an important business and cultural centre in Northern Italy. It is the capital city of Piedmont and of the Metropolitan City of Turin, and was the first Italian capital ...

(1948–1964).Cisitalia
.

Aldo Brovarone Aldo Brovarone (24 June 1926 – 12 October 2020) was an Italian automobile designer and the chief stylist with Carrozzeria Pininfarina (1974-1988) – widely known for a prominent range of work including the Dino 206 GT, Lancia Gamma Coup ...

expatriated to Argentina to join the company. Dusio tried but failed to qualify for one

Formula One Formula One (also known as Formula 1 or F1) is the highest class of international racing for open-wheel single-seater formula racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The World Drivers' Championship, ...

World Championship Grand Prix ( Italy 1952) with a

D46, but he failed to set a time in practice due to engine problems. He raced in the

Buenos Aires Grand Prix Buenos Aires Grand Prix may refer to one of two former sporting events: * Buenos Aires Grand Prix (motor racing), a former motor sport race * Buenos Aires Grand Prix (tennis), a former Grand Prix tennis event which continues today as an ATP Wor ...

in 1954, and also started Cisitalia Argentina Industrial y Comercial SA, planning cars such as the

Cisitalia 750 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 ...

(1960). He died in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires ( or ; ), officially the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires ( es, link=no, Ciudad Autónoma de Buenos Aires), is the capital and primate city of Argentina. The city is located on the western shore of the Río de la Plata, on South ...

in 1975.

Racing record

Complete European Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete Formula One World Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position, races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Dusio, Piero 1899 births 1975 deaths Sportspeople from the Province of Asti Italian footballers Association football midfielders Juventus F.C. players Juventus F.C. directors Juventus F.C. chairmen and investors 20th-century Italian businesspeople Italian racing drivers Italian Formula One drivers Cisitalia people Cisitalia Formula One drivers European Championship drivers Grand Prix drivers Footballers from Piedmont