The Societa Valdostana Automobili (SVA), was an Italian

automobile A car or automobile is a motor vehicle with Wheel, wheels. Most definitions of ''cars'' say that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, pe ...

manufacturer, active in Pont Saint Martin from 1948 to 1951.

History

Founded by

Giovanni Savonuzzi Giovanni Savonuzzi (Ferrara 28 January 1911 – Ferrara 18 February 1988) was an Italian automobile designer. Savonuzzi received a degree in mechanical engineering from Politecnico di Torino in 1939 and worked for Fiat Aviazione and taught in a ...

and Virgilio Conrero, both originally from

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 ...

's aviation competitions department, SVA was founded in order to develop the cars made by Cisitalia. Despite achieving numerous victories in minor races and gaining the confidence of important drivers such as

Giovanni Bracco Giovanni Bracco (6 June 1908 at Biella – 7 August 1968 at Biella) was an Italian racing car driver. He lived in Biella, home town of other racing aces such as Mario Porrino and Lamberto Grolla. Before and after World War II he had been racing ...

, SVA ran into severe difficulties after Cisitalia went into receivership. The company changed its focus, resulting in the creation of

open-wheel An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

single-seaters. A first experiment was done with a Formula 3 car with a Moto Guzzi engine. Later a

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, ...

car was built, with a

supercharged In an internal combustion engine, a supercharger compresses the intake gas, forcing more air into the engine in order to produce more power for a given displacement. The current categorisation is that a supercharger is a form of forced induct ...

-derived engine fueled by a mixture of petrol and alcohol. The SVA 1500, entrusted to driver

Rudi Fischer Rudi, born Albert Rudolph (January 24, 1928 – February 21, 1973), also known as Swami Rudrananda, was born in Brooklyn, New York. Rudi was a spiritual teacher and an antiquities entrepreneur in New York City.Swami Rudrananda udi ''Spir ...

, took to the track in both the Grand Prix of San Remo and the Swiss Grand Prix in 1950, proving to be powerful and fast, but also very fragile. SVA closed at the end of 1951. {{Formula One constructors Car manufacturers of Italy Italian racecar constructors Formula One constructors