Piero Dusio

Piero Dusio (13 October 1899 - 7 November 1975): Italian footballer, businessman, racing driver, and racing car manufacturer from Scurzolengo, province of Asti who attempted to qualify for one Formula One World Championship Grand Prix (1952 Italian Grand Prix) but failed to set a time due to engine problems, and who achieved far greater significance as the founder of Cisitalia, the Italian automobile manufacturer that produced the iconic Cisitalia 202 sports car and employed Ferdinand Porsche to design an advanced Grand Prix car, though financial difficulties forced him to flee to Argentina where he founded Autoar. Born in Scurzolengo, Piedmont on 13 October 1899, Dusio was a promising footballer in his youth, playing as a midfielder for Juventus during the 1921-22 season, making three appearances for one of Italy's greatest football clubs before a knee injury ended his football career.

After football, Dusio demonstrated remarkable business acumen, opening his own textile company in 1926 at age 27 and becoming a pioneer by producing Italy's first oil cloth. He expanded into diverse business interests including banking, sporting goods such as tennis rackets and racing bicycles (the Beltrame brand), and manufacturing uniforms, building substantial wealth that would later finance his motorsport ambitions. In 1929, Dusio made his racing debut at the Mille Miglia, Italy's legendary 1000-mile road race. He competed until 1938, achieving his best result with a class victory in a Siata 500cc in 1937, demonstrating competence if not brilliance as a racing driver.

His racing experience convinced him of opportunities in the automobile business. After World War II, Dusio commissioned Dante Giacosa of Fiat to develop a racing car and founded "Consorzio Industriale Sportiva Italia," later known simply as Cisitalia. The company's collaborators included Carlo Abarth (who would later found his own famous tuning company), Rudolf Hruska, and remarkably, Ferdinand Porsche, who Dusio hired while Porsche was imprisoned in France on war crimes charges, paying his bail and employing him to design an advanced Grand Prix car. The Cisitalia D46, designed by Giacosa, competed successfully in Italian racing, and at the 1946 Turin Grand Prix, three D46s topped the Coppa Brezzi race with Dusio finishing first, demonstrating the car's competitiveness.

Cisitalia also produced the stunning Cisitalia 202 sports car with bodywork by Pininfarina, a design so beautiful it was displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York as automotive art. However, Dusio's ambitions exceeded his resources. The complex Porsche-designed 202MM Grand Prix car with its flat-12 engine, four-wheel drive, and advanced engineering nearly bankrupted Cisitalia in 1947. The massive expenses in engineering this sophisticated machine without corresponding revenue destroyed the company's finances.

Facing bankruptcy and creditors, Dusio fled Italy for Argentina in 1948, where he established Autoar (Automotores Argentinos) S.A.I.C. on 22 March 1949, financially supported by Argentine president Juan Perón. In Argentina, Dusio continued producing cars based on Cisitalia designs.

His Formula One World Championship attempt came at the 1952 Italian Grand Prix at Monza on 7 September 1952, where Dusio entered a Cisitalia D46 single-seater. However, the car suffered engine problems during practice and Dusio failed to set a qualifying time, never making it to the grid. This unsuccessful attempt represented his only Formula One World Championship entry. Dusio remained in Argentina for the rest of his life, continuing his automotive business interests while the original Cisitalia company in Italy collapsed.

He died in Buenos Aires on 7 November 1975 at age 76, having lived a remarkable life spanning professional football, textile manufacturing, automobile production, and racing. Known for playing for Juventus in 1921-22, for founding Cisitalia and producing the iconic 202 sports car displayed at MoMA, for hiring Ferdinand Porsche to design an advanced Grand Prix car that bankrupted the company, for fleeing to Argentina to escape creditors, and for his failed Formula One qualifying attempt at Monza 1952, Piero Dusio represents the ambitious entrepreneur-racer whose vision exceeded his resources—he created one of automotive design's masterpieces and employed one of racing's greatest engineers, but overextension destroyed his Italian business, forcing him to rebuild his life in South America.