Marinella 1948

Testadoro Marinella - 1948

The first "torpedo" of the Testadoro

History and Context

The Marinella, a novelty of the 1948 racing season, was a two-seater "Sport" with a "torpedo" body, equipped with the new complete Testadoro engine, and named in honor of the eldest daughter of Andreina and Giorgio Giusti. For 1948 the “Testadoro” lost its characteristic color, as the casting passed from the original bronze to aluminum. The cylinder head was, however, immediately recognizable by the classic color of the valve cover, which bore the words “Testadoro” and “Casaauto - Torino” in relief. The Testadoro engine for 1948 was built entirely in-house, abandoning the Fiat crankcase for a new cast iron casting with three main supports, which had in common with the original only the cylinder center distance of 61mm (to maintain compatibility with the head). The engine was completed by a new shaft in chrome-nickel steel with a stroke of 78, which combined with a bore of 55 brought the total displacement of the 4-cylinder to 742cc, thus coming very close to the maximum displacement limit to compete in the class. 750 sport. With a compression ratio of 9: 1, this new complete engine developed an output of 45 hp at 6,500 rpm. 742 cc and 45 horsepower. Evidently not satisfied with the Topolino chassis still used in previous cars, for the 1948 car Giusti used a chassis made by the one who was revolutionizing the world of racing car chassis: Gilberto Colombo. Colombo had designed and built the chassis of the first Ferrari in history, the 1947 125 S, and had become the exclusive supplier of Enzo Ferrari. At the same time, Colombo produced with the Gilco brand name tubular frames in chromium-molybdenum steel ready for installation on the most popular mechanics at the time, such as the Fiat 500 and 1100. The tubular frames were accredited (according to Gilco advertising of the time) with a torsional stiffness 10 times higher than that of the classic mild steel side members used by the main manufacturers. With the ambition of creating a complete car superior to the competition both from an engine point of view and in terms of handling, it is probable that Giusti did not address Colombo directly, but rather Enrico Nardi from Turin, with whom he had a friendship that it dates back to the times when Giusti was engaged in the adventure of the Subalpina Scuderia and Nardi was a passionate aspiring driver and test driver. After the Second World War Nardi, together with the pilot Renato Danese, undertook the design and supply of tubular frames, which he often entrusted the production of precisely to Gilberto Colombo from Milan. With these premises, the Marinella was born light, manageable and powerful (for its class, "up to 750cc") and competitive. In an interview with Martino Colombo (cousin of Gilberto founder of Gilco) in the 90s, Giusti reported that, driving his own cars in the race himself, on tortuous paths he often preceded in the ranking cars of higher categories, on which he excelled in agility and cornering. In his own words, Giusti reported that with Marinella he "made sparks". The best result of the season was Giusti's victory in the “Michelin Cup” held on the historic Valentino circuit in Turin.

THE MYSTERY OF THE TWO "MARINELLA" TORPEDO


"Marinella I"

Obviously, at the time of its presentation this car was simply called Marinella, but it is currently defined as "Marinella I" to distinguish it from the famous "Marinella II", which was born again in 1948 and appears in numerous photographs of the time driven by Giusti himself.

This car is equipped with a tubular frame characterized by longitudinal members in round tubes of large diameter, similar to the Gilco type "750", but characterized by effective front suspension with a deformable quadrilateral with overlapping triangles and coil springs, a solution then peculiar to racing cars. . Peculiar to the Marinella, both in this first version and in the subsequent evolution, are the suspension arms equipped with a series of round lightening holes, clearly visible in all the photographs of the time.


 

"Marinella II"

In numerous photographs of the time Giorgio Giusti appears on a car with the inscription "Marinella II" in italics on the left side.

In the absence of documents of the time that describe the characteristics of this second version, and of visible aesthetic differences compared to the first, the most accredited hypotheses refer this distinction to the presence of substantial changes in the frame part.

Notwithstanding, in fact, that the version of the engine appears to be the same throughout the 1948 season, it is believed that the "Marinella II" differs from the first for the adoption of the famous "isorigid" type frame which will become one of the distinctive signs of the "Daniela" of the following year; in fact there are several documents that attest to the presence of this lattice frame already in the Marinella.

In the constant evolution of racing cars, in fact, it is not uncommon to see the transformation of the cars in the middle of an August season.

The presence of a photograph depicting a Marinella with the rounded air intake characteristic of Daniela would seem to support the hypothesis that one of the two Marinellas from 1948 (and probably the second version with Isorigid chassis) was then transformed into Daniela for the 1948 season. .

Style

Always entrusted to Zagato's pencil for the definition of the style, La Marinella was bodied in "Siluro" style, with the "open" wheels characteristic of those years, with a tapered shape that followed the design of the frame. This type of car body shop was preferred by pilots for the ease with which it was possible to determine the point of the rope when cornering and, in city circuits, to touch the pavements without hitting them with imaginable consequences. The car was equipped with removable motorcycle-type mudguards for use in closed circuits. The style is very simple, linear and tapered. The front is characterized by the rounded connection of the volume of the bonnet with the front and by the characteristic air intake designed by Zagato for all marinella boats (torpedo and barchetta) and which Zagato itself will also decline in other non-Testadoro creations. The side view is elongated, with the sides that differ in the presence of a flare designed to facilitate the entry of the pilot present only on the driver's side, while on the side of the co-driver there is a door to allow the "navigator" to get off easily in the various "stamp checks" in endurance races. The rear is characterized by the "hump" behind the driver and shows the typical descending shape of the Grand Prix single-seaters of the time, such as the iconic Alfa 158.
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