Cisitalia 202 Farina Fin-Tail

The Cisitalia 202 Farina “Fin-Tail”, bearing chassis number 033, is a unique coupé constructed in 1947 by Stabilimenti Farina. It represents a singular deviation from the standard Cisitalia 202 Gran Sport, distinguished by its rear-end treatment, where modest fin-like extensions rise subtly from the rear wings. This stylistic element, anomalous within the otherwise fluid and harmonious profile of the 202, anticipates—albeit discreetly—the formal language of tailfins that would come to characterize American automotive design in the following decade. Within the European context of the immediate postwar period, such a design intervention is rare, making the example notable both for its provenance and its speculative stylistic direction. The Cisitalia 202 was developed under the supervision of Giovanni Savonuzzi, with input from Battista “Pinin” Farina, and is often cited as a formative work in postwar industrial design for its clean integration of mechanical and aesthetic elements. In the case of chassis 033, Stabilimenti Farina’s interpretation retains the essential proportions and surface language of the original while introducing an element of visual tension at the rear, thus diverging from the canonical Pinin Farina berlinetta. Mechanically, the car remains consistent with the standard 202 specification, employing a 1,089 cc inline-four engine derived from the Fiat 1100 and mounted to a tubular chassis. The engine was paired with a four-speed manual gearbox, and the vehicle’s lightweight construction provided a favourable power-to-weight ratio, suited for competitive and touring use. Chassis 033 is believed to have remained in Italy during its early life, later passing through private European collections. Its fin-tail configuration, undocumented in other known examples, has led to scholarly speculation regarding its commission, possibly as a special exhibition car or an early design study. The car has appeared in curated displays of postwar coachbuilding and was noted for its originality during a mid-century design retrospective held in Milan. The Cisitalia 202 Farina “Fin-Tail” remains an outlier within the otherwise tightly controlled aesthetic lineage of the 202 series. Its preservation offers insight into the experimental nature of Italian carrozzerie in the years immediately following the Second World War, when formal innovation was often explored within limited-production or single-off vehicles.