Avant-Garde Racing Dream: Itala 11

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Itala, or, to be precise, “Ceirano Matteo & C. Vegni Marca Itala,” was set up in 1903 in Turin at the behest of Matteo Ceirano, a member of the Ceirano family, which set up a number of Italian brands at the beginning of the 20th century. The company enjoyed early racing successes, which brought fame and lured customers to the company.

In 1915 Italy entered the First World War. Immediately, the focus of its industrial production changed to military vehicles, especially trucks and aircraft engines. This seemed to work well for Itala, which had launched production of these types of vehicles a few years earlier. However, the Royal Italian Army requested the delivery of 200-hp airplane engines, licensed from Hispano-Suiza. This large 3000-unit order essentially almost put the company out of business. Production of the 200-hp engines required new machinery, which took time to acquire and install. By the time the necessary equipment was functional and the army’s requests for changes in the design were processed, the war ended and the army abruptly cancelled the order. This left the company in shambles.

Giulio Cesare Cappa

In the early 1920s, the state intervened as the company was no longer competitive. In 1924 Itala was nationalized and reorganized. As part of the modernization plan, a new engineer was hired who was given almost managerial responsibilities. He was Giulio Cesare Cappa.

He was born in 1880 in Voghera. He graduated in Mechanical Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Turin in 1904 and soon became a well-known figure in the automotive scene. Cappa co-founded Aquila Italiana in 1905. In 1914, he became Technical Director at Fiat, where he contributed significantly to the development of Grand Prix cars and worked on everything from production cars to trucks and aircraft engines. Cappa was a visionary genius, but difficult. In 1924, after repeated disputes with general management, he resigned from Fiat and opened his own design studio.

One of Cappa’s design clients was Itala. His first project was the 61, a car that was aimed at relaunching the Itala brand with its refined construction, competitive price, and lightweight design.

A document entitled "preliminary estimate of the 1100-cc type car" dated May 20, 1924, shows that Cappa worked on another project as well while developing the 61. This was even more innovative, a fast and light monoposto racing car with front-wheel drive and fully independent suspension!

Franz and Carlo Alberto Conelli were two wealthy, enthusiastic racing brothers who won several times in Bugatti cars. Cappa had approached them with a proposal: to provide them with a versatile racing car to enhance their racing career. The Conellis were intrigued and placed an order. At the same time, Arturo Mercanti, who set up the Monza racetrack in 1922, had heard about the project and invited Cappa to introduce the new car in the 3rd Vetturette Gran Prix, which was to be held on September 6, 1925. In May 1925, just over three months before the race, Cappa decided to introduce the project “for the supply of five racing cars” to the management of Itala.

The project totally consumed Cappa at a time when the company was struggling. To design and build these cars, Cappa proposed a new joint venture between Itala, Giuseppe Acutis, the CEO of Itala, and himself. Cappa set out to rent new premises where he could develop and build the cars, with parts provided by Itala. He had to follow a very strict schedule: the engine had to be completed by July 1 with the complete car ready to be tested by August 15!

Cappa was planning for larger-scale production and designed a chassis that could have accommodated different engines and bodies. The frame was made of sheet steel with wooden reinforcements at the attachment points of the crossbars, the engine, and the bodywork. The frame and engine were independent of each other, so that the latter could be mounted after the bodywork was completed and fixed to the frame itself. Cappa also designed an easy way to change the body. Once the assembly of an engine on a chassis was completed, the bodywork could be changed, e.g., from monoposto corsa to biposto corsa or two- or four-seater sport.

The engine was mounted in the front. The transmission, the steering box, and the differential were combined into a single unit, which also supported the front suspension and radiator.

The engine was a small masterpiece: a water-cooled, supercharged V-12 unit with the cylinder banks angled at 60 degrees. The camshaft was overhead, placed between the two rows of cylinders with two valves for each cylinder, a single carburetor placed above, and a Roots supercharger. Capacity was 1050cc providing 60hp with a maximum engine speed of 6500 to 7000rpm. Top speed was claimed to be 150km/h. The gearbox had four speeds plus reverse with a control lever next to the driver.

Itala 11

One unique detail was both functional and aesthetic. The exhaust pipes, which exit from the front hood — one for each bank of cylinders — join together at the back of the body and are enclosed in the tapered tail. The car itself was also compact, featuring a length of 3900mm, width of 1700mm, maximum height from the ground of 1000mm, wheelbase of 2500mm, and a track of 1200 mm. Named the Itala 11 due to its 1100cc engine, the car had a streamlined single seat body built in aluminum and painted red. Only one of the Cappa-designed race cars was finished in 1925. It never raced on a circuit. This was probably due to bureaucratic difficulties linked to the establishment of the new company and the difficult situation of Itala, which finally closed in 1930.

Cappa wrote a report with undisguised bitterness: “Various events have prevented the planned program from having a follow-up as had been hoped. The establishment of a company of which the Itala company was a part did not come to fruition for reasons that are too complicated to explain here.” He also addressed Itala’s general manager: “You must deliver to me without any additional charges, the Itala 11, as well as the parts inherent to the car itself and the first five samples that had to be built. With this delivery, any reciprocal contractual obligation and any lot of Debit and Credit relating to the order of the car 11 are considered suppressed.” In 1941, Cappa donated the car to MAUTO, Museo Nazionale dell’Automobile, in Turin, and it remains a suggestion of what Cappa could have developed under different circumstances.

More details are available in the Summer, 2022 issue of Rare & Unique Vehicles. The Summer issue is available now, featuring “Innovation” as its central theme. Frederico Signorelli with assistance from the Mauto museum in Turin looks at the ill-fated Itala 11 racer from 1925.

Words by Pal Negyesi.

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