From Mussolini’s state car to Stanguellini racer

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Now considered obscure at best, Stanguellini was once a household name in Italian racing, tuning and car-building circles. Mostly post-war, yes, but the story began earlier than that.

Vittorio Stanguellini’s grandfather had founded an engineering company as early as 1879, while his father had been the first man in Modena to register a car, with the registration ‘MO 1’. But it was Vittorio himself who firmly put the family name on the motoring map in the late 1930s.

Although he had previously modified and rebodied a number of Fiats, Alfa Romeos and even a Maserati, the imposing car seen here was arguably the first true Stanguellini, built in 1939. That is our man standing beside it, with racing driver Piero Taruffi behind the wheel. The mighty special was based on a Fiat 2800 chassis. Now, the 2800 is mostly associated with images of a saluting Benito Mussolini, military parades and other heads of state, but Stanguellini saw the potential for a racing car. The car was entered in only a handful of races before the outbreak of the Second World War, but was brought back to life in 1947 and enjoyed some success. By then, Vittorio Stanguellini had developed a highly successful aluminium twin-cam cylinder head for the Fiat 1100, and the 2800 had disappeared into the background.

Stanguellini faded away as a manufacturer during the 1970s, and Vittorio passed away in 1981. The good news, however, is that the 2800 Special survives and can still be seen today at the Museo Stanguellini in Modena.

Words: Jeroen Booij
Picture: Museo Stanguellini

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