Starting in 1934, the world of Grand Prix racing became the undisputed domain of the Silver Arrows. Funded in no small part by Germany's new Nazi government, as Adolf Hitler was eager to impress his country's technological superiority over the Italian, British and French, Auto Union and Mercedes-Benz unleashed a frenzy of ever more advanced and powerful machines.

Some of the brightest minds in the business worked on the cars, resulting in speeds never seen before. The formerly dominant Alfa Romeo's and Bugattis were consequently left in the dust. By 1937, the 5.6L supercharged straight eight in the Mercedes-Benz W125 was capable of producing as much as 636 horsepower, a figure unsurpassed until the advent of 1982's Ferrari 126C2.

Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union conquered Grand Prix racing in the late 1930's. Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union conquered Grand Prix racing in the late 1930's.

On the other hand, the V16 Auto Unions weren't quite as powerful, but placed the engine behind the driver. This novel idea would form the template for the Formula One car as we know it today, although it would take until 1962 before it became a standard of the sport.

The seemingly infinite surge of power seen between 1934 and 1937 was finally curtailed in 1938, with the introduction of a 3.0L maximum displacement limit for supercharged engines. At the same time, an equivalency formula was created by allowing naturally aspirated units of 4.5L. However, the change proved to be ineffective, as power dropped to around 485 horsepower for the new two-stage supercharged V12's used by both manufacturers.

The downsized Auto Union Type D remained a dominant force. The downsized Auto Union Type D remained a dominant force.

Realizing the pesky Germans had to be squeezed even further to lose their massive advantage over their struggling rivals, the Commission Sportive Internationale moved to decrease the maximum allowable capacity for supercharged engines even further by halving it to a 1.5L limit. Unsurprisingly, naturally aspirated powerplants retained the 4.5L specification.

However, the CSI's plans turned out to be in vain, as they had been planned for the 1940 European Championship. Nazi Germany's invasion of Poland on the 1st of September 1939 put paid to the proposed rules, and motorsport in general. With the nations active in the series descending into war, most of the luminary designers responsible for racing successes ended up drawing weaponry for the war effort.

Ferdinand Porsche in the Auto Union Type A, 1934. Ferdinand Porsche in the Auto Union Type A, 1934.

One such man was Austrian-born Dr. Ferdinand Porsche. An experienced engineer, Porsche had been working in the automotive industry since 1898, when he joined Jakob Lohner & Company. While working there he designed electric motor carriages, and later conceived the first ever petrol/electric hybrid Lohner-Porsche in 1901.

After stints at Austro-Daimler, Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, Daimler-Benz and Steyr, Ferdinand Porsche was left by the wayside, as the Great Depression of 1929 had made his position redundant. Now on his own, Porsche started his own engineering consultancy company, and designed cars for Wanderer.

Porsche was partly responsible for the formidable Tiger tank. Porsche was partly responsible for the formidable Tiger tank.

Later, when Wanderer was absorbed into the Auto Union concern, Porsche found himself attached to the company's racing program, as Auto Union chose his P-Wagen proposal as the base for their new Grand Prix racer. He was subsequently taken on as Auto Union's lead designer, and continued in that role until the outbreak of World War II.

During the war, Porsche worked on numerous projects related to the Nazi war machine, including the Tiger I and II, Elefant and Panzer VIII Maus tanks, the Kubelwagen and Schwimmenwagen and the infamous V-1 flying bomb. Additionally, he penned the Kraft durch Freude Wagen, a small family car intended to mobilize the German populace. This car would later be known as the Volkswagen Käfer, Beetle, or Bug.

The KdF Wagen was supposed to enable the quintessential Aryan family to hurtle down the new Autobahn system in total comfort. The KdF Wagen was supposed to enable the quintessential Aryan family to hurtle down the new Autobahn system in total comfort.

After the war, Porsche, a prominent member of the Nazi party, was asked to establish a car factory in France, where he was to build a refined version of the KdF Wagen design as part of war reparations. The French car industry didn't take kindly to this secondary invasion however. Using their influence, they pressured the French government to take care of the problem.

In response to this, Ferdinand Porsche, Anton Piëch and Porsche's son Ferry were promptly imprisoned in Baden-Baden for war crimes. While the trio wallowed away in prison, Ferdinand's daughter Louise tried to keep her father's company afloat together with engineer Dr. Karl Rabe. Six months later, Ferry Porsche was released thanks to the efforts of French racing driver Raymond Sommer, and the creator of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Charles Faroux.

Piero Dusio came to Ferdinand Porsche's aid, Piero Dusio came to Ferdinand Porsche's aid,

Sommer and Faroux managed to free Anton Piech several months later, but were unsuccessful in liberating Dr. Porsche. Help was on the way however, in the form of a distinguished Italian businessman, who arrived at Porsche's new Gmünd workshop in December of 1946.

That man was Piero Dusio, proprietor of the small Italian sportscar factory Compagnola Industriale Sportive Italia. Dusio had made a fortune in the textile industry, which he used to get Cisitalia off the ground by producing a small 1100cc voiturette racer using parts from the famous Fiat 500 Topolino. This D46 model was selling well, and motivated Dusio to seek assistance to help him get higher up the motorsport ladder.

Tazio Nuvolari in his Cisitalia D46. Tazio Nuvolari in his Cisitalia D46.

On Carlo Abarth's recommendation, Piero Dusio had come to Porsche. Dusio requested the famous firm build him a Grand Prix racer adhering to the 1.5L supercharged formula, which had finally taken effect. Dusio turned out to be a life saver, as his deposit for the project was immediately used to buy Ferdinand Porsche out of his French prison.

Free at last, Porsche could finally pick up where he left off. Using the largely the same design brief he had for the unraced "Type E" 1.5L Auto Union, he drew up tubular chromium molybdenum steel spaceframe which housed a twin Centric supercharged, 180 degree V12-engine fed by two downdraft Weber carburetors.

Using data from a single cylinder test, the engine was supposed to provide somewhere between 400 and 450 horsepower at 2,8 bar (40.6 psi) of boost and 10.500 rpm. However, considering the earlier Auto Union Type E engine, which was rated at 327 horsepower, Porsche decided to conservatively rate the new unit at 300 horsepower.

Later on, full scale tests determined an output of 385 horsepower, only 100 less than the 3.0L unit out of the 1939 Type D. Meanwhile, torque was rated at 370 Nm (272 lb ft). At an estimated maximum engine speed of 10.500 to 12.000 rpm, the car was expected to reach 300 kph (186 mph) if given enough room.

Although he had essentially reused a pre-war design, Ferdinand Porsche couldn't resist to push the envelope with the new Grand Prix car. As such, the engine was mated to a state of the art five-speed sequential shift transmission designed by Leopold Schmid, which operated in a similar fashion to that of a motorcycle.

Furthermore, the transmission connected to an intricate selectable four wheel drive system. When need be, the driver was able to pull a lever and send 50% of the engine's torque to the front wheels to aid traction.

Since a permanent four wheel drive system would create too much frictional power loss and understeer, the option to switch the system off was very welcome. This way, the system could be reserved for greasy or wet conditions, or disabled for long straights and enable for traction out of tight corners.

Owing to a total weight of 650 kg (1433 lbs), the Typ 360 promised very competitive performance. Stopping power was provided by large aluminium drum brakes on all four corners, which were finned and fitted with snorkels for improved cooling.

The first Typ 360 chassis was completed late in 1947, and delivered to Pierro Dusio's workshop. Unfortunately, the Italian couldn't put the car to good use right away. Despite a highly-publicized victory in the famous Mille Miglia road race by Tazio Nuvolari in a Cisitalia 202, sales were faltering.

Dusio had expected to sell at least 500 D46's, but found himself 200 million Italian lire's in debt to investors and suppliers. As the walls were starting to close in on his company in Italy, the slick businessman looked for a way out. His search lead him into on an unexpected path, as he made a deal with Juan Peron, the autocratic leader of Argentina.

With a healthy financial injection from Peron's government funds, Piero Dusio set up the Autoar factory in Argentina. Autoar (Automotores Argentinas) would build a series of sportscars and tractors based on licensed Porsche designs.

The news didn't sit well with his creditors and underpaid employees back home, causing a lot of controversy as Dusio was still millions in debt. In an effort to stifle the unrest, he spread photo's of the apparently fully race ready Cisitalia 360 accompanied by his star driver Tazio Nuvolari.

Tazio Nuvolari straddling the Typ 360, 1950. Tazio Nuvolari straddling the Typ 360, 1950.

Just as the first Formula One World Championship kicked off in 1950, the Cisitalia 360 was put on a ship headed for Argentina. Juan Peron had paid Piero Dusio debts on the condition he move his business to the South American nation immediately.

Despite the car being essentially ready to run, Dusio's other business interests took priority, and the remarkable machine was left to rot. Three years passed by before the car was brought out from its slumber in a dusty corner of the Autoar factory. However, when it came time to run the car again, Autoar's inexperienced mechanics had the devil's own job trying to coax the complex machine back to life.

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In the end they managed to prepare the car to a reasonable degree, after which it was given to Italian driver Clemar Bucci. He promptly attempted to break the South American speed record on a stretch of highway with the renamed "Autoar Especial". Bucci managed to reach 233 kph (144 mph), but got nowhere near the 360's projected 300 kph (186 mph) top speed.

In 1953, the Autoar Especial set a South American speed record. In 1953, the Autoar Especial set a South American speed record.

A second attempt proved unsuccessful, and the car was again stowed away. Another year passed before it saw the light of day again. Once more the Autoar Especial was reanimated, this time for a low level race on the streets of Buenos Aires.

Both Clemar Bucci and his colleague Felice Bonetto were unable to make sense of the car this time around though, as the advanced, but systematically neglected sequential transmission kept sliding into neutral. As a result, the space-age racer never completed more than a few practice laps, and was quickly abandoned again.

When Juan Peron was finally overthrown in a 1955 coup d'etat, his Autoar project came undone as well. In the chaos the ensued, the Typ 360 was sold off into private hands. Frustratingly, it was still left unused in a factory hall somewhere in the country, until photo's of the plagued machine reached Ferry Porsche in 1959.

Ferry promptly sent Porsche race chief Huschke von Hahnstein and a small crew of mechanics on a rescue mission halfway around the world. Luckily he was able to acquire the car and bring it back to Germany for an extensive restoration in the hands of 12 engineering apprentices lead by chief engineer Gerd Wagner. At long last, the futuristic wonder car would receive the tender love and car it had gone without for over a decade.

The second Typ 360 finally found its way back to Porsche after two decades on the floor of a VW dealer. The second Typ 360 finally found its way back to Porsche after two decades on the floor of a VW dealer.

Almost a decade later in 1968, the remains of a second, unfinished chassis were discovered hidden away in a Volkswagen dealership in Racogni, Italy, just outside Turin. The men who found it, exotic car collector Corrado Cupellini and his associate Count Giovanni Lurrani correctly assessed they had neither the funds nor the technical capability to finish the car. Instead, they offered it for sale in British car magazine MOTOR.

Eventually the car was bought by British enthusiast Tom Wheatcroft, who spent years collecting further parts and information regarding the mysterious machine. After Wheatcroft passed away in 2009, the car was sold on again to a private owner, before finally being acquired by Porsche. After almost sixty years, the pair was finally reunited in Stuttgart.

Like the complete machine, the second chassis is the subject of an intensive restoration program. A great number of parts were never fitted of course, but with the sister car present, Porsche's specialist are in the process of cloning the parts needed to get both cars up and running.

The sole completed Typ 360 now proudly resides as a static display in the Porsche Museum. The sole completed Typ 360 now proudly resides as a static display in the Porsche Museum.

The Porsche Typ 360 Cisitalia represented a positive, forward-looking spirit in the immediate aftermath of one of the bloodiest wars in modern history. Though based primarily around pre-war technology, the car was still far ahead of its time. Advanced alloy construction, a sequential transmission, selectable four wheel driver and a tiny but very powerful engine made the 360 the most exciting car around in the late 1940's.

Sadly, Piero Dusio's money troubles caused the single finished chassis to flee with its owner to Argentina, in a cruelly ironic parallel to the fate of many of Ferdinand Porsche's Nazi Party peers. While there, the car was promptly forgotten about and haphazardly prepared for just a few disappointing appearances.

Fortunately, the exotic machine was finally rescued and repatriated to Germany, where it was eventually joined by its unfinished sister. As the seconds chassis is built up, the first is now on static display in the Porsche Museum in Stuttgart. One can only hope both cars will run once again, this time prepared by skilled hands, to reach their full untapped potential.