In the 1920s, Cisitalia’s founder Piero Dusio was the star of Torino’s famed Juventus soccer team and a gifted racing driver, finishing 1st in Class at the 1937 1000 Miglia and 4th Overall in 1938. By that time, he had created Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia (Cisitalia) and, postwar, the company built the D46 Monoposto, thought to be the first race car to use a full space-frame chassis. At the 1000 Miglia in 1947, Cisitalia debuted the 202 SMM sports-racing car where Tazio Nuvolari drove one of the most legendary races ever, finishing 2nd to Clemente Biondetti’s mighty Alfa Romeo 8C 2900.

Cisitalia next created an advanced road-going sports car based on the space-frame design of its race cars. The resulting 202 SC Coupe debuted in 1947 and was immediately hailed as a design masterpiece. New York’s Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) famously exhibited an example in 1951, and a 202 remains in MoMA’s permanent collection to this day. Cabriolet variants were even rarer than the coupes, and marque authority Nino Balestra believes only approximately 60 were built, with custom coachwork by Stabilimenti Farina and Vignale.

This sensational early example, chassis 062 SC, was first registered by Cusmo Antonio in Naples, Italy. In 1950, after several short-term Italian owners, the Cisitalia was purchased by A.T.A., the production company owned by the legendary Carlo Ponti Sr., who produced some of the most influential Italian movies of the 20th century. His oeuvre included films by Federico Fellini and Roberto Rossellini and Ponti was also famously married to actress Sophia Loren. With a keen aesthetic eye, it is no surprise that Mr. Ponti was enamored by Cisitalia’s ground breaking design, and he is reported to have owned several examples.

Following his ownership, the Cisitalia reportedly remained in Italy until it was acquired by a collector in Belgium. The consignor, who has owned some of the most significant coachbuilt Italian cars including a Cisitalia Coupe, purchased this car in 2016, imported it to the US, and had a world-class restoration performed by Rare Classics Restorations of Boca Raton, Florida. This team has earned numerous awards at Pebble Beach and Cavallino, and is a two-time winner of the Craftsman/ Phil Hill Restorers award at the Amelia Island Concours d’Elegance.

During the restoration, the Stabilimenti Farina coachwork was refinished in an elegant, nonmetallic light gray, fitted with a stunning cognac interior, and exhibits an impressive degree of fit and finish throughout. Since restoration, the car has not been shown, offering the new owner an exciting opportunity to stun crowds and judges alike on the concours lawn. With its matching-numbers engine, stunning restoration, and distinguished provenance, this Gran Sport Cabriolet is perhaps one of the finest examples of the groundbreaking Cisitalia 202 SC – one of the most influential automobiles of the 20th century.