[2] The grand touring car concept originated in Europe in the early 1950s,[1] especially with the 1951 introduction of the Lancia Aurelia B20 GT,[3][4] and features notable luminaries of Italian automotive history such as Vittorio Jano,[5] Enzo Ferrari[6][7] and Johnny Lurani.
[20] However, the popularity of using GT for marketing purposes has meant that it has become a "much misused term, eventually signifying no more than a slightly tuned version of a family car with trendy wheels and a go-faster stripe on the side".
[30] Italian designers saw that compared to traditional open two-seat sports car, the increase in weight and frontal area of an enclosed cabin for the driver and mechanic could be offset by the benefits of streamlining to reduce drag.
[31] Independent carrozzeria (coachbuilders) provided light and flexible fabric coachwork for powerful short-wheelbase fast-touring chassis by manufacturers such as Alfa Romeo.
The influential Weymann fabric-bodied berlinetta version by Carrozzeria Touring, "an early example of what we generally perceive to be a GT car",[34] was winner of the Vetture Chiuse category at the 1931 Mille Miglia.
[42] The Fiat and SIATA berlinettas, influenced by the successful Alfa Romeo 6C GT/GTC coupés, competed in the Mille Miglia endurance race and were significant among Weymann and Superleggera enclosed sporting cars appearing in the 1930s.
They featured tuned Fiat engine and chassis, and bespoke carrozzeria, in common with the landmark post-war Cisitalia 202 SC, and are among the first small-displacement gran turismos.
[46] An 1100 cc class was hurriedly created, but not in time to save Cisitalia's business fortunes—the company's bankrupt owner Piero Dusio had already decamped to Argentina.
[44] The Cisitalia 202 SC gained considerable fame for the outstanding design of its Pinin Farina coachwork, and is credited with greatly influencing the style of subsequent berlinetta or fastback gran turismo coupés.
[53] After that race, the national governing body of Italian motorsport, CSAI (Commissione Sportiva Automobilistica Italiana), officially introduced a new class, called Gran Turismo Internazionale, for cars with production over thirty units per year,[54] thereby ruling out Ferrari's hand-built berlinettas.
0092E) was first in the gran turismo category at the Coppa della Toscana driven by Milanese Ferrari concessionaire and proprietor of Scuderia Guastalla, Franco Cornacchia.
Here, finally, according to historians Jonathan Wood[4] and Sam Dawson,[3] was a fully realized production GT car, representing the starting point of the definitive grand tourer: This outwardly conventional saloon bristled with innovation and ingenuity, in which the masterly hand of Vittorio Jano is apparent.
[4]Four semi-ufficiali works B20 GTs, together with a number of privateer entrants, were sent to the Mille Miglia in April 1951, where the factory Bracco / Maglioli car finished second overall, behind only a Ferrari sports racer of twice the engine capacity.
A 1–2 finish at the famous Coppa d'Oro delle Dolomiti,[69] among other victories including the 6 Ore di Pescara,[70] rounded out an astonishing debut racing season for this ground-breaking car, winning its division in the Italian GT Championship for Umberto Castiglioni in 1951.
Zagato, his father's firm, provided the lithe, lightweight aluminium bodies for many of the Lancias, Alfa Romeos, Abarths and Maseratis that dominated these meetings.
Working with the chief stylist Ercole Spada, Zagato produced some of the most beautiful GT designs of the era; spare and muscular cars such as the Aston Martin DB4GTZ, the Alfa Romeo Junior TZ and SZ, and the Lancia Flaminia Sport.
The conventional chassis has been abandoned in favor of a complex structure of welded tubes,[80] although the coil spring suspension is retained, and exceptionally large brakes are fitted, inboard at the rear.
"[77] The 250GT Ferrari must surely represent the ultimate in modern high-speed sporting travel, or GT competition, and holds today a position similar to the Bugatti 57SC of 1939.
The cars were an evolution of the previous models, available with either the Colombo or Lampredi versions of the 250 V12 engine, coil spring front suspension, an improved sports gearbox (four speeds) with Porsche synchromesh, large drum brakes and luxurious outfitting.
The demand is greater than the supply.In November 2016, it was reported that a 1962 Ferrari 250 GTO was being offered for public sale—normally brokers negotiate deals between extremely wealthy collectors "behind closed doors".
Winning drivers such as Tazio Nuvolari, Rudolf Caracciola, and Stirling Moss; and manufacturers such as Alfa Romeo, BMW, Ferrari and Porsche would become household names.
[89] A closed sports coupé almost prevailed at Le Mans in 1938, when a carrozzeria touring-bodied Alfa Romeo 8C 2900B, driven by Raymond Sommer and Clemente Biondetti, led the famous 24-hour race from the third lap until early Sunday afternoon, retiring only due to engine problems.
[90] Johnny Lurani was impressed by the dominant performance at the Mille Miglia in 1940, by a carrozzeria touring-bodied BMW 328 coupé, winning the event at over 100 mph average speed, driven by Fritz Huschke von Hanstein and Walter Bäumer:[2] The BMW team included a splendid aerodynamic Berlinetta, wind tunnel designed by German specialists, that was extremely fast at 135 mph...
[46] It was won by a limited production, V-12 engined, Ferrari 166 "inter", originally known as the "sport", with a coupé body by Carrozzeria Touring of Milan with the Superleggera system.
[109] The regulations were drawn up by Johnny Lurani and fellow Italian motor racing journalist and organizer Corrado Filippini,[109][110] requiring for qualification the production of thirty models per year,[54] thereby ruling out, for the time being, Ferrari's hand-built berlinettas.
Contested by Lancia Aprilia, Cisitalia 202, Fiat 1100, Maserati A6, and even a solitary British Bristol 400 (based on the successful pre-war BMW 328), the Gran Turismo Internazionale category was won by Argentinian driver, Adolfo Schwelm Cruz, in an Alfa Romeo 6C 2500 SS.
[117] Schwelm Cruz and Alfa Romeo repeated their success in the 1950 Targa Florio and Mille Miglia by winning the gran turismo category at the Coppa della Toscana in June.
[118] An Alfa Romeo 6C 2500, driven by Salvatore Amendola, was also victorious in the gran turismo category of the Coppa d' Oro delle Dolomiti in July, run through the Dolomite Mountains, starting and finishing in the town of Cortina d'Ampezzo.
The FIA grand touring category came to be known as "Group 3", and is defined in the 1961 Appendix J (English) regulation as: "Vehicles built in small series for customers who are looking for better performance and/or maximum comfort and are not particularly concerned about economy.
The race organizers Auto Club d'Italia, fearing a financial disaster from the withdrawal of the famous Italian team, canceled the event, and Ferrari was crowned world champion.