Cisitalia 202 Gran Sport
This little postwar coupé made its hood, fenders and headlights look like one flowing sculpture.
1947 Cisitalia 202 Coupé at the Petersen Automotive Museum · Dustin May · CC BY-SA 2.0
Research pending
A matching completed auction sale has not been verified for this exact year, body, trim, engine, transmission and market.
Joyride shows this gap instead of substituting an asking price, unsold bid or mismatched special vehicle.
More than a set of wheels.
Cisitalia founder Piero Dusio supplied a small Italian chassis and mechanical package to Battista 'Pinin' Farina. His 202 body replaced the separate-looking boxes and bolt-on fenders of older cars with one continuous shape. The Gran Sport appeared publicly at Villa d'Este and the 1947 Paris Motor Show, and a 202 later became the first car acquired for MoMA's design collection.
Look a little closer.
MoMA described the hood, fenders, body and headlights as parts of one continuously flowing surface rather than separate add-ons.
Photos show an example of the model or generation. The pictured vehicle’s year, equipment, or modifications can differ from the specification described here.
Why designers remember it
Pinin Farina wrapped the mechanical package in a unified shell with no sharp breaks between hood, fenders and cabin. Aerodynamic lessons from racing shaped the swells and depressions. The result looked fast while standing still and helped reset expectations for postwar grand-touring cars.
Source: Museum of Modern Art · Cisitalia 202 in AUTObodies ↗A launch year, not one chassis number
The design dates to 1946, public appearances followed in 1947, and surviving museum cars include 1948 examples. Because no chassis number was supplied for this assignment, the profile uses the 1947 Gran Sport debut identity and labels technical figures by source rather than pretending they belong to one known preserved car.
Source: MAUTO · Cisitalia 202 collection entry ↗Where these facts come from
- Museum of Modern Art · Cisitalia 202 in AUTObodies
- Museum of Modern Art · Cisitalia 202 collection record
- MAUTO · Cisitalia 202 collection entry
- Automotive Masterpieces · 1947 Cisitalia 202 Gran Sport technical sheet
Selected facts checked for this edition. Some source pages link to broader model families. Last reviewed September 30, 2026.