{"id":499746,"date":"2022-03-23T12:24:41","date_gmt":"2022-03-23T19:24:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportscardigest.com\/\/?p=131504"},"modified":"2024-12-27T12:59:49","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T12:59:49","slug":"savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/","title":{"rendered":"Savonuzzi and his Spectacular SVA"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Bearer of a degree in Industrial Engineering at the Turin Polytechnic, Savonuzzi honed his skill on Fiat aero engines during World War 2 and later at Cisitalia.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In Italy, a country that\u2019s home to numerous small, specialized companies making exotic sports and racing cars, few can compete with SVA in their combination of obscurity with exotic engineering. Turin\u2019s SVA flourished briefly at the end of the 1940s and produced at maximum two cars and a few more chassis. Yet the dazzling design of one of them, a single-seater, well-deserved its presentation by leading publications around the world.<\/p>\n

SVA can best be viewed as a spiritual offshoot of Turin\u2019s Cisitalia. That company, brainchild of industrialist and passionate car enthusiast Piero Dusio, created a sensation with its thrusting initiatives at a time when Italy\u2019s major carmakers were struggling to recover from the privations of the wartime years. With its 1,100-cc single-seaters and sports cars Cisitalia was a shining star, attracting the best drivers of the day including Germany\u2019s Hans Stuck and the unforgettable Tazio Nuvolari.<\/p>\n

Dusio\u2019s first automotive initiatives were going well, attracting worldwide attention and sales with sports cars using Pininfarina bodywork on multi-tube frames and modified Fiat engines. But he wasn\u2019t satisfied. It had always been his dream to build and compete with a proper Grand Prix Formula One car. In this he had the support and encouragement of leading driver\/engineer Piero Taruffi.<\/p>\n

At the time, Formula One was for 1\u00bd-liter supercharged cars and 4\u00bd-liter cars with unblown engines. Most successful were Maseratis and Alfa Romeos with the smaller blown engines, seriously elaborate cars with some 300 horsepower. Taking them on would be no small undertaking.<\/p>\n

One of Dusio\u2019s engineers, Giovanni Savonuzzi, argued that it would be essential to build a winner. He suggested: \u201cWhy not try to find some of the German engineers who did the pre-war Grand Prix cars?\u201d To his surprise Dusio did find them: a cadre of Porsche engineers in Austria who had designed the famous rear-engined Auto Unions. They desperately needed paying work.<\/p>\n

Soon money was flowing out of Cisitalia to the Porsche engineers at their wartime hideaway in Gm\u00fcnd. A first estimate of 20 million lire to build the cars was quickly passed as Dusio ordered even more projects for sports and Formula Two cars from the Germans\u2014whose key people were in fact Austrian. Thirty million had been spent before work even began on building the cars.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The doomed Porsche-designed Cisitalia Grand Prix car.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In a heated meeting that he called, Giovanni Savonuzzi expressed serious misgivings about the project, saying that it could easily cost Dusio 100 million lire. \u201cI don\u2019t care,\u201d was Dusio\u2019s answer. \u201cI may go broke but I must have the Grand Prix car!\u201d<\/p>\n

For Savonuzzi this was the final straw. As well he was less than thrilled with some Austrians who made it their business to represent Porsche in Turin. On the first of October 1947, he left Cisitalia. His work there had been of great significance. Starting with an undeveloped design by Dante Giacosa, he brought its 1.1-liter single-seaters to race-readiness. Working in 1\/10 scale, he created the low, wide modern sports car configuration that was perfected for racing by Vignale, with fins influenced by Savonuzzi\u2019s knowledge of aerodynamics, and by Pininfarina for Cisitalia\u2019s touring sports cars. He also invented a new muffler design that became the basis of Carlo Abarth\u2019s business and fortune.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Savonuzzi\u2019s tail fin design is a distinctive design element of this Cisitalia 202 Mille Miglia. Photo: Sean Smith<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Before his Cisitalia days, Giovanni Savonuzzi had been the manager of Fiat\u2019s experimental aircraft-engine department in Turin. In the chaos of post-war Italy this didn\u2019t offer attractive prospects. Thus he took notice when a Fiat manager mentioned that Piero Dusio was looking for engineers. When Dusio interviewed Savonuzzi, the engineer suggested a salary triple what he was making at Fiat. \u201cI\u2019ll give you ten times as much!\u201d boasted the industrialist. And to \u201cease the change from Fiat\u201d he threw in a bonus of 300,000 lire and a company car.<\/p>\n

Savonuzzi joined Cisitalia in August of 1945. Having worked there for more than two years under these conditions he was not badly off when he parted company with Dusio. Another leaving Cisitalia around the same time was Virgilio Conrero. Technician more than engineer, Turin-born Conrero had also been employed in Fiat\u2019s aero-engine sector. He began employment there in 1935 and from 1939 to 1943 was in the Italian military, also concerned with aviation engines.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Savonuzzi is at the wheel of one of the 1.1-litre racing cars he perfected for Cisitalia on the basis of a design by Dante Giacosa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In 1948, the trajectories of these two men converged at via Madama Cristina 88 in Turin. This was the site of the Officine Elettromeccaniche di Vincenzo Leone, established after the war by the eponymous Leone. He had invented and was building and selling a novel power unit for mopeds and small motorcycles. It had a single horizontal cylinder with a vertical crankshaft, driving a chain through bevel gears. Thanks to higher efficiency than the usual drives, Leone\u2019s was a popular prime mover.<\/p>\n

A motorsports enthusiast, Vincenzo Leone competed in the 1947 Mille Miglia with a roadster using Fiat 1100 components constructed in his own workshops. These were comprehensive, including a Froude dynamometer. Leone was more than amenable when Savonuzzi and Conrero suggested that they base themselves at the via Madama Cristina with the aim of building racing cars.<\/p>\n

Their first effort was a \u201cLeone\u201d sports car on a wheelbase of 86.6 inches, using torsion-bar suspension at front and rear. Its engine was the ubiquitous Fiat 1100 with twin downdraft 36-mm carburetors, tuned by Conrero to develop 60 bhp at 5,500 rpm on the 80-octane fuel then available. Given an envelope body, the Leone won its class in the 1948 Bologna-Raticosa hillclimb and was a Mille Miglia competitor in 1949, with Conrero as riding mechanic. Rebodied with cycle fenders, the Leone continued competing through 1951, latterly with an Ermini twin-cam engine.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, Giovanni Savonuzzi launched a much more ambitious project. He was contacted by a Californian who saw potential in an Italian-built car that could compete in the midget races that were hugely popular throughout America in the post-war years. While the Kurtis-Offy was dominant, with its unblown engine of 105 cubic inches, the rules allowed supercharged engines of 50 cubic inches or 819 cc. Here was an opportunity for an Italian engineer with supercharging know-how. Savonuzzi had acquired plenty of the latter in his aeronautical activity and in his familiarity with Porsche\u2019s work on the Grand Prix Cisitalia.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhy the clients turned to Savonuzzi remains a mystery,\u201d wrote historian Alessandro Silva. They were the \u201cLeyfield Co. of America\u201d, which in the decades that have since passed has become a phantom entity. Perhaps it was a contact dating back to an American acquaintance of the engineer Dante Giacosa, who had discussed with Savonuzzi, just before the war, the possibility of a Midget with a Fiat 1100 engine.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the realisation of the project,\u201d Silva continued, \u201cSavonuzzi and Conrero formed the GOBI company\u2014an acronym of unknown interpretation\u2014based in Aosta\u2019s Pont-Saint-Martin. The choice was perhaps dictated by Conrero\u2019s Aosta Valley relations.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
For the layout of a car to compete in American midget racing, Savonuzzi conceived a flat engine whose layout lent itself to an offset drive line and low profile.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

An initial batch of ten cars was planned for construction at Vincenzo Leone\u2019s Turin premises. There Savonuzzi, Conrero and engineers Francesco Marocco and G. Garbin bolstered their cash flow with servicing work on Cisitalias and other cars while planning the Italian-style midget. Savonuzzi and his colleagues well knew all the expert producers of components that flourished in Turin thanks to the needs of Fiat.<\/p>\n

In his first complete car design from scratch, Giovanni Savonuzzi pulled out all the stops. Here there was no question of using recycled Fiat components. The frame was a fabrication of manganese-chrome-alloy steel with perforated box-section side members and an integral pan under the cockpit that added stiffness. While this was stare-of-the-art, it was surprising that Savonuzzi did not adopt the tubular space frame that had served Cisitalia so well.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Boxed for torsional rigidity and selectively drilled for lightness, the frame\u2019s longerons differed in depth according to their calculated beam-stiffness requirements.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Steering was by high-placed rack and pinion while front suspension was parallel-wishbone with the upper arms operating longitudinal torsion bars. By Italian standards an advanced feature of the single-seater was its use of telescopic dampers at a time when rotary Houdaille dampers were favored. At the front these were mounted inboard and operated by an extension from the upper wishbone\u2014actually a single arm. The concept of an inboard rocker had been introduced by Maserati on its 4CLT\/48 in the spring of 1948, but it actuated a coil spring, not the damper. Dampers at the rear were concentric with coil springs, another feature well ahead of its time.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The SVA\u2019s front suspension employed delicate wishbones\u2014inboard dampers missing here\u2014and a light anti-roll bar. Steering was by a bespoke rack-and-pinion system.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rear suspension was by a de Dion axle patterned after the design used in 1937-39 by Mercedes-Benz. Each hub was guided by a long trailing arm, a layout, which required a coupling at the centre of the de Dion tube lest the tube act as an anti-roll bar. Lateral axle location was by a system of links below it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A rear view of the SVA chassis showed its de Dion tube and lateral linkage, quick-change gearing access to the differential and towers with coil springs and dampers.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Brakes of the SVA had ribbed drums at all four wheels and scoops for cooling in front. Drum diameters were larger in the front than in the rear.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Savonuzzi offset the midget\u2019s frame-mounted differential to the left to permit the driver to be seated low to its right, requiring different-length half shafts. The input shaft to the limited-slip differential went under it to a pair of quick-change gears at the rear, a feature intended to appeal to the midget market, allowing fast ratio changes for different tracks. The offset of the driveline to the left gave a modest weight bias in that direction to suit anti-clockwise racing.<\/p>\n

While the midget was to have a simple two-speed gearbox for American racing, a five-speed transmission with twin-disc clutch was planned for a European version. The latter potentially had either a 750-cc unsupercharged or, using similar components in a flat-opposed eight-cylinder, 1,100 or 1,500-cc. The largest size, when supercharged, would have had Formula One potential. Another market difference concerned the wheels, which were 15-inch for European road racing but planned to be 12-inch for the USA to suit the tires that were customary for midget racing. Brakes had finned drums with air-cooling scoops at the front.<\/p>\n

The drive line was offset to the car\u2019s left thanks to the design of its engine, which had four cylinders inline disposed horizontally to the right. Thus, the crankshaft was on the left, aligned with the propeller shaft. Crankcase, block and cylinder head were all of aluminum alloy, made like many other components by specialists in the Turin area well known to Savonuzzi. The block and head had separate cooling circuits with no interconnection through the head joint. This facilitated the best possible sealing of the joint, vital in a high-boost engine. Cylinder liners were wet steel.<\/p>\n

\r\n
\r\n \r\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n A spur-gear drive to all accessories and to its twin overhead camshafts was a proven feature of the SVA\u2019s 813 cc four-cylinder engine.\r\n <\/div><\/figure>
\r\n
\r\n \r\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n A view of the four\u2019s right side showed the angled spark-plug positions, allowing maximum valve sizes, and the main studs and nuts retaining the cylinder head.\r\n <\/div><\/figure>\n

Envisioning revs in excess of 8,000, Giovanni Savonuzzi couldn\u2019t rely on that era\u2019s plain bearings. Instead he specified roller bearings for the bottom end. Those for the five main bearings ran in cages while free rollers were used in the rod journals. This allowed the connecting rods to have one-piece big ends. The design required a built-up crankshaft, for which Savonuzzi devised and patented his own solution. This was described by The Autocar<\/em> as follows:<\/p>\n

\u201cAll crankpins and main bearing journals are turned as separate components and each of the crank webs, with its counterweight, forms a separate element. With the short stroke and large bearings there is a heavy overlap between each crankpin and its main-bearing journal. This is made up by machining away the main journal to accommodate the end of the crankpin. Both meet inside a figure-eight aperture in the crank web, where they are secured by a through bolt giving a simple, robust structure.\u201d<\/p>\n

\r\n
\r\n \r\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n Desiring to use rollers for all the SVA\u2019s bottom-end bearings, Savonuzzi designed his own system of a demountable crankshaft, including provisions for oil passages.\r\n <\/div><\/figure>
\r\n
\r\n \r\n\t\t\t\t\"\"<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n <\/div>\r\n
\r\n The SVA\u2019s crankshaft was a work of art, with four counterbalances. While main-bearing rollers were caged, those in the one-piece big ends were crowded.\r\n <\/div><\/figure>\n

At the front of the 202-pound engine a gear train drove its accessories, including a horizontal magneto, and its twin overhead cams. The drive to the latter from the gears was through Oldham couplings. This both eased head removal for maintenance and allowed changes in alignment. The cam lobes acted against finger-type followers.<\/p>\n

A unique feature was the use of four hairpin-type valve springs in a cruciform pattern to close each valve. Savonuzzi adopted this solution so that each spring would be subjected to a lower level of stress to compensate for the poor spring steels that he was obliged to use. The patent showed that space under them was available for the use of a silicone-rubber cylinder to act as a damper. Exhaust valves were sodium-filled for cooling.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
Named \u2018Centric\u2019 before the war and \u2018Shorrock\u2019 for its designer afterward, the SVA blower had a vaned rotor that compressed the mixture internally.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Bore and stroke of the four were 68 x 56 mm for 813 cc. Induction was through a vane-type supercharger of Centric design, the type of blower that was used by the Porsche engineers for their Formula One Cisitalia. Although bulky, it was chosen for its internal compression, which gave high efficiency. Driven by the front-end gear train and drawing from a single carburetor, the blower produced a boost of 1.4 bar, 20 p.s.i.<\/p>\n

During some 150 hours of dynamometer testing \u2018we had many troubles,\u201d said Savonuzzi. \u201cWe started burning pistons. We found a casting defect in the cylinder head that was causing preignition. After that we began to get good output.\u201d The four was ultimately credited with 148 bhp at 8,200 rpm using methanol fuel, specific performance that was consistent with Formula One cars of its era. The chassis carrying it had a wheelbase of 76.0 inches and track of 46.1 inches. The SVA\u2019s weight was quoted as only 827 pounds.<\/p>\n

Giovanni Savonuzzi designed an aluminum body for the racer that Rocco Motto built in his Turin workshop. It had neat apertures for engine access, a minimum of louvers and a cockpit subtly offset to the right. When the editor of Switzerland\u2019s Automobil Revue<\/em>, Robert Braunschweig, visited the workshop in May of 1950 he was struck not only by the car\u2019s technology but also by its bodywork.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A fetching female autista seized the moment for a portrait behind the wheel of the SVA. She complemented its classic lines.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIf there should ever be a Concours d\u2019Elegance for racing cars,\u201d the influential editor he told his readers, \u201cthe palm will probably fall to this vehicle. Though not unlike the last Mercedes-Benz racing cars, this Lilliputian high-speed automobile probably has more successful proportions and such sensitively rounded lines that every sports enthusiast will collapse with ecstasy.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe body is one of Motto\u2019s finest masterpieces in the racing-car sector,\u201d said a book about his career. All the car\u2019s components, said historian Alessandro Silva, \u201cas is usual with Savonuzzi\u2019s creations, were very compact and aesthetically magnificent.\u201d So much so, in fact, that photos of them were clipped from magazines by this author and posted next to his desk in high school.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The SVA\u2019s contours showed well in a rear-quarter view with Virgilio Conrero posing behind the wheel in the subtly offset cockpit.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In the autumn of 1949, details of the midget were made public. At that time the mysterious Leyfield were still interested. Soon thereafter, however, they decided not to proceed. Although they met their financial obligations up to that stage, the project had to be suspended.<\/p>\n

Only after a building contractor from Aosta expressed interest was it possible to complete the first car. Savonuzzi and Conrero founded a new company to undertake the project. This was the Societ\u00e0 Valdostana di Automobili or SVA, highlighting the contributions of the Valle d\u2019Aosta. Clothed in Motto\u2019s exquisitely attractive body with a low grille, it was tested by Virgilio Conrero and Swiss racer Rudi Fischer. In fact, wealthy Zurich restaurateur Fischer seemed to be a white knight for the SVA, but he returned to Ferraris after the car let him down on the first lap of a race at San Remo early in 1950\u2014the piston problems again.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
In the winter of 1951-52 wealthy Swiss racer Rudi Fischer visited Italy to try the SVA. His interest was of high value to the car\u2019s completion and racing potential.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Then the SVA was prepared for the Aosta-San Bernardo hillclimb, only to have controversy flare up with the backer about its readiness. Giovanni Savonuzzi did his best to prepare it but the car failed to compete and the contractor withdrew.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
In the winter of 1951-52 wealthy Swiss racer Rudi Fischer visited Italy to try the SVA. His interest was of high value to the car\u2019s completion and racing potential.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On his own Savonuzzi entered the SVA for a circuit race at Alessandria. He asked the mechanic to drive it the 105 miles to the event from Aosta, perhaps hoping to bed the engine in. It survived the trip, only to retire with a burned piston after a single lap. No other entries of this unique all-SVA car are known. The SVA chassis survives, in a distressed condition, in the collection of Milan\u2019s Edoardo Tenconi.<\/p>\n

SVA produced enough components to be able to sell two chassis to customers. Bologna\u2019s Pasqualino Cazzato acquired one, powered by a 750-cc Giannini engine. Equipped with lamps and cycle fenders it competed in the 1950 and 1951 Mille Miglias but without success. Using an 1,100-cc Ermini engine in another SVA chassis as a single-seater, Turin\u2019s Ugo Puma won his class in his home-town event, the August 7, 1950, Susa-Moncenisio hillclimb.<\/p>\n

Turin enthusiast Puma figured in another Savonuzzi project, a postscript to the SVA years. \u201cI decided that I didn\u2019t want to do any more racing cars,\u201d the engineer recalled, \u201cbut I got talked into it.\u201d With Formula Three for 500-cc cars gaining in popularity, Puma had the idea of using Moto Guzzi\u2019s racing Bicylindrica, a 120-degree vee-twin producing 50 bhp at 8,000 rpm. This was appealing enough for Savonuzzi to put aside his reservations and pen another racing-car design. Not officially an SVA, it became known as the \u201cFalcone\u201d in tribute to a popular Moto Guzzi model.<\/p>\n

Typically, for Savonuzzi, the car he created was a little jewel, a mini-Formula One car. In a frame of twin oval tubes he placed the Guzzi twin at the front with one of its cylinders pointing straight forward as it did in the motorcycle. To permit a low seating position the input to the differential from the Guzzi engine\u2019s integral gearbox was through a transfer case that dropped the propeller shaft. This proved to be the Achilles Heel of the Falcone.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A Formula Three car should look so good! This was Savonuzzi\u2019s \u2018Falcone\u2019, designed and built for Ugo Puma. One of its megaphone exhausts is just visible.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\"\"<\/a>
A miniaturised parallel-wishbone suspension and tubular frame supported the front of the Falcone, carrying Guzzi\u2019s racing half-litre Bicylindrica twin.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Rear suspension was again de Dion with radius arms, this time locating the tube laterally with a block sliding in the rear of the differential housing. Springing was by longitudinal torsion bars, concentric with rotary Houdaille dampers. Tubular dampers were used at the front, where coil springs controlled parallel wishbones. The steering box was located behind the engine and connected by a drag link to a three-part track rod. With an exhaust megaphone on each side, the slim Falcone had a front entry for the engine\u2019s cooling air. \u201cIn the purest Savonuzzi style,\u201d said historian Silva, \u201ceach part was carefully designed and finished. The car was in fact a small mechanical jewel.\u201d<\/p>\n

Ugo Puma entered the Falcone for the Filippini Trophy at Monza in May 1951, but it was judged unready to participate. Its next appearance was at Turin\u2019s Valentino Park in April of 1952 in a race accompanying a Formula One event. Though Puma got off to a snappy start from a good grid position, the circuit included a level crossing over streetcar tracks. Snagging on the rails, the bottom of the transfer case was broken with complete oil loss and retirement the result. With Formula Three never catching on in Italy, no further history of this exquisite little car is known.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
A small-car specialist, Ugo Puma tested and competed with his Falcone in 1952. But Formula Three was destined to offer few racing opportunities in Italy.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

By 1952, the activities of SVA were winding down. Its end came in 1953 when Giovanni Savonuzzi took a senior post with Carrozzeria Ghia. This brought him into contact with Chrysler, for whom he later worked on gas-turbine engineering. His colleague Virgilio Conrero set up his own business, Conrero Autotecnica & C., as a preparer of engines and builder of sports-racing cars. His shop, which was destined to become a hub of fascinating activity, was on the same via Madama Cristina where Leone and SVA had flourished so briefly and excitingly.<\/p>\n

The SVA racing car has been a theme for the author since its creation. He wishes to thank Dr. Alessandro Silva for valued assistance in providing additional information. Many illustrations are from the Fondo Savonuzzi in the Museo Nazionale dell\u2019Automobile Torino. Others are from Ludvigsen Partners. <\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In Italy, a country that\u2019s home to numerous small, specialized companies making exotic sports and racing cars, few can compete with SVA in their combination of obscurity with exotic engineering. Turin\u2019s SVA flourished briefly at the end of the 1940s and produced at maximum two cars and a few more chassis. Yet the dazzling design of one of them, a single-seater, well-deserved its presentation by leading publications around the world. SVA can best be viewed as a spiritual offshoot of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":213,"featured_media":740645,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9348],"tags":[6722,14844,245],"class_list":["post-499746","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-guides","tag-race-car-in-depth","tag-savonuzzi","tag-race-car"],"yoast_head":"\nSavonuzzi and his Spectacular SVA<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Karl Ludvigsen explores the unusual story of Savonuzzi's SVA, a small Italian thoroughbred built for American Midget racing.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Savonuzzi and his Spectacular SVA\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Karl Ludvigsen explores the unusual story of Savonuzzi's SVA, a small Italian thoroughbred built for American Midget racing.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Supercars.net\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-23T19:24:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-12-27T12:59:49+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/21_sva-12-770x497-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"770\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"497\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Karl Ludvigsen\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@supercars_net\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Karl Ludvigsen\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"20 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Karl Ludvigsen\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea984f0fc364a5febb746a964e82a584\"},\"headline\":\"Savonuzzi and his Spectacular SVA\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-23T19:24:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-27T12:59:49+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":3737,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/21_sva-12-770x497-1.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Model Guides (Race Cars All)\",\"People (Giovanni Savonuzzi)\",\"Race Cars\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Model Guides (All)\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\\\/\",\"name\":\"Savonuzzi and his Spectacular SVA\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/21_sva-12-770x497-1.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-23T19:24:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2024-12-27T12:59:49+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea984f0fc364a5febb746a964e82a584\"},\"description\":\"Karl Ludvigsen explores the unusual story of Savonuzzi's SVA, a small Italian thoroughbred built for American Midget racing.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/21_sva-12-770x497-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2022\\\/03\\\/21_sva-12-770x497-1.jpg\",\"width\":770,\"height\":497},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Savonuzzi and his Spectacular SVA\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/\",\"name\":\"Supercars.net\",\"description\":\"Exotic and Supercar news, information, pictures and videos\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ea984f0fc364a5febb746a964e82a584\",\"name\":\"Karl Ludvigsen\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Karl-Ludvigsen-293x293.jpeg\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Karl-Ludvigsen-293x293.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2023\\\/10\\\/Karl-Ludvigsen-293x293.jpeg\",\"caption\":\"Karl Ludvigsen\"},\"description\":\"Karl E. Ludvigsen is a journalist, author, and historian of the automotive industry and motorsports. Karl Ludvigsen is the author of the definitive history of Porsche. His Porsche history, Excellence was Expected, is considered to be a model of the researching and writing of the history of an auto company. Ludvigsen is an honorary member of the Vintage Sports Car Club of America and the Corvair Society of America. He is also a member of the council of the Historic Automobile Group.\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.supercars.net\\\/blog\\\/author\\\/karl-ludvigsen\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Savonuzzi and his Spectacular SVA","description":"Karl Ludvigsen explores the unusual story of Savonuzzi's SVA, a small Italian thoroughbred built for American Midget racing.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Savonuzzi and his Spectacular SVA","og_description":"Karl Ludvigsen explores the unusual story of Savonuzzi's SVA, a small Italian thoroughbred built for American Midget racing.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/","og_site_name":"Supercars.net","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Supercars.net\/","article_published_time":"2022-03-23T19:24:41+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-12-27T12:59:49+00:00","og_image":[{"width":770,"height":497,"url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/21_sva-12-770x497-1.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Karl Ludvigsen","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@supercars_net","twitter_site":"@supercars_net","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Karl Ludvigsen","Est. reading time":"20 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/"},"author":{"name":"Karl Ludvigsen","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ea984f0fc364a5febb746a964e82a584"},"headline":"Savonuzzi and his Spectacular SVA","datePublished":"2022-03-23T19:24:41+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-27T12:59:49+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/"},"wordCount":3737,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/21_sva-12-770x497-1.jpg","keywords":["Model Guides (Race Cars All)","People (Giovanni Savonuzzi)","Race Cars"],"articleSection":["Model Guides (All)"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/","name":"Savonuzzi and his Spectacular SVA","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/21_sva-12-770x497-1.jpg","datePublished":"2022-03-23T19:24:41+00:00","dateModified":"2024-12-27T12:59:49+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ea984f0fc364a5febb746a964e82a584"},"description":"Karl Ludvigsen explores the unusual story of Savonuzzi's SVA, a small Italian thoroughbred built for American Midget racing.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/21_sva-12-770x497-1.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/21_sva-12-770x497-1.jpg","width":770,"height":497},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/savonuzzi-and-his-spectacular-sva\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Savonuzzi and his Spectacular SVA"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/","name":"Supercars.net","description":"Exotic and Supercar news, information, pictures and videos","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/#\/schema\/person\/ea984f0fc364a5febb746a964e82a584","name":"Karl Ludvigsen","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Karl-Ludvigsen-293x293.jpeg","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Karl-Ludvigsen-293x293.jpeg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/Karl-Ludvigsen-293x293.jpeg","caption":"Karl Ludvigsen"},"description":"Karl E. Ludvigsen is a journalist, author, and historian of the automotive industry and motorsports. Karl Ludvigsen is the author of the definitive history of Porsche. His Porsche history, Excellence was Expected, is considered to be a model of the researching and writing of the history of an auto company. Ludvigsen is an honorary member of the Vintage Sports Car Club of America and the Corvair Society of America. He is also a member of the council of the Historic Automobile Group.","url":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/author\/karl-ludvigsen\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499746","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/213"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499746"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499746\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/740645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499746"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499746"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.supercars.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499746"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}