Nardi Basiluro – A very special racing car

For decades, architects have been involved in vehicle design. Some have remained prototypes, but others served as inspiration for the development of future models. The Italian brand Nardi, known for building high-speed steering wheels and accessories, in the 1960s manufactured a vehicle to participate in the 24 hours of 24 horas de Le Mans, which it called Nardi Basiluro.

It worked on a Fiat 500 chassis, incorporating a 750 cc BMW engine and was designed asymmetrically by the architect Carlo Mollino.

There was no passenger seat and its pilot would sit on the right. This set weighed 450 kg. Curiously, this design allowed a good balance of weights, and had a privileged aerodynamics, allowing fuel savings.

The bodywork was made by Carrozzeria Motto, in the shape of a trimaran.

Nardi Basiluro at Le Mans 1955

Driven in this iconic race by Mario Damonte and Roger Crovetto, little Nardi Basiluro proved extremely unstable on the race track.

Its power of around 55 horsepower and maximum speed of 215 km/h, made the Nardi 750 Basiluro share the track with Jaguar’s D-Type, which, when overtaking the little Basiluro, created turbulence that forced this singular to retire. vehicle.

As a curious fact, thanks to that track exit, he was saved from the catastrophic accident that occurred in that 1955 competition, where 83 people died. After this fact Nardi did not pursue to continue with this idea and the Basiluro was never used again.

Although it did not finish the race, it was a vehicle that attracted attention. This asymmetrical design was a really innovative design that served, as a fun fact, as the inspiration for the orange Cloud City spaceships in Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back.