The Pirelli Cinturato: “Extraordinaria” Safety
A revolutionary structure with a belt that grips the radial ply casing, making the tyre stable and highly efficient. The Pirelli Cinturato was an invention that, in 1951, changed the face of motoring – starting with that of racing.
It is no surprise that, in 1965, Pirelli chose the world champion of Formula 1, Juan Manuel Fangio, as its endorser for the “Cinturato is only Pirelli” advertising campaign, a series of Carosello television commercials shot on the Monza race track. “Once I raced with the Pirelli Stelvio”, says Fangio in one of the commercials, facing the camera as he steps out of his car, a white Fiat 1500 Spider in which he has just raced at full speed around the Parabolica at Monza – “Its safety en velocidad was exceptional. Bien, el Cinturato is even safer!”. In another Carosello commercial of the same series, the car changes and is now a red Alfa GTA. More jolts, flying round the Parabolica, and braking again with the Pirelli Tower behind. This time the driver exclaims: “Extraordinario Cinturato Pirelli!”. In the 1950s, he won everything that was there to be won, relying on the “safety en velocidad” of the Stelvio, but now had to acknowledge that the Cinturato – the “Sinturato” as he said it – truly had extraordinary qualities in terms of safety, speed, grip, and versatility.
Arrigo Castellani, who was director of the Pirelli Advertising Department at the time, sensed that, at the height of the period of mass motorisation, the Cinturato fulfilled a further promise, in addition to its original ones of speed and extraordinary grip: the Pirelli radial also offered safety at the highest level. And who better than a world-famous driver could promise everyday motorists the quality of its revolutionary radial-ply casing? By the 1960s, the Cinturato had been on the market for over a decade and had emerged from the niche world of out-and-out racing drivers to take over ever-wider vehicle segments: the tyre developed and patented just after the war by engineer Luigi Emanueli – the wizard of Pirelli Research and Development – was now riding high in the international motoring boom. By this time, well over fifty licences had been granted to manufacturers across the world to make the Cinturato. Shortly after, in 1970, an advertising campaign showed how the Cinturato had become the tyre of choice for supercars such as the Lamborghini Miura and the Maserati Ghibli, but also for small sports cars like the Lancia Fulvia HF and the Alfa Romeo Junior Z, showing how it had become the benchmark for the automotive industry. Safety, speed, grip, and versatility: what more could one ask for from a tyre that’s “extraordinario”?
A revolutionary structure with a belt that grips the radial ply casing, making the tyre stable and highly efficient. The Pirelli Cinturato was an invention that, in 1951, changed the face of motoring – starting with that of racing.
It is no surprise that, in 1965, Pirelli chose the world champion of Formula 1, Juan Manuel Fangio, as its endorser for the “Cinturato is only Pirelli” advertising campaign, a series of Carosello television commercials shot on the Monza race track. “Once I raced with the Pirelli Stelvio”, says Fangio in one of the commercials, facing the camera as he steps out of his car, a white Fiat 1500 Spider in which he has just raced at full speed around the Parabolica at Monza – “Its safety en velocidad was exceptional. Bien, el Cinturato is even safer!”. In another Carosello commercial of the same series, the car changes and is now a red Alfa GTA. More jolts, flying round the Parabolica, and braking again with the Pirelli Tower behind. This time the driver exclaims: “Extraordinario Cinturato Pirelli!”. In the 1950s, he won everything that was there to be won, relying on the “safety en velocidad” of the Stelvio, but now had to acknowledge that the Cinturato – the “Sinturato” as he said it – truly had extraordinary qualities in terms of safety, speed, grip, and versatility.
Arrigo Castellani, who was director of the Pirelli Advertising Department at the time, sensed that, at the height of the period of mass motorisation, the Cinturato fulfilled a further promise, in addition to its original ones of speed and extraordinary grip: the Pirelli radial also offered safety at the highest level. And who better than a world-famous driver could promise everyday motorists the quality of its revolutionary radial-ply casing? By the 1960s, the Cinturato had been on the market for over a decade and had emerged from the niche world of out-and-out racing drivers to take over ever-wider vehicle segments: the tyre developed and patented just after the war by engineer Luigi Emanueli – the wizard of Pirelli Research and Development – was now riding high in the international motoring boom. By this time, well over fifty licences had been granted to manufacturers across the world to make the Cinturato. Shortly after, in 1970, an advertising campaign showed how the Cinturato had become the tyre of choice for supercars such as the Lamborghini Miura and the Maserati Ghibli, but also for small sports cars like the Lancia Fulvia HF and the Alfa Romeo Junior Z, showing how it had become the benchmark for the automotive industry. Safety, speed, grip, and versatility: what more could one ask for from a tyre that’s “extraordinario”?
