page_title: Bandini 750 sport siluro
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Bandini 750 sport siluro / History
caption_attribution_description: Bandini 750 sport siluro tratta da Libro: Bandini (storia della vita e automobili di Ilario Bandini)
context_page_description: The Bandini 750 sport siluro is a racing car, produced from 1950 to 1956 by the Italian company Bandini Cars.
  Born in 1950, this new type marked the consecration of Bandini as an international challenger in the smaller classes. The 750 sports torpedo brought to Forlì the SCCA H Modified Championship in 1955 and 1957 and the SCCA South-West division championship from 1961 until 1963. They also had many victories in different categories on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.
  The first Siluros had cycle fenders. Later rules stipulated that cars must have attached fenders so owners simply added aluminum to the fenders and connected them to the body. The Bandini factory then produced them with fully attaching fenders. These fenders could be removed and a tonneau cover placed over the passenger seat which made the cars eligible for the Formula Three open wheeled class.
context_section_description: Tony Pompeo, an American car dealer of Italian origin, was pleased with the previous Bandini 1100 and 1100 sport he had purchased, so he explicitly asked Ilario Bandini for cars to run in the 750 cc engine capacity category.
  Pompeo sent a Crosley engine to Bandini for him to study and use. Lightweight and compact, this American engine was very versatile, having been used with boats, aircraft, and even in fire pumps. It had aluminium block with five main bearings, monoblock with to two valves per cylinder, gear driven single overhead cam, and more.  Bandini immediately began making modifications for racing, including longer Stroke steel crankshaft (raising the displacement to 747 cc), new pistons, camshafts, and oil pump.
  With the modified Crosley engine, the 750 sports torpedo was launched, contesting scores of races: hill climbs, road courses, and airbase circuits, as well as challenging six- and twelve-hour endurance events, such as the 12 Hours of Sebring or Mille Miglia, both of which were World Sports Car Championship rounds.
  The 750 sports torpedo was competitive, versatile, and suited to competing in higher categories.
  A front precise and stable, with good traction and drive, low center of mass, and  aerodynamic efficiency were the key words of the successes but especially the high power-to-weight ratio that put out the qualities of the pilot. It is no coincidence Jim Pauley (who also rans at Le Mans), Dave Michaels, and Tom O'Brien collected the best results in years when Bandinis (powered by Siata, Offenhauser, and Alfa Romeo) run in SCCA's FM (F Modified) category alongside Ferraris, Maseratis, and Porsches. Michaels in a 1625cc (99 ci) Bandini-Offy for a year and half held the Thompson track record in the under-two liter class.
  Speed and quality showed the under-750 category, in the hands of Dolph Vilardi (U.S. Champion 1955), Melvin Sachs (U.S. Champion 1957), Henry Rudkin (second place in U.S. standings 1956), and George Tipsword, to mention only a few; in addition were Massimo Bondi (ninth in the 1953 Mille Miglia), and Ilario Bandini himself (then age 44) won the 1955 and 1956) Predappio 'climbs outright, earned class wins at Raticosa, Consuma, and Reggio Emilia, and fourth in the Italian league standings.
  With success came newspaper coverage and showings at exhibitions in Chicago and Madison Square Garden in New York. In 1957 the award-winning author and screenwriter William F. Nolan used a 750 torpedo in a story.
  From 1953, the 750 torpedo featured a radically revised and improved engine. It was fitted with a new aluminium cylinder head gear-driven dual overhead camshafts. Also changed was the position of the distributor, which was placed on the head. The block was fitted with cast iron sleeves in the cylinders. Also added were new connecting rods, increased capacity oil pump, a radiator of barrel-shaped calettata and a cup of increased capacity and different shapes to allow a further lowering the centre of gravity of the car. The power of this first Bandini engine, with only the bottom end remaining Crosley, reached 71 hp (53 kW) at 8500 rpm, sufficient to push the 750 to a maximum speed of 175 km/h (109 mph).
caption: C. Hassan in his Bandini-Crosley at Sebring.
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