SIATA - Società Italiana Applicazioni Techniche Auto-Aviatorie - was founded in 1926 by an amateur racing driver called Giorgio Ambrosini and, as the name implies, tuned cars, mainly FIATs, and sold performance equipment.
After WW2, SIATA turned to making its own engines and gearboxes, and its astonishingly diverse range of models included one with a V8. Every SIATA was a joy to drive and owners enjoyed a fair degree of competition success with them. Apart from Italy, the company's largest market was America where the Barchetta was sold as the 'Spyder'. Launched at the 1952 Geneva Salon and bodied by Bertone, it was very much aimed at a US clientele fond of small 'Made in Italy' sports cars. The first 50 examples were sent to East Coast importer Tony Pompeo in New York, usually without engines. With prices of $2,800 for the SIATA Spyder without engine, $4,200 for the more luxurious Gran Sport and $5,300 for the FIAT V8-engined 208S, none of Tony Pompeo's cars were cheap.
A popular powerplant for owners intending to race in the hotly contested 750cc class was the four-cylinder Crosley engine, a unit renowned for its high performance and durability having been originally designed for the US Navy. Despite displacing a modest 721cc, the Crosley unit developed over 40bhp at 6,000rpm, sufficient to propel the lightweight SIATA to over 150km/h (approximately 95mph) and countless class victories on both sides of the Atlantic.
Since it was aimed squarely at competition rather than for normal road use, the Spyder was fitted with large, finned, Stanguellini brakes. John Bentley, who raced one in 1954, praised it as being 'responsive, tractable, and viceless, and because of its enormous margin of mechanical strength, eminently suited to racing.'
This car, 'ST421BC', like most of its kind, is known to have competed in local US events including the 1956 Cumberland SCCA round. The last American owner embarked upon a comprehensive restoration, which the present Italian owner describes as 'perfectly executed and respectful of the car's originality and integrity.' Today 'ST421BC' is offered with its Crosley engine plus a spare, while a dismantled FIAT 1100TV unit of the type also fitted to these cars is available separately. A fun entry for events as diverse as the Mille Miglia and even the Villa d'Este Concours d'Elegance, it is attractive, entertaining and has a wonderful exhaust note. Local taxes will apply if the car remains in Switzerland.