world class photography classic car owner - Auto Effigies

WORLD CLASS PHOTOGRAPHY
for the CLASSIC CAR OWNER
presents
DICK MESSER AND HIS 1953 SIATA 208S MOTTO SPIDER

Siata (Societa Italiana Auto Trasformazioni Accessori) which in
English is “Italian Society Car Transformations Accessories”,
was an Italian company founded in 1926 by Giorgio Ambrosini
that worked with modifying and tuning cars from Fiat. In 1949 Siata
launched their first own car, the Siata Amica. In 1951 they came up with
the Siata 300BC Barchetta Sport Spider. Around 40 were built. The
design was by Mario Revelli de Beaumont and it was built by Nuccio
Bertone and Rocco Motto. It was powered by a 750 cc or 1100cc Crosley
engine. In 1968 they launched Siata Spring, a sports car based on
parts from Fiat 850. The Siata Spring was produced until 1975 when the
company changed name to ORSA. Siata raced in the Mille Miglia and
the Italian Road Racing Championship in 1948, 1949, 1950, 1951, 1952
and 1955.
Siata also created the Cucciolo (“puppy”) motor sold in kit form by
Ducati and later used to power Ducati’s first complete mopeds and
motorcycles starting in 1952.
In the 208S the Fiat engine produced up to 122 hp @ 6300 rpm,
enough to send this 780 kg light car to a top speed over 200 kph. It
was really a competition sports car and even now cars like these are
popular in classic car races.
Production ended in 1954 but there are still quite a number of 208S
models around.
Siata was a small Italian Turin-based factory which produced
nimble sports cars on a very limited scale. The majority of their cars
were based on Fiat components and the 208S was no exception.
Siata was very much involved in the Fiat 8V production. A number
of mechanical components for these cars were produced and assembled
by Siata for Fiat, because Fiat’s experimental department
lacked sufficient production capacity. Fiat produced a total of 200
8V engines in advance, but didn’t
use them all and sold some to
Siata. The company designed
a new tubular chassis around
it and slightly reworked the
engines. So the 208S (meaning
2-litre 8-cylinder Sport)
appeared in 1952 with
bodywork by Stabilimenti
Farina. It proved to be
the car to ensure Siata’s
place in automotive
history and remarkably
most of these
cars were sold in
the US.

1926 - Founded by Georgio Ambrosini, the Siata company; or ‘Societa Italiana Applicazioni
Trasformazioni Accessori’ was established in Turin in 1926. Their purpose was to manufacture
tuning accessories for Italian vehicles. They manufactured such accessories as cylinder heads with
overhead valves along with superchargers.
1936 - The SIATA 750 Gran Sport was born when Fiat introduced their ‘Topolino’ (meaning little
mouse) in 1936. This was a suitable platform for SIATA to enhance the 13hp, 569cc four-cylinder
Topolino into something special. The engine was enlarged to 750cc, given overhead valves and fitted
with a supercharger. Horsepower rose by over 50%, to 40BHP.
1949 - The Amica ‘49’ (using only the name from the pre-war car) was introduced in 1949 . This
used a tubular chassis with a body designed by Siata but built by Bertone . The mechanicals came
from the Fiat 500B (later from the 500C) including the engine, which was a 569cc four cylinder
unit, using the Siata cylinder head, with 22bhp - enough to propel the car to about 100km/h. A Siata
750cc engine with 25bhp was also available.
1952 - The Siata 208 was launched to much critical acclaim late in 1952. The journalists had nothing
but praise for the fine handling and good looking Italian thoroughbred. Californian car dealer
and road racer Ernie McAfee placed an order for a large number of Spiders and it is quite possible
that all Motto Spiders went to the United States. However much everybody liked the little Siata , its
high price drove customers away to the much cheaper MGs, Jaguars or Porsches.

For many years Siata (Società Italiana Applicazioni Trasformazioni Automobilistiche) specialized in aftermarket
products for Fiats. The Italian company used their intimate knowledge of Fiat’s products to launch the first Siata
badged, Fiat based car in 1948. This was quite an achievement as the Turin based factory had been completely
destroyed during a bombing raid some five years earlier. With a new convertible body and better performance, the Siata
Amica was quite an improvement over the Fiat 500 Topolino it was based on. In 1950 the range was further expanded
with the Daina, which was based on the Fiat 1400 and sported coachwork by a wide variety of ‘Carrozzeria’.

The introduction of the Fiat 8V in 1952 sparked the development the first Siata chassis. Constructed
of tubular members, the new chassis was not designed exclusively for the ‘Otto Vu’, but could
also take other V8s; preferably Chrysler’s. Eventually only one example was ever fitted with an
American engine. While the chassis was brand new, much of the running gear was retrieved from the
Fiat parts bin. The suspension was independent all-round by unequal length arms; at the front the top
arm operated a shock absorber. This setup was directly derived from the Fiat 1100’s front suspension.
Large aluminium drum brakes provided the stopping power.
With the exception of the one Chrysler engined machine, the new Siata used Fiat’s somewhat unusual 70
degree V8 engine. In stock trim the two litre OHV engine produced just over 100 bhp, and with Siata’s
hotter camshaft and triple Weber Carburetors, the power could be boosted to 140 bhp. There are even
reports of 160 bhp being achieved, but probably not very reliably. Siata’s sales brochure quoted a modest
110 bhp for the base model, which came equipped with two Webers. Sporting a big ram-air duct the
light-alloy engine was bolted onto the chassis together with a four speed gearbox also sourced at Fiat.
Although only around sixty chassis were produced in 1953 and 1954, the new Siata received at least
half a dozen type indications. The most common of these are the 208 S for the open cars and the 208
CS for the slightly larger coupe bodied machines. Especially the Motto built Spider body was a popular
choice as it fitted the lightweight and fine-handling chassis perfectly. Sadly it is not known who exactly
penned this very attractive shape; it was most likely either Franco Scaglione or Giovanni Michelotti. The
coachbuilder of choice for the coupe body was Stabilimenti Farina. That company folded after just six
examples were produced and a further nine were constructed along the same lines by Balbo.
The Siata 208 was launched to much critical acclaim late in 1952. The journalists had nothing but praise
for the fine handling and good looking Italian thoroughbred. Californian car dealer and road racer Ernie
McAfee placed an order for a large number of Spiders and it is quite possible that all Motto Spiders went
to the United States. However much everybody liked the little Siata, its high price drove customers away
to the much cheaper MGs, Jaguars or Porsches. McAfee struggled to find buyers for the cars and some
were sold as late as 1956. Like the Fiat 8V, the nimble Siata is still well loved today and good examples
are rare to find and very expensive.

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