1952 Siata 208 S Cabriolet Speciale

This Siata-Ford 208S is a one-off example with aluminum coachwork by Stabilimenti Farina. It was a promotional tool by Jimmy Mulgrew of Euclid Ford in Euclid, Ohio. Mulgrew enlisted the expertise of racer Dick Irish, class winner at the 1952 12 Hours of Sebring, to assist with the project. Originally the project was to be based on a Ford 'Police Special' chassis, but the request for a chassis was reportedly denied by the Ford Motor Company. Instead, a 1951 Ford sedan was purchased from Euclid Ford and sent to Siata via Tony Pompeo's New York dealership in mid-1952.

The frame was specially designed by Siata and it is known whether the entire car was sent to Italy and then taken apart, or whether the major components of the car were removed in New York and then shipped abroad. The mechanical components included a flathead V-8 drivetrain, instrumentation, and suspension from that Ford sedan.

The completed aluminum cabriolet was returned to New York in late 1952, very close to when Stabilimenti Farina ceased operations. It has been suggested that coachbuilder Bertone may have finished the car.

The Special Cabriolet was displayed at Euclid Ford, later to be sold through Alfred Momo's New York dealership in 1955. The second owner is not known. In the mid-1960s it was acquired by Frank Russo Sr. of Jacksonville, Maryland. It remained with Mr. Russo for several years until it was sold to a new owner in the late 1960s. Michael Caltrider purchased the car in October of 1974. It was later purchased by Michael Supley in August 1975, Roland Wommack, Bill Lightfoot in 1982, Phil Goutell in 1985, Joseph Alphabet in 1987, and Oliver Kuttner in 1988.

By the summer of 1988, the car had fallen into disrepair, when it was refurbished for the first time by Mr. Kuttner. It sat mostly unused until 2005, when it was purchased by Jerry Bensinger and Daniel Rapley, who then sold the car to the current caretaker.

Since that time, the car has been given a full restoration of the aluminum coachwork by German shop Bernhadt Karosseriebau, before being shipped to Absolute Engineering of Goleta, California, to complete the rest of the car.

By Daniel Vaughan | Nov 2017