Siata 300 BC Barchetta by bertone – 1953
Marca : Siata
Modello : 300 BC
Versione : Barchetta
Telaio N. : ST 418 BC
Motore N. : ST 418 BC
Anno : 1953
Esemplari prodotti : 40
Carrozzeria : Bertone
Motore : 4 Cilindri in linea Fiat
Distribuzione : OHV
Valvole Cilindro : 2
Aspirazione : 1 Carburatore Weber
Cilindrata : 1.089 cc
Potenza : 51 CV
Top speed Km/h :
Auction Result
2015 – Amelia Island – RM Sotheby's – $ 258.500
The Societa Italiana Auto Transformazioni Accessori, or SIATA, was founded in 1926 by Giorgio Ambrosini, with a majority of the business being based on the manufacture and fitting of performance components to racing automobiles. Siata's modifications were so successful that the firm became a de facto motorsports outlet for Fiat, which officially abstained from racing activities for many years but provided racing customers with access to Siata-modified Fiats for competition use.
Following the Second World War, the Siata factory received substantial financial assistance in reconstruction from Fiat, and the firm soon became one of the better-staffed independent builders, with far more employees than contemporary companies, such as OSCA or Nardi. The 1948 introduction of the Amica marked Siata's full ascension to independent manufacturer, and a succession of sporting roadsters and coupes soon followed. The 1,400-cubic centimeter Daina and open-top Grand Sport led the way, becoming a growing force in SCCA races during 1951. With handsome coachwork, care of stabilimenti farina, these cars solidified the company's penchant for building well-balanced, crisply handling automobiles with outstanding chassis design.
At a fraction of the price of the day's four-cylinder ferrari, and nearly equal in performance and heritage, the Siata offered sporting customers a relative bargain and plenty of track potential. But it was only when New York-based dealer Antonio Pompeo commissioned a run of freshly bodied spiders that were built on the Amica platform and based on Otto Linton's race-winning one-off Orchidea Spider prototype that the brand really began to take off with American privateer racers. Pompeo equipped his barchettas with a tuned Crosley inline four-cylinder engine, which was the diminutive but powerful motor that had driven a Crosley Hotshot to the Index of Performance victory at the first-ever Sebring endurance race. The Crosley engine was a recognized small-bore champion that had even begun to surface in Gordinis and Siatas, among other exotic sports racers.
The Siata 300 BC Barchetta (often referred to as the 750 Spider in period American advertising) entered production in 1951 and was nearly exclusively distributed to the United States, as it offered an ideal take on the road/racing spider that was soon to dominate SCCA racing. The model featured barchetta coachwork, which was penned by mario revelli de beaumont and was clearly an extension of Pinin Farina's Grand Sport design, with approximately 40 examples being built to his design by Bertone.
