Siata 208 CS - Updated and Semi-Walkaround

Siata 208 CS Berlinetta - factory photo
I wrote about the Siata 208 CS here, and more information is here.  Rather than repeating myself, I suggest you read that previous post before continuing here.

In the years since, more images have appeared on the Internet, so I decided it was time to revisit that interesting design.

There were two sporty Siata 208 versions, the 208 S Barchetta (roadster) of which 35 were built, and the 208 CS Berlinetta (coupé), only 18 or so having been made.  Of the latter, seven were built by Stabilimenti Farina, the design's originator.  Remaining 208 CS Berlinettas were made by Boano's short-lived coachbuilding firm.

The 208 CS's designer is unknown, so far as I can tell.  Michelotti is credited with the 208 S styling, and might well have had a hand in the 208 CS.  But the CS does not seem to be credited to him if the Wikipedia link to him above is any guide.

Gallery

1952 Siata 208 "S" Coupé - factory publicity
Pictured is the original berlinetta, referred to as an "S" rather than a "CS."

1952 Siata 208 CS - factory photo
The same car with modified details or perhaps the second car.  Farina 208 CSs had a Studebaker-like air vent door on the front fender.  The chrome strip atop the rear wheel opening is found on some Farina and Boano cars, but not all.

1954 Siata 208 CS Berlinetta, Stabilimenti Farina design, body by Balbo - images via Classic Motor Action web site
This Boano version has an open vent on the fender and no chrome strip.  (The car in the leading image above has both kinds of vent.)  It does have that fascinating DeSoto-like grille found on Stabilimenti Farina cars.  Most Boano cars had different grille bars.

Italian styling was at its best from the late 1940s into the late 1950s.   The only awkward detail seen here is the door window framing.

Siata 208 CS's lacked normal bumpers or any at all, as on this car.   Practicality aside, it made for a cleaner, more pure design.

1952 Siata 208 CS Berlinetta Mille Miglia car - Bonhams auction photo
The early racing version, perhaps shown in the upper photos with a few detail changes.

1953 Siata 208 CS Berlinetta, body by Balbo - Gooding Auctions photo
This shows the Boano grille bar design.  More conventional, but not nearly as striking as the Farina version.  Gooding has this a 1953 car, but Boano's coachbuilding firm was not established until 1954, according to two of my sources -- so the frame and motor might be from '53, the completed car in '54.

The Aggressive Siata 208SC Berlinetta by Stabilimenti Farina

Siata automobiles can fetch more than one million dollars at auctions.  A snippet about the company is here.  In brief, Siata was a maker of hop-up equipment for Fiats that branched into making cars after World War 2.  Serious sports cars were built 1948-61 and all production ended by 1975.

I think the most interesting Siatas from a design standpoint were the 208SC barchetta and, especially, the berlinetta.  Fairly detailed information on Siata and the berlinetta can be found here and, especially, here.  The second source, the Bonhams auction house, has it that the actual designer is unknown, though it has been speculated that it was Giovanni Michelotti.

Siata 208SCs were initially built by Stabilimenti Farina (free translation: Farina Works) that ceased doing business in 1953 after many years as an important Italian coachbuilder.  Following the demise, 208 production was continued by Carrozzeria Balbo, another old Italian firm that folded soon after.  According to Wikipedia, only 56 208s were built.

Gallery

Here is a 208SC at the 1952 Mille Miglia start platform.  It failed to finish -- nothing unusual for the Mille.

Probably the same car seen a few days earlier at the Turin auto show.

A 208 barchetta from 1953.  Note the different grille pattern, the air vent on the front fender and the chromed patch on the rear fender.

Gooding auction photos of a 1953 berlinetta.  The grille is larger and has a grid pattern.  It too has a front fender air vent.  The chrome strip above the rear wheel opening is gone.  The front of the car has been slightly reshaped.

Front view showing the headlights when exposed.  This, and the images below are Bonhams photos of the Mille Miglia car.

Siata 208s are most interesting viewed from the front.  Especially striking is the composition of the grille and hidden headlights.  I can fantasize that this theme is an Italian take on the 1942 DeSoto frontal design that also featured hidden headlights and vertical grille bars.  Whoever did style this car really knew what he was doing.

The rear is more bulky looking, but aerodynamically useful.