Looks can be deceiving. And for owners and their chosen restorers, first impressions can often prove to have been unrealistically promising. But sometimes it is the other way around.
This great project shows how the enduring partnership of a passionate and committed owner with skilled and resourceful restorers can achieve a car of rare quality and acclaim from unpromising beginnings. This is the story of the 1953 Siata 8V Balbo Berlinetta.
Only 11 were ever produced! And hand made.
The beginning
We at Strada e Corsa first laid eyes on this car in the mid-1990s, even before Strada e Corsa was born. As Jurriaan recalls:
“My father and I went to the US. He had bought two cars in California and one of them came from a renowned collector. As might have been expected, his place was the treasure trove. Hiding outside, and partly sunken into the garden was the chassis of a Siata 8V. The aluminium body was by Balbo of Turin, and that was stored inside – cut into eight pieces! My initial thought was that this car was beyond recovery. But I would be very wrong.”
Some ten years later in 2007, this collection of parts and components arrived at Strada e Corsa, which we had founded two years earlier. The Siata 8V (then in boxes and crates, bound together by ropes) had been bought by a customer of ours and was quickly snapped up by one of the few Belgian collectors then focussing on 8V cars. Our earlier doubts about the viability of restoration were quenched by our customer’s commitment to reviving this rare gem – and so began our partnership that would last long and travel far.
Project Received
After the Mexican section of the Pan-American Highway was completed in 1950, an eight-stage, six-day road-race across the country was organized by the Mexican government to celebrate this achievement and to attract international business. The 1950 edition of the race ran almost entirely along the new highway, which crossed Mexico from north to south with a total distance of 3,507 kilometres (2179 miles).
The restoration
We first took care of the restoration of the chassis and frame structure, beginning with fine sand blasting and repair to remedy the corrosion caused by sitting for decades outside.
Once ready we sent the chassis and frame to our partner repair shop in Italy. We also sent the body, all eight parts of it! Just like us, they were a young company at the time. And just like us, they were thoroughly motivated to revive the beauty of the Siata 8V.
In parallel, our historical researches had uncovered more good news. The car was one of nine Siata 8V chassis bodied as coupés by Carrozzeria Successori Balbo of Turin and appeared to be the Turin Motor Show car of 1953. The car had been sold to George Arents in California and he would go on to become one of the founders of the North American Racing Team (NART). Arents entered the Siata in the Sebring 12-hour Grand Prix of Endurance in March 1955 and then races in Cumberland, the Bahamas, Edenvale and Beverly. Misfortune struck at Beverly where a con rod went through the block and damaged the engine. In the absence of available parts and with Fiat having discontinued the 8V project, it was decided to fit the 2-litre four-cylinder engine of a Ferrari 500 Mondial. According to one source, that made the car ‘probably the hottest Siata on earth’ and, entered as a Siata-Ferrari, it won a number of races in this configuration.
By the mid-1970s, the car had changed hands several times and had become the worse for its experiences. The then owner began an intended restoration by removing the body and cutting it into pieces. But that restoration did not take place and the Siata 8V remained in a dismantled state until it arrived with us in 2007. Although the difficulty of the restoration was apparent from the outset, the car’s owner had by then recovered the car’s original engine and gearbox. Almost inevitably, these came in a crate too! As Jurriaan comments: “And these weren’t in a bad state either, just again looking much worse than they actually were.”
And remarkably that went for the body in pieces too, which was re-assembled in Italy. There were few places in need of repair – the grille surround was badly corroded as was the rear numberplate surround, but that was just about it. About 90% of the original body was retained. Apart from the chassis, almost all of the Siata 8V is made of aluminium. These aluminium components include the body, wheels, gearbox, engine block, differential, the pots into which the springs and dampers are placed, and the seats, dashboard, trim, steering rack, and brake drums. Siata’s use of aluminium was revolutionary and the 8V was a razor-sharp car to drive, too.
However, the aluminium was of inferior quality. At Strade a Corse, we have had metallurgical research carried out and learned that the aluminium used was the exact same alloy as was used in the 1950s in domestic appliances such as bread toasters and blenders. Alloy was probably scarce just after the war and so it was cast in low quality. For example, a little too much torque on a cylinder head bolt will break it, meaning it is perhaps little wonder that this car came to be fitted with a Ferrari engine. The Siata 8V and indeed these 8V engines were only built between 1952 and 1954. This was an ‘off-the-record’, almost experimental, project for Fiat. And the board chose to concentrate on higher volume ‘common’ cars rather than scarcely affordable sportscars just five years after the war and at a time of reconstruction and unemployment.
In our work to restore this 1953 Siata 8V Balbo, the engine and mechanical works were carried out with the best components and parts. Naturally all was kept original. This presented its own challenges. As with all the Siata 8Vs this car came with a five-speed gearbox. Being a tuning company, Siata developed a special short shift mechanism for the gearbox, making for a faster gear-change gear and a more sporting appearance. The sand-cast Weber 36DCF3 carburettors have become very rare and we were fortunate that the originals were still with the car. These are handmade and are found only rarely and at high prices. Also, there are beautifully styled pedals with the ‘S’ from SIATA moulded into the casting. These are installed into the chassis with their own little shaft rather than a pedal box. We also discovered the rare, nickel-chromed Italian petrol pump to be located behind the seats, with the oil cooler placed under the radiator grille. The only concession we made was the trumpet-shaped end pipes on the exhaust system. We saw these on a period picture of a Fiat 8V and as well as having a compelling period appearance, they also provide a great sound too. A liberty perhaps, but a period-correct one!
Having prepared the clutch, engine, differential, gearbox, suspension and much more for installation on the finished body and chassis, we restored literally every single bolt and nut one by one by hand – a true labour of love. From that point on it took another seven months to complete and finish the car’s restoration and test drive it for several hundred miles. The right rubber mats with diamond motif were remade, as were the seats in aluminium. In relation to the small details, we were aided by a recent restoration of a similar car in New Zealand, that was even in the same colour. An example was the chain-operated pop-up headlights, controlled by hand from the inside.
The steel-braided petrol hose used was another enigma. We had been searching for this material (7 mm inner size and 11 mm outer size) for years when Lennart happened upon it. On walking into a store in the middle of redecorations he noticed a heater installed to dry some new plasterwork:
“There was a hose on the back of heater machine, which I looked at and thought – this does look very similar. I asked for callipers and to my great surprise found that the sizes were spot-on, as was the material – steel rather then stainless. I found the hiring company and asked if they could sell me ten metres of the pipe. ‘But it’s a Japanese-made machine’, they said. ‘We have no idea how to get in touch with them’. I managed to contact the manufacturer in Japan and had my ten metres arrive here within a few months.”
Finished in 2011
When the car was finished in 2011, we first took it to a photo studio in Amsterdam. This studio was located next to the Hell’s Angels’ Amsterdam headquarters and there was a striking contrast between those rough-bearded guys with their leather vests and hairy motorcycles, and the waxed and polished show-stopper being wheeled out of its closed trailer ready for its maiden photo-shoot.
Once captured on film, the newly-restored beauty went on to appear at many concours d’elegance events. After the Zoute in Belgium, the Siata 8V Balbo went to Villa d’Este, Goodwood, Schloss Dyck, Pebble Beach (twice), the Unique Special Ones event and Het Loo, winning many trophies and some Best of Show awards too – it seemed to win everywhere it appeared. As Lennart says:
“I do particularly remember the state of euphoria at the Ville d’Este Concours. It was just such a perfect occasion: the beautiful place on lake Como and the nature surrounding it. What a change from all the efforts and struggles we’d gone through with the car! Visitors to the concours lawn will not have realized that before the romance and glamour of the event there were years of pain, stress and all the thousands of hours of work in the shop when your friends are at the beach. You can only really know it when you have actually done it by completing a job as challenging as this – from start to finish to the highest level yourself. Then comes the relief and the joy. And most importantly when the satisfied customer expresses gratitude – because that is what it is all about.
The fine weather, the great food, it was all beautiful. And when the car became a winner, I was overcome with emotion. We had been working on the car every day for two years before it was thrown into the arcade. The owner drove it over the podium as I stood in the public gathering, looking over people’s heads. And when he drove off, I rushed through the hundreds of people to congratulate him – only to find it was a long run all the way from Villa Erba to Villa d’Este.”
These were memorable times. Our customer wanted the best, as did we and the coachbuilder in Italy. We worked as a team and everybody benefitted from the relationship we created. The glorious Siata 8V Balbo benefitted too! This was one of the more challenging projects we did in our early days, probably even the first of the big ones. Such results require a sustained level of concentration, commitment and sometimes sheer will – as well as the resilience to endure the downward times and enjoy those on the way up too. For some, the arrival of a dismantled 1950s car in boxes and cartons might signal trepidation or despair even. But in this case it turned out fabulously for all of us.
The conclusion is that, with the right team, anything can be done – even if at first sight a car looks too decrepit to restore. The Siata 8V Balbo itself has been sold once or twice again now, and we do keep in touch with the new owners. We receive a picture every year when the car is polished and detailed again. It still looks totally stunning.
So whether your pride and joy is a newly-purchased ‘barn find’ or a trusted family friend with which you have grown up over many years, when your thoughts turn to the car’s revival and restoration and its use and enjoyment, do think of us at Strada e Corsa. We look forward to speaking, and to joining with you in partnership in the realisation of your automotive ambitions – whatever the starting point!
Best regards,
Lennart & Jurriaan Schouwenburg
