The 1953 Siata 208 CS Stabilimenti Farina Spyder was a one off make designed by Giovanni Farina – the car was named after its designer.
Siata, Societa Italian was an Italian company that specialised in aftermarket products for Fiats.
With their intimate knowledge of Fiat’s products, the company was able to launch the first ever Siata badged, as a Fiat based car in 1948.
About sixty chassis were built by Siata in 1953 and 1954, with at least half a dozen body type variants, with the most common being 208S.
The 208CS was originally built as a competition sports coupe, the only one made, but production was ceased and it was later converted to a Spyder.
The Spyder body was a popular choice because it suited the lightweight and fine-handling chassis.
Powered entirely by Fiat 2.0 litre V8, however interestingly most of the running gear was retrieved from the Fiats parts bin.
This Giovanni Farina was the older brother of Pinin Farina, and uncle of Nino Farina, the first F1 world champion.
