Museo Stradale

Dominic's Auto Museum
One man's passionate quest to survey finest motorcars in the world

Photographed: Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, 2009. Owner: Etienne & Lidy Veen

One of Few, Best of Many: The unique (and we do mean unique, though possibly once red) Stabilimenti Farina Spyder, chassis #CS058, came about in 1955, when the original berlinetta body was cut open in honor of competition prowess. As we mentioned in our piece on the later Balbo Berlinetta, approximately six cars were bodied by Farina, this being one of last.

Lately, the most remarkable feat of accomplishment attributed to this particular car has to do with concours d'elegance. Now, I don't normally report show awards because they aren't vitally relevant to the average enthusiast, (and also because keeping each car's respective history of praise complete and up-to-date isn't a task I want to handle). But, that said, we need to go back to the 2009 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance, where the judges selected only two cars for ultimate consideration as best of show, and where one of them was not a high-classic of the typical "concours queen" variety. Surely, Robert M. Lee's 1937 Horch 853 was the obvious, or at least conventional winner. But this cute little Siata was the other option.

Pebble Beach always has three classics in the final round of candidates, except for this Siata in 2009. However it happened, this was quite a surprising upstart for the classy set.

Breaking it Down: So having at this shape, we see a bit of the little boat persona in a pair of gently rolling shoulders and smoothed front and rear portions, harking back to the Ferrari 166 MM Barchetta. And like the Barchetta, grille area still plays a significant role in distinguishing the character of the car. Here big, dramatic slats run vertically in a gaping mouth, a bold gesture common to early sporting designs of the post-War period, and to this item it should be noted that confrontation with so large a grille on such a proportionally small car could be truly arresting, except that Italian coachbuilders always had a way of making it right.

Still to compare the Siata to Touring's 166 MM Barchetta, Stabilimenti Farina were a touch more sophisticated in their linear elements. Instead of creasing the sheetmetal along the flank, a pair of tapered speedlines helps to draw out the length of the car. One pierces the vent, much more decorative than the hinged door located immediately below it, while the other trims the upper edge of the rear wheelwell.

Above board, lines are softer, with elegant sweeps blending together around the cockpit and into the curved windscreen. These match the deft curvature of the front arches, which themselves are just the right pitch. Note that Balbo didn't quite match the radius, with a bit more drop-off at the nose. Though the later car has perhaps less of a sleek look, it isn't necessarily inferior to the original Farina design—at least not by any sense of whimsical intuition—although this early design is certainly the classically appealing choice.

The Farina Name: Since this is the first Stabilimenti Farina car we've added so far, it's an appropriate time to remark that the Stabilimenti Farina firm was that of Giovanni, older brother to Battista 'Pinin' Farina, and one of many uncles to Giuseppe 'Nino' Farina. Of course we already have cars that represent the contributions and achievements of Pinin and Nino Farina, so it's nice to now include the other great Farina family member in this collection. He, Giovanni, should be thanked for cultivating Pinin Farina, if not for his own automotive contributions besides—these exercises that show up so rarely because his production was so limited.

Sources:

UltimateCarPage: With this particular car, (shot at the same show of course).

Coachbuild: With some examples of Stabilimenti Farina's work, though not yet inclusive of this example.

 

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