Here’s an opportunity to own the one-and-only Michelotti-designed Abarth 208 A Spyder. This car was done up in the uniquely 1950s “Stile Transatlantico” inspired by the American rocket-age sporting machines, and looks absolutely magnificent in two-tone teal over white. If you have always wanted an early Corvette, but wished it was much smaller and powered by a 1.1-liter 66-horsepower four-cylinder, this is the car for you, my friend! Get the Boano-bodied Abarth, you’ll be the only one who can say you have it. It’s only money, and you can always make more.
The only 208 A Spyder in the world was imported to the U.S. in the 1950s, after having been shown off at the 1955 Turin Motor Show, by New York-based distributor Tony Pompeo, on behalf of the Du Pont family. It floated around New England until a collector of weird Italian cars like this one uncovered it in 2007 and treated it to a sympathetic slate of repair and restoration, though the current owner recently gave the car a full bare-metal repaint in its original color. The interior and trim remain as original.
Here’s the rundown, according to RM Sotheby’s:
Penned by Giovanni Michelotti for Boano, Abarth hoped this design would appeal to the American market stylistically but under the skin, these automobiles were unmistakenly Italian. They utilised an ultra-light chassis, small displacement-yet-punchy engines, coupled with precise and delicate handling. Mechanically, much was carried over from the Fiat 1100, including the car’s suspension and 1,089 cc four-cylinder engine. Further performance was extracted from this with Abarth’s tuning kit, which consisted of twin-Weber carburettors and a custom exhaust header, making the engine good for 66 bhp.
This car has been offered for sale in Milan, Italy (on a Greek registration) for a mere 795,000 Euros, or about $852,000 at current exchange rates. That’s a lot of cheddar for this tiny little machine, but can you really put a price on being the only person in the world to own a car?
Go buy it, while you can!