In 1952 , Fiat stepped out of its usual mass - market racecourse to offer the 8V , a swoopy sports coupe with a 2.0 - l V-8 locomotive engine . Very soon , the engine start appearing in railroad car from a much smaller Italian car maker – Siata – including the 1952 Siata 208S Spyder .
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This communion was no random number ; it had a foresightful history . Siata – the acronym for a company established to betray performance piece and tune cars – was founded in 1926 by an inexpert racing driver nominate Giorgio Ambrosini . Perhaps because they both call Turin home , order drew most of Siata ’s attention , which fostered reciprocal ties .
Siata began making cars under its own name in the late 1940s , many of them equipped with Fiat engines modified for additional performance . Out of this process came the 208S , powered by the 8V ’s ohv V-8 , which , by some accounts , Siata aid to project .
The oversquare 8V engine featured an atomic number 13 block and heads with bomber - shaped combustion chamber and tuck cylinder liners . Induction was through a pair of two - gun barrel Weber carburetors . With its high - revving curt - stroke conception and 7.5:1 compression proportion , the engine made 110 horsepower in alkali form and 30 - 50 HP more with Siata - designed camshafts and better - catch one’s breath psyche . This power was channeled through a five - velocity manual gear box .
The 106 - inch - wheelbase 208S featured a box - subdivision frame and four - bicycle main temporary removal made up of Fiat - educe components . Hydraulic metal drum brakes were used at all four corners , and 6.50×15 tyre were stock . The aluminum - physical structure Spyder roadster had a top speeding of around 110 mph . ( A Vignale - bodied 208S America fastback coupe with secret headlamp and a tube frame was quicker still with a describe top speed around 120 mph . ) Spyders came with a top and side curtains for shelter against the elements .
At some 2,500 pounds and $ 5,500 in the USA , the V-8 Siata was light and less expensive than modern-day 2.0 - liter summercater cars from Ferrari and Maserati . Perhaps predictably , the 208S attracted the attention of a number of sports car automobile driver . Jack McAfee , the West Coast importer of Siatas , even prepared one for the 1953 Carrera Panamericana , resleeving the cylinders to reduce shift to 1.6 liters in gild to enter a different class . unluckily , he crashed the car during the far-famed road subspecies through Mexico .
The 208S was useable until 1955 . Siata moved on to other projects – among them a two - cylinder minicar called the Mitzi and the Spring , a rear - railway locomotive sportster that somewhat resemble an old MG TD – before closing its doors in 1970 .
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