Etceterini Books

There are two good books on Bandini.
In 1991 Elvio Deganello and Lionello Maci wrote “ Ilario Bandini, Pilota-Costruttore-Ingegnere”, a slight but very nice book of 75 pages with a registry of Bandinis. Published by L’eco de Brindisi. It is a high quality paperback with great black and white photos and full technical information and an interesting section about American. I have an English edition as well but xerox only? Look for it on ebay and the price should be reasonable.

A much more complete book, “Bandini” was published in 2002 by Aquacalda Editore, authorized by Dino Bandini (Ilario’s nephew) and written by Franco Fabbri and Cesare Sangiorgi. It’s a huge book, 414 pages, and is in both Italian and English. Bandini represents a passion for motor racing in the region Emilia Romagna. A review of the book can be seen here: Bandini.

Here’s one which really surprised us: “Giannini” a book published by Automitica in Italy in 1994. The author is Enzo Altorio. Like many, it is in Italian language only, and all the photos are in black and white.
There is a special chapter on Giaur, and the book is 367 pages in length. Hard to find though.

ISBN : 88-86304-02-1

Moretti was the subject of a book by Mario Ruberi, but I have no date or publisher information. It is only 60 pages but illustrates many of the Morettis made between 1928 and 1984. There is a fairly comprehensive article written by the Editor of VeloceToday in the August 1985 issue of Automobile magazine and features the Moretti 750 coupe, then owned by Karl Ludvigsen.

Moretti had a long history of actual car and truck production as well small race cars. There are other shorts books on Moretti that have come to light. Stu Schaller tells us that A. Fornai was the author of another small book on Moretti, called “del a carrozzeria Moretti, 1926-1986”, and a second edition was published in 2002, and very similar to the Fornai book on Siata. These are often as mysterious as they are hard to find but this just adds to the fun.

Nardi is also the topic of at least two books, the first by Franco Varisco, “Nardi, a story of cars and steering wheels”, published by Edizioni della Libreria del’Automobile in 1987. Photos in black and white, 75 pages, both English and Italian text. Then, last year, “Enrico Nardi, a fast life” by Dino Brunori and Andrea Curami, probably the last word on the subject. A full review can be read or order the book here. Buy Nardi.

Strangely enough, we don’t find much on Siata. The second volume of Tony Adriaensen’s Fiat Otto Vu addresses much of the Siata story but concentrates on the Fiat V8 versions. An Italian paperback entitled S.I.A.T.A. from 1926 to 1974 was written by A. Fornia and a second edition printed in 2002. It contains numerous B&Ws but are photocopied. Griff Borgeson wrote a history of Siata for Automobile Quarterly, V23 No 2.

We have three works on Stanguellini. The first is a publication created for the Stanguellini museum in 1995; glossy, many color images, only 16 pages but high quality stock and photo reproduction, shows many of the Stanguellinis racing. Text in Italian, In 1999, Dante Candini and Nunzia Manicardi did a proper job published by Edizioni Il Fiorino. (at left). A full 190 page history, with letters, diagrams, both color and black and white photography, but in Italian only and paperback format.

Stanguellini by Orsini and Zagari is typical of their great work, and what a great deal for all etceterini fans, as finally we do not have to stumble through another Italian language Stanguellini book or hope for a translated version that never arrives. And what a great book this is, a whopping 384 pages, with 700 illustrations (or possibly 800 depending on how you count multiple images in a single illustration) many in color.

Here is an ultra rare book on the cars of Berardo Taraschi, and it includes the Giaur and Urania. Written by Enzo Altorio, it is the complete story of this enigmatic Italian car builder and his dazzling and different cars for the Italian National Sportscar classes. And no, there is no “n” in Berardo. Full of great historical black and white photos. Amazing what one can find when asking questions–I didn’t know about this one. Nice to see that the Italians are doing a great job of getting this history written.

Since most of the small ones were based on Fiat mechanicals, one might think that there would be a book on Fiat Etceterinis. The closest I have to that is “La Fiat va alla Mille Miglia”, a Giorgio Nada book published in 1998 and written, in Italian only, by Gianni Cancellieri and Michele Marchiano. Softbound, 108 pages, it covers Fiat’s participation in the Mille Miglia from 1927 to 1957, basically by model and includes Siata, Abarths Fiat Zagatos, as well as the sedans.

If you ever see a paperback book with a cover like this, buy it. This is a 1990 fifth edition of John de Boer’s “The Registry of Italian Oddities”. According to de Boer, it is “a compendium of Italian automobile manufacturers, coachbuilders and certain accessory manufacturers organized by marquee and chassis numbers or coachwork number and including any important historical data as well as cross references.” It is all that an more, but has not been updated since 1994.

Occasional compendiums and reprints can be found and well worth while. “OSCA, Moretti & Stanguellini” is a smart little reprint of thirty four articles on the titled cars, published in an unknown year by Unique Motor Books in the UK. Decent reproduction but concentrates on the OSCA, of which there were many articles over the years. There is quite a bit on Moretti, but the Ribera book is superior if it can be found. Try ebay for most of these out of printers. We hope our readers will let us know what else is out there!