Bill King in the 1100cc Bandini Siluro.
Here are the details of two more of the Amelia entrants in the Etceterini class. We will feature the remaining six in the next few editions of VeloceToday. Previously, we featured the Reuter Bandini and the Stanguellini.
By Cliff Reuter
1947 Bandini Fiat 1100 Siluro
This is the second Bandini made and it features a 65 bhp Fiat 1100 engine and weighs in at 1,100 pounds. Bandini himself raced it at the 1948 Giro dell’Umbria, Pescara, Ferrara, Senigallia, and the 1949 Mille Miglia.
It was then imported to the US in 1951 by Dick Gent who ran it immediately at Elkhart Lake and a few weeks later at Watkins Glen.
Magazine shot of the Bandini Siluro in 1955.
In 1953 Gent put the car up for sale and it was duly purchased by Sheldon Morrill who raced it at Bridgehampton and and Watkins Glen. It then went to Ed White in 1959, and White sold it to Bill King Sr. that same year. King modified the car with a newer engine and suspension but did not compete in any races. Many years later the car was reunited with a period Fiat 1100 engine and it is
now lovingly owned and vintage raced by Bill King Jr.
1957 Bandini DOHC Saponetta
By Marc Richelsoph
The Saponetta Bandini.
Born in 1911, Ilario Bandini trained as a mechanic and set up his own workshop in 1938 at Forli, Italy. In 1952, he began to construct cars for the 750cc class, and by 1957, his cars dominated the U.S. 750cc HM class. With successes in Europe and the U.S., Bandini was approached by the Maserati Brothers to build a new car with their engine.
Photos do not capture the actual size of the tiny car.
With further streamlining, the body shape became as you see it in this car today. The Italians called the car by the nickname “Saponetta”, which means “little soap bar” for being small and slippery. The unique patented oval tubing, lightweight engine, and aluminum body form one of the lightest race cars built in its day.
Built in 1957, this particular car was raced in Italy by Ilario Bandini before being imported into the U.S. in 1959. It was then raced extensively at locations such as Watkins Glen during the 60’s. It is one of nine known to exist and one of the few with its original hand hammered aluminum body and original twin cam engine. The engine consists of a heavily modified Crosley block with an aluminum twin cam cylinder head designed by Ilario Bandini. By using twin Weber 32DCOA3 carburetors, the engine can achieve 68 H.P with a maximum RPM of 8500. Today it is owned by Marc Richelsoph.
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned about the Bandini siluro owned by Bill King is that when it was first built, it had an Alfa 6c twin cam cylinder head cut and modified to fit on the Fiat 1100 block. It also dates to 1949 rather than 1947. The first Bandini, a barchetta, was built in late 1946.
Michele Orsi Bandini told me the car was built in 1947….I’ll ask him again
when I pick him up at the airport in Jacksonville in March for the Amelia
Island Concours.
The Saponetta is one of the loveliest “soap bars” I’ve ever seen! It is amazing how fast design concepts in Italy changed from the “barchetta-like” look of the Siata 300BC to that of a car like the Saponetta. The Italians never really lost that “jewelry-like” quality of design. Take a look sometime at the center bracket for the windshield of a 250TR Ferrari for instance, or the “stinger” type exhaust tips used on cars like the Ferrari 275 GTB-C
In regard to Bill King’s Bandini siluro, according to the big Bandini book, the 1st car (the barchetta) was built in 1946 and the siluro in 1949…but I’m sure Sig.Bandini knows better than I do, and what is in the book may be a mistake…