Retro at its best shows off the latest discoveries like this 1954 Ferrari 250 Monza spyder Pinin Farina.
Hugues Vanhoolandt on some of the Italian cars that appeared at Retromobile this year.
By Hugues Vanhoolandt
Despite the success of the 202 coupe, Cisitalia was still struggling. In 1953 the company decided to create a line of cars based on both the 1900 and 1100 Fiat chassis. The line was called the ‘DF’ for ‘Deriving from Fiat‘. Notably, the Cisitalia tubular frame was now gone and the chassis was Fiat. The 1100 cars were designated 33DF and the first was a spyder with cut down doors shown at the 1953 Turin Auto Show. But the production models were almost all coupes, as shown here and given the name ‘Voloradente’ or ’low flying’. The engine was modified to produce around 70 hp. Less than 20 were produced.
The Siata 208S, equipped with the Fiat 8V engine, was the perfect car for the West Coast. Ernie McAfee imported nearly all of them to California.