11 replies to this topic

[diego]

This is an interesting "barn find" article -- what do people think about the author's assertion that this is B.A.T. No. 1?

read article

[lanciaman]

Without responding to the provenance for BAT1, BAT5 was in the loft of a radio repair shop near South Bend, Indiana, for more than 30 years. I saw the car there as a college student getting the radio in his Hillman Minx repaired. It went on the block many years later fully restored.

But it has always been a mystery how the car got to the little radio repair shop in Roselawn IN in the first place. If BAT1 had a connection to Packard, that might explain how BAT5 got to Indiana--
Packard to Studebaker, which itself was struggling and examining imported cars (ultimately to become the first agent for Mercedes in the US).

[rdrcr]

The story sounds good to me - though I'd sure like to see some documentation and photos of the serial plate or tag on the car.

In any case, it was one hell of a find. Just goes to show that they're not all found yet. It never ceases to amaze me, the treasures out there still.

[dretceterini]

I find the chassis number 214-001 VERY strange. The Tipo 202 is a Cisitalia number.

Tipo 203 is a Gilco number (the company that built all Ferrari chassis until 1957), and as far as I am aware, there are no Abarth Tipo 203s (unless the car owned by Peter Zobian, known to have been designed by Savonuzzi, and known as the Goldmanini is a 203.

Tipo 204 exists as an Abarth number, as does 205. Not sure about 206 ...and 207, 208 and 209 are the asymentric race car, the street version with full windscreen, and one-off coupe in Rosso-Bianco.

By this time we are up to 1954-1955...so really odd to me that this car is Tipo 214..

Although they are Savonuzzi and not Scaglione designs, and built by Vignale and not Bertone...the 1947 and 1948 Cisitalia SMM Mille Miglia coupes are kind of the first cars of this style...

[BRG]

Might I just say that if I had a car as truly, madly, deeply ugly as this one, I would push it back into the barn, lock the doors and throw away the key!

Now over to the real aficionados again... :

[dretceterini]

I suppose you rather have a Fairthorpe Electron?

[dmj]

Never thought about reasons of calling BATs 5, 7 and 9 but design ancestry seems logical, especially considering mentioned Fiat 1100 special, really logical step between this car and AR based ones... (I'll have to buy a scanner... )

[karlcars]

I'm unimpressed by any effort to include this car (which I quite like!) in the BAT (Berlina Aerodinamica Tecnica) series. The information that I have is that Bertone and Scaglione (who joined in 1951) were commissioned by Alfa Romeo to carry out studies into low-drag body designs for their 1900 SS chassis. They mocked up several designs full-size and tested them on the Autostrada for both speed and fuel consumption. Reportedly, the results achieved with the first four such studies were incorporated in the fifth, which accordingly was named BAT 5. The later cars started from there.

Anyway -- an astounding barn find!

[dretceterini]

Karl (and all) :

Any idea where copies of the first 4 design studies can be found?

[vintageautomobilia]

Originally posted by BRG
Might I just say that if I had a car as truly, madly, deeply ugly as this one, I would push it back into the barn, lock the doors and throw away the key!

Now over to the real aficionados again... :

I agree with Karl - I really like the Abarth 214. I think it's a very handsome car and I wish it was parked in my barn. As to the numbering, 214 is an Abarth tipo number and these numbers seem to have started life as the Cisitalia tipo numbers. Just as Squadra Piero Dusio became Squadra Carlo Abarth, the Cisitalia 202 became the Cisitalia 204 and then the Abarth 204 and so on. These don't have anything to do with the individual car's chassis number - they are tipo numbers. And Abarth seems to have stopped these 200 series tipo numbers shortly after he went into series production of the rear engined Fiat 600 based cars.

As far as the Abarth 214 is concerned, I again agree with Karl, I don't think this should be called BAT 1. If you look through the Bertone book there were quite a few finned cars designed by Scaglione and built by Bertone. In fact, one has just recently surfaced based on a 1953 FIAT 1100TV chassis. It too has the fins and the split back window. Obviously these were design themes that Scaglione liked.

[dretceterini]

Originally posted by vintageautomobilia


I agree with Karl - I really like the Abarth 214. I think it's a very handsome car and I wish it was parked in my barn. As to the numbering, 214 is an Abarth tipo number and these numbers seem to have started life as the Cisitalia tipo numbers. Just as Squadra Piero Dusio became Squadra Carlo Abarth, the Cisitalia 202 became the Cisitalia 204 and then the Abarth 204 and so on. These don't have anything to do with the individual car's chassis number - they are tipo numbers. And Abarth seems to have stopped these 200 series tipo numbers shortly after he went into series production of the rear engined Fiat 600 based cars.

As far as the Abarth 214 is concerned, I again agree with Karl, I don't think this should be called BAT 1. If you look through the Bertone book there were quite a few finned cars designed by Scaglione and built by Bertone. In fact, one has just recently surfaced based on a 1953 FIAT 1100TV chassis. It too has the fins and the split back window. Obviously these were design themes that Scaglione liked.

There is also a Stanguellini coupe that looks quite a bit like the recently found Fiat 1100TV.

I would love to see the sketchs on what someone might call BAT 2, 3, and 4

[Scuderia SSS]

I have some period photos of BAT 5 at its debut show. Strange but somewhat comforting to the eye, especially if you were a Thunderbirds fan