{"id":400,"date":"2017-09-02T09:42:48","date_gmt":"2017-09-02T13:42:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.speedcraftspecial.com\/wpperfect\/?p=400"},"modified":"2022-07-04T12:57:20","modified_gmt":"2022-07-04T16:57:20","slug":"otto-lintons-siata-prototype-orchidea-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/speedcraftspecial.com\/wpperfect\/otto-lintons-siata-prototype-orchidea-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Otto Linton\u2019s Siata Prototype (\u201cOrchidea\u201d Project)"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SiataSiata (Societa Italiana Auto Trasformazioni Accessori) <\/strong>was an Italian company founded in 1926 by Giorgio Ambrosini<\/strong>. Originally they worked on tuning Fiat cars, but by 1949 they began to produce their own. These cars where powered by modified Fiat or Crosley engines.<\/p>\n

Renato Ambrosini<\/strong> established a collaboration with Enrico Nardi<\/strong> after Nardi left Scuderia Fararri<\/strong> in 1946. Nardi supplied chassis designed by Augusto Monaco<\/strong>, the bodies where built by Zagato<\/strong> and the engines where Siata<\/strong> modified Fiat 500s these cars carried Siata<\/strong> serial numbers. For example, the Siata<\/strong> TC (Tipo di Concorso<\/strong>) that Renato won two championships with had a Fiat 500 bored out to 698cc and supercharged for 45bhp.<\/p>\n

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Renato Ambrosini in the Siata Tipo di Concorso 1948<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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\"SiataT<\/strong>his was followed by an ambitious Siata-Nardi<\/strong> project in 1948<\/strong> called the Bersagliera<\/strong>. This car was a mid-rear engine designed car with a Nardi chassis<\/strong>, but powered by a Siata<\/strong> designed 1100cc twin cam engine. The engine was designed in house by Aldo Leoni<\/strong> (who had designed the successful Cucciolo<\/strong> \u201cpuppy\u201d motorcycle engine that established Ducati<\/strong> as a motorcycle company…read more here<\/span><\/a>) and was intended to produce 90bhp. However, the engine never achieved that output and the car was plagued with handling problems.<\/p>\n

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L<\/strong>ate in 1949<\/strong> Renato began project \u201cOrchidea<\/strong>\u201d on the last remaining Augusto Monaco<\/strong> designed Nardi chassis. Renato decided that the cost of developing an in house engine was not justified by the meager gain in horsepower over what they could achieve by modifying stock engines, so this car was powered by a modified Fiat 500 engine once again. The car was built as a coupe for the Mille Miglia<\/strong> with a body by Bertone<\/strong> and Borani<\/strong> wire wheels.<\/p>\n

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\"Siata
Siata Prototype “Orchidea” as a Mille Miglia coupe 1949<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

T<\/strong>he coupe body was a little to top heavy for the small tubular Nardi chassis and after the secound car was bodied as a \u201cSpyder\u201d. The car was entered in many Italian races such as Lieto Colle, Coppa d’Oro delle Dolomiti, Aosta-Gran San Bernardo, Coppa Michelin, Circuito del Garda, Mille Miglia, Circuito di Tigullio, Aosta-Gran San Bernardo and the Targa Florio. The car performed well with the lighter weight \u201cspyder\u201d body.<\/p>\n

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The two Orchidea cars with earlier Nardi chassis cars .<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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Renato Ambrosini<\/strong> found the Augusto Monaco<\/strong> designed tubular chassis was to difficult to build straight and was not cost effective. So Siata<\/strong> moved on to a box cut steel chassis for project \u201cAmica<\/strong>\u201d. The Amica<\/strong> was a passenger car powered by a Siata<\/strong> modified Fiat 500 \u201cC\u201d motor. Fiat had improved their design quality and Siata<\/strong> found that they were getting increasingly less horsepower gains out of their Fiat modifications.<\/p>\n

Antonio (Tony) Pompeo<\/strong> was a mysterious figure in early SCCA racing. His showroom was one floor above Luigi Chinetti\u2019s<\/strong> in NYC and was also full of Italian cars. Tony was tied into John Perona<\/strong>, owner of the El Morocco<\/strong> on 54th Street, who had a passion for exotic cars. Tony often brought multiple cars to SCCA races and arranged for experienced drivers to run them e.g. Otto Linton, Dick Irish and Jim Pauley<\/strong>. Some of the cars were owned by Perona and in the later days where named after the famous NYC nightclub.<\/p><\/blockquote><\/div><\/div>\n

I<\/strong>n 1951 Tony Pompeo<\/strong> visited the Siata<\/strong> Factory, not only did he see the Amica in production but he saw the \u201cOrchidea<\/strong>\u201d spyder prototype sitting in the corner of the shop floor. He suggested to Renato that there would be a market in America for a car that looked like the \u201cOrchidea spyder<\/strong>\u201d, built on the Amica<\/strong> chassis. He also mentioned that the Crosley<\/strong> overhead cam engine was very popular with road racers, because it was a sturdy and light engine that could achieve great horsepower gains through modification. Tony returned to America with the \u201cOrchidea\u201d Spyder and had a Crosley race motor built in New York City.<\/p>\n

Y<\/strong>et again Tony Pompeo<\/strong> turned to Otto Linton<\/strong> to test his latest car. Otto picked up the Siata<\/strong> prototype from NYC and towed it out to Wisconsin for the August 1951<\/strong> road race at Elkhart Lake<\/strong>. The prototype now was powered by a \u201chot\u201d modified Crosley<\/strong> 750cc engine. Tony had also arranged for Lee Kerrigan<\/strong> a young nursing school student from NYC to drive the car in the \u201cladies\u201d race. Otto remembers dicing it out with John Gordon Bennet<\/strong> in one of Roger Barlow\u2019s <\/strong>supercharged Simca<\/strong> 1100cc cars during the race. Otto really liked the Simca<\/strong> cars, but Bennet<\/strong> was a good driver and had a substantial horsepower advantage yet the Siata<\/strong> had no trouble mixing it up with the Simca<\/strong> because it was a far better handling car. Otto ran #39H<\/strong> on the prototype but dropped out of the race with mechanical issues.<\/p>\n

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Siata Prototype “Orchidea” at Elkhart Lake road races 1951<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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O<\/strong>tto towed the Siata Prototype<\/strong> back to NYC for Tony Pompeo<\/strong> to complete the repairs and did not see the car again until it was time for the Watkins Glen<\/strong> race.<\/p>\n

Tony Pompeo<\/strong> had big plans for Watkins Glen<\/strong> and Siata<\/strong>. He brought both Giorgio<\/strong> and Renato Ambrosini<\/strong> to the race from Italy to see the Crosley<\/strong> powered prototype<\/strong> run. Otto Linton<\/strong> was selected to drive the car based on his experience with road courses and in particular having raced at Watkins Glen<\/strong> since its inception. Giorgio<\/strong> did not speak English and Renato\u2019s<\/strong> English was limited, however both Otto and Renato were fluent in German. Otto developed a relationship with Renato that would last for years.<\/p>\n

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\"Otto
Otto Linton with the Siata Prototype at Watkins Glen 1951<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Otto
Otto Linton’s Siata Prototype on Franklin St at Watkins Glen 1951<\/figcaption><\/figure>
\"Otto
Otto Linton’s Siata Prototype at Cornett Bridge at Watkins Glen 1951<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

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