Siata 208 Corsa Spider

Siata 208 Corsa Spider was a one-off racing car built by Bertone and designed by Franco Scaglione around Fiat’s 8V engine. The car brought together Siata’s 208 CS designation, a bespoke open racing body and the Fiat V8 named in its specification. It was conceived as a dedicated competition car rather than as a conventional series-bodied road model. Nuccio Bertone commissioned the Spider as a personal creation, placing the project within Bertone’s own circle as well as the contemporary Italian racing-car scene.

Bertone built the body, while Franco Scaglione shaped the Spider’s exterior. Its low, open form used sweeping lines and curved surfaces, with the bodywork concentrated around the cockpit and mechanical package. The design combined a compact racing profile with the broad, fluid contours characteristic of the car’s bespoke coachwork. The exterior was not a catalogue variation of a standard Siata body, but the specific form created for this single Corsa Spider.

Fiat supplied the 8V engine that powered the car. That V8 gave the Spider its Fiat mechanical basis, while Bertone and Scaglione supplied its individual body and design. The project therefore joined a Siata 208 CS with Fiat 8V power and a body built specifically for this car. Its race-car identity was expressed through the open Spider body, the low seating position and the body’s streamlined outline.

Only one Siata 208 Corsa Spider was produced. The car stands apart from other Siata 208 derivatives through its named Corsa Spider body style, its Bertone construction and Scaglione design. Nuccio Bertone’s personal commission made it a singular Bertone-built interpretation of the Fiat 8V-powered Siata. The surviving description of the car centres on that combination: a one-off racing Spider, Fiat V8 power, Bertone coachwork and Franco Scaglione’s design.

The Siata 208 Corsa Spider retained the direct relationship between its mechanical basis and its bodywork. Fiat’s 8V engine formed the centre of the specification, while the bespoke Spider body gave the car its distinct identity. Bertone’s role was the construction of the car, and Scaglione’s role was the design of its exterior. The car was produced as a single example for Nuccio Bertone.

Its designation preserves the Corsa Spider name rather than that of another Siata 208 body style. The single-car production, Fiat 8V engine, Bertone-built body and Franco Scaglione design define the Siata 208 Corsa Spider as presented here. The car was made as Nuccio Bertone’s personal creation and remained a one-off racing Spider rather than a production derivative.

The Spider’s body was designed around an open racing configuration. Scaglione’s treatment used a low nose, curved flanks and a compact cockpit area, while Bertone executed the coachwork for the car. Fiat’s 8V engine supplied the powerplant named for this Siata, linking its mechanical specification to the contemporary Fiat V8. One example was produced.