- This 1955 Abarth 208 A Spyder by Boano is a one-off example.
- It features a 1.1-liter engine and just 66 horsepower.
- Its current owner is asking approximately $870,000 for it.
It’s rare to have the chance to own a piece of history. That’s exactly what’s on offer today though in the form of the Abarth 208 A Spyder by Boano. It’s a stunning glance back into the past and the coolest way to potentially burn your leg or, more likely, the leg of your passenger.
Built in response to the growing American trend of tailfins and aeronautic design themes, the 208 A has siblings. Known as the 207 A and the 209 A, they made up the trifecta of cars shown off at the Turin Motor Show for Abarth in 1955.
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While Boano gets the credit in terms of nomenclature, Giovanni Michelotti actually designed this bodywork. Fins are clearly a paramount feature as they appear at each corner. Pop-up headlights partially give away the age of the car and a belt line sits just below the door on each side.
Under the sheet metal is a car almost identical to the Fiat 1100 of the time. It features a 1.1-liter four-cylinder engine with just 66 horsepower (49 kW). That meager figure routes to the rear wheels only via a manual gearbox. Of course, it also sends the exhaust out of the engine and right below where the passenger gets in and out of the car. Despite its significant age, it appears to be in outstanding shape. Throughout its decades of life, it’s spent time under the stewardship of the Du Pont brothers, Tony Pompao, and Bill Hale.
Hale specifically claims to have driven the car for several years in Long Island, Maine, and New York proper. Since his ownership, it’s changed hands two more times. Now, it’s available for sale through RM Sotheby’s private sales sector. The seller is asking €795,000 or about $870,000.
No doubt, that’s an incredible amount of cash but there’s no question about the significance of this car. It was part of Abarth’s earliest years, clearly turned heads, and is a one-off example found nowhere else on the planet. Is it truly worth almost a million dollars? That’s up to the next buyer to decide whenever they finalize a deal for it.
