Siata 500 Amica Cabriolet

Vehicle Overview

The Siata 500 Amica Cabriolet was built and designed by Bertone. It was an elegant cabriolet that took on the appearance of the cars of prestige of the day, on the Fiat 500 Topolino elaborated by SIATA. Tecniche Auto-Aviatorie) was a Turin company, active from the early 1930s to the 1970s, known and appreciated preparer of sports cars, especially on Fiat mechanicals. Siata did not limit itself only to improving engine performance but also successfully applied itself to the construction of limited series sports cars, again derived from Fiat chassis. The car that most characterized Siata’s production, however, was not a sports car but an elegant cabriolet, the famous “AMICA” based on the Fiat 500,designed by Bertone and first presented in 1939 on a Fiat 500A basis and of which it retained only the chassis and mechanical layout. Demonstrating the high regard given to SIATA, for the first time in FIAT’s history bare chassis were supplied to an outside company for outfitting. The “Amica” was the ideal car for those who did not want to blend in with the larger 500 clientele, standing out without ostentation or bad taste with a car where elegance, technical qualities, speed, practicality and comfort were combined into one. The 500’s original engine was obviously modified with the adoption of the “Supertesta Siata” with overhead valves that allowed it to increase power to 18hp from the original 13. Together with other tuning the Amica could reach and exceed 100Km/h! The Siata Amica was set up in a limited number of examples, conveniently distributed in a few units in the main provinces. Each example differed from the other in body, hood and interior colors and also in trim. Each car produced was practically a one-of-a-kind! Of this first series in 1939 there are reports of only 50 examples produced, including coupes and spiders. The outbreak of war caused production to stop, only to resume in 1949 with the Amica 49, a completely different car. The first speciments were built on commission by Carrozzeria Mantelli. It was exhibited at the 1939 Sanremo and 1947 Roma Concorso d’Eleganza. An anecdote sees Carmen Franco, daughter of the Caudillo of Spain, driving her vehicle together with general Gastone Gambara of Italian Army.