Standing by the Stanguellini Ala d’Oro is the photographer’s wife, Leah Adams.

A note. We are working on a multi-part story on the restoration of Howard Banaszak’s Stanguellini 750 Bialbero (read Part 1) which will continue in January with some amazing news. In the meantime, we remembered this article about the Stanguellini Museum from 2003, and asked Howard if he had any updated photos that we could use to illustrate it. He referred us to his nephew, Rob Adams, a British car enthusiast who visited the factory recently. Photos thus ensued and will keep the fires burning on the Stanguellini front.

Story by Lorenzo Marchesini
Photos by Rob Adams

Situated in Northern Italy at the foot of the Apennine mountains, Modena is located about 15 miles west of Bologna. Modena is famous for the Italian Military Academy, a centuries old University, numerous churches and piazzas and of course as the epicenter of “Motor Valley”. As in most of Italy, the Modenese are fond of their wines, in particular Lambrusco, and their cuisine. It was here that the famous “tortellini” was invented.

Stanguellini's Ala d'Oro bodied Fiat 1100. Photo by Graham Gauld.

From the VeloceToday Archives, March 2012. Some time ago, reader Bill Spear emailed a photo taken from Life magazine back in the 1950s. We don’t know when or where the photo was taken but he had no idea what the car is or who built it. So of course he sent it to us. But after that was published, we hear more about this post war classic Stanguellini.

By Howard Banaszak

I did not suspect that when the latest issue of Road & Track appeared on my doorstep in August of 1980 that it would be a turning point in my automotive life. There was an article about Kas Kastner and his Crosley-engined Siata 300 BC Spider, chassis ST 412 BC. The photos of the Siata showed a car that hit every note for me. The lines, the size, the proportions talked to me.

At the time I owned several 356 Porches, but by 1984 had sold all but one. I was going to focus on what John De Boer called “Etceterinis.”

The blue book in the background is de Boer’s “Registry of Italian Oddities” dated May, 1990, the smaller volume is dated November 1985. Every so often de Boer updates these amazing books.

Two great things happened next. I contacted Jarl de Boer, as he and his son John were mentioned in the R&T article. Jarl generously mailed me a copy of the “Registry of Italian Oddities” authored by John. It was unbelievable, full of cars I had never heard of, race histories and even better, chassis numbers. I still recall spending several hours reading John’s masterpiece.

Be sure to read the sidebar below: Tim Ritter and his Backyard Bandinis

I then met Tim Ritter; his knowledge of cars through his business was amazing. Our taste in cars were identical. My entire collection is based on his recommendations, which leads me into my “As Found” story, one of the best restoration tales I know.

Tim contacted me around 1985-86. He had found an interesting project car. It had a Devin body, but was mounted on an Italian chassis. Neither of us knew what it was, however, it sounded interesting. I purchased the car and it was shipped back to Florida. I removed the Devin body and gave it to Judge Parker for a project he was working.

“Judge” Parker with his Abarth sedan at the Walter Mitty in 1986. Banaszak would later own Parker’s Bandini Formula Junior. Vack photo.

The chassis was in great shape. It rode on four 275 x 15 inch Borrani wheels, a transverse leaf spring front suspension, very cool Nardi steering wheel, an aluminum, riveted gas tank, a very different rear suspension with alloy trailing arms and the chassis was painted a pretty ugly aqua blue. That blue paint turned out to be key to identifying the car.

The chassis circa 1986. The color of the chassis was to provide an essential clue to its provenance.

During this time I also owned a Stanguellini Formula Junior, chassis #CS0150. The chassis had some similarity to the new blue chassis. Hmmm. Sure enough, when I scraped off some paint from the rolling chassis, there it was; CS04080. I had a Stanguellini 750 Sport.

I then found a small blue book on Formula Junior cars, written in 1960-61. It had a line drawing of a Stanguellini twin cam 750 Sport; it was my car! Cutaway below by Theo Page Copyright Autosport. This was probably found in the book “Formula Jr.” by Harry Morrow, printed in 1961. Perhaps readers can confirm this!

Back in that time period, we consulted SCCA magazines from the early 1950s to 1962. The race results listed all the classes, cars and drivers. I would dive bomb the G and H modified results.
Through this research I identified three Stanguellini 750 Sports that came to the United States. All three cars had one driver in common; Sandy McArthur. Sandy was part of America’s “Greatest Generation” and lived life to its fullest. I contacted him by phone. It seems that he had all the time in the world to talk to me. I explained the purpose of my call and the matter of the blue Stanguellini chassis. He stared laughing and said, “That is my old Stanguellini Mercury! I sold it to Steve Hauxhurst and we painted it blue when we removed the Stanguellini body and put a Devin in its place.”

To be continued…

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Tim Ritter’s Backyard Bandinis and others

Tim Ritter’s back lot in the 1980s was a treasure trove of Etceterinis. In this photo from that period is a Bandini 750 chassis 159. Photo courtesy Tim Ritter.

The same Bandini in the possession of Dave DuBrul. Dave Dubrul photo.

Chassis 159 at Moroso when owned by Howard Banaszak.

Banaszak owned 2 Gransports in the past. The first one was SL 0217, purchased from Larry Snover. It is now in Europe and beautifully restored. The second was in rough condition, I sold that to Grant Kinzel, who restored it beautifully. At about the same period as the Bandini photo above, Ritter had this rare aluminum bodied Siata Gran Sport, chassis SL0280B, in his back yard. Photo courtesy Tim Ritter.

Next: The Body