re: etceterini

[Dana Loomis <dloomis@domain.elided>]

>Moretti are a member of the set of cars sometimes known collectively as
>"etceterini" -- a slightly impertinent shorthand term for the various
>Italian niche manufacturers (basically, any carmaker smaller than
>Maserati) of the Forties and Fifties.  Moretti, Bandini, Siata, Nardi,
>Cisitalia, and even OSCA (started up by the Maserati brothers after they
>sold their company) are a few names you can occasionally see at vintage
>races; 

Alfisti may be interested in another, unique member of the "etceterini"
clan I had the opportunity to see this past weekend.  It was a tube-framed,
aluminum-bodied, 1950s-style sports roadster visually resembling the
original Testa Rossa, but bearing the badge of Ermini.  The Ermini brothers
were described to the group of us who gathered around this car in the
paddock as "Italian hot-rodders" who built small numbers of fast cars and
motorcycles in the 1950s.  They reportedly developed this particular body
design in hopes Ferrari would use it for what became the Testa Rossa and,
after Il Commendatore rejected their design, made a few copies to sell on
their own--usually with large American engines.  The same body was then
replicated in fiberglass in the Devin (forgive possibily incorrect
spelling) sports car.  The particular car I saw belongs to Cesar Cone of
North Carolina, USA, and has a 2 liter Alfa Romeo powerplant.  It is
actually a fairly recent recreation in aluminum of the original Ermini,
based the fiberglass Devin.  A reproduction based on a replica, but an
interesting car nevertheless, and a nice one to see on the race track.

Dana Loomis

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