Overview

A red, Crosley-powered 1952 Bertone-bodied Siata 300BC from the first group of 300BCs to reach the United States — and, uniquely among them, a car that still carries its original Fergus Motors importer’s plaque inside the engine bay. Built as a small-brake, side-shift spider Crosley with a blank engine-number field on its identity plate, it has a documented owner chain running from New York through two decades of Colorado ownership to California, where it has been under long-term restoration at Epifani Restorations.

History

ST 401BC belongs to the first trio of 300BCs delivered to America, alongside ST 402BC and ST 403BC. According to Marty Stein, the long-term owner of ST 402BC — who has compared the two cars side by side with restorer Paolo Epifani — the three were imported by Fergus Motors of New York and then passed to Otto Linton’s Speedcraft Enterprises in Pennsylvania, in the wake of Linton’s campaign with the “Orchidea” prototype. ST 401BC is the only one of the three still wearing its Fergus Motors plaque, held by four small screws at the top of the passenger footbox inside the engine compartment; ST 402BC retains just the screw holes, beside its Siata serial-number plate. Stein reports that Otto Linton believed one of the trio was the New York Auto Show car and that this was “likely 401.” John de Boer’s own research files give that claim a possible venue and date, while carefully leaving it a question: against this chassis he notes Fergus Motors and asks whether it was the car displayed by Fergus at the International Motor Sports Show, Grand Central Palace, New York, from 29 March to 6 April 1952. (unconfirmed)

Linton recalled that all three cars were delivered in April 1952 although their invoices were dated 1 June 1952 — a pattern confirmed by the surviving ST 402BC and ST 403BC invoices — and that ST 401BC went to a buyer named “Publicker,” after which the car dropped out of sight. (unconfirmed) That attribution is disputed: John de Boer’s research places the Publicker car at ST 404BC, and Linton’s written records name Publicker without recording a chassis number. The registry does not treat the point as settled. The live site’s own ownership timeline begins instead with Tony Pompeo in New York; the two accounts have not been reconciled.

The car spent the bulk of its life in Colorado. John de Boer’s research files record it with George Joseph, Jr. at 1550 Sherman Street, Denver, then with Willie Grant of Denver, before being sold in 1960 on consignment through Ben Jordan to Dr. Archer Heaton of Castle Rock, Colorado, who bought it for his son. It was in this period that George Hite replaced the original Crosley with a second Crosley after the first blew, and later fitted a Ford 105E engine, transmission and rear end. Rick Cotter had the car around 1961–62, after which Kenneth E. Johnson of Grand Junction kept it for more than twenty years — Johnson also owning ST 418BC over almost exactly the same span, both cars leaving him in March 1985.

The car crossed to California in 1985, and was ultimately found and acquired by Paolo Epifani, who has been restoring it slowly and carefully at his Berkeley shop; visitors in 2023 reported the work had by then been under way for some two decades. Throughout, ST 402BC has served as the reference car — Epifani has examined it repeatedly, most recently while it was with him for a repaint around 2022. A second, far more incomplete 300BC in Epifani’s care is understood to be supplying parts to the restoration.