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Bandini 1000 Sport Internazionale - "Saponetta" barchetta body - manufactured in 1960
Next to a number of "big" names Italy has seen a flurry of tiny car manufacturers, often not more than workshops or garages producing a few cars each year by hand. Generally the production was aimed at auto sport, usually contenders for the popular local small displacement classes like the 750 cc class. Engines and mechanical components were mostly based on Fiat products while the bodies came from one of Italy's many "carrozzeria". These days makes like this are condescendingly referred to as "Etceterini"; the also-rans with names often ending in "-ini".
Bandini could be regarded as one of the 'Etceterini" though their cars were successful and original. The company was established in 1946 in Forli by Ilario Bandini, a mechanic who had made a small fortune in Africa before he returned to Italy to open his own garage and Lancia dealership. He had a keen interest in auto sport and engineering and so it was no surprise that his first car was a sports car. It was a 1100 cc roadster based on Fiat components but also with parts made or modified by Bandini, especially in the chassis, and complemented with a Motto body. In the following years a number of 1100 cc cars were made and raced by Bandini and they established a good name for the new make.
The most popular racing category in Italy however was the 750 cc sports car class, the local equivalent to Formula 3 and the most affordable for the many enthusiast drivers. Bandini had to enter this market to be successful and so the 750 cc Sport Siluro ("torpedo") was introduced in 1950. It was a simple, small and lightweight racing car which could easily be converted from track to road racing specs and back by adding or removing separate mudguards to the cigar (or rather torpedo) shaped body. This was to be Bandini's most famous car; it was produced up to 1956 and won not only many local races but was even exported to as far as the USA. American versions were fitted with Crosley rather than Fiat units but all did feature Bandini's double overhead camshaft modification which made an incredible 71 hp @ 8500 rpm possible. No wonder Americans referred to these cars as "screamers". Bandini-Crosley racers racked up SCCA class championships in 1955 and 1957 and were competitive well into the 1960s.
In Italy the Siluro was replaced by the Sport Internazionale in 1957. Again this was a 750 cc car but now it was a true sports car with an attractive barchetta (open 2-seater) aluminum body and a chassis which could be fitted with engines up to 1000 cc. Remarkably the body of this model was made by Bandini itself and not by an external coachbuilder. Because of its sleek looks it was dubbed the "Saponetta", the little soap.
In the first few years the Sport Internazionale was raced in the 750 cc class but at the end of the 1950s the engine was upgraded to 850 cc and ultimately to 1000 cc. This 1000 cc unit was completely developed and built by Bandini and produced 90 hp @ 7200 rpm. Matched to a Bandini made 4-speed gearbox it propelled this featherweight car (only 390 kg!) to speeds near the 200 kph mark. The Saponetta was not only made as a new car but also older Siluros could be converted to Sport Internazionale specs, including the new body. This is what happened to the car shown here, which has chassis no. 0169 from 1953 but was converted to a 1000 cc Sport Internazionale later in its life.
The streamlined Saponetta was probably the most attractive Bandini racing car but also it formed an conclusion to the most successful period in the history of Bandini. Racing small displacement cars became less popular in the 1960s and developing cars more expensive. Bandini wasn't able to keep up the prominence it had in the 1950s but kept on making cars on a very small scale until 1992, the year when Ilario Bandini died.
In all only 75 Bandinis were ever made and of these only 9 Saponettas remain to this day. Amazing that such a limited and specialized production has left such a mark. These nimble cars with tiny engines delivered incomparable thrills which still excite enthusiasts. Loads of money and time are being poured into restoration of the few remaining Bandinis, even when few people have ever heard of the make. Well, now you're one of them...
© André Ritzinger, Amsterdam, Holland
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