This is not a totally accurate title. There are very likely a number of Siatas in the state-certainly several 208 variants and at least one 300BC under slow restoration by my dear amico Paolo Epifani in Berkeley. Actually he has a second one there as well, though that is sort of a “donor' basket case.
But it is true that of the three shown in this rather bad copy of the photo introducing this piece, mine is the only one left here, and it is for certain the only one left “racing” in the US. If you exclude those which show up from time to time in the Mille Miglia, it is the only one “on track” in the world.
Hard to believe. It was, as noted elsewhere, Ernie's persistent urging and mentoring which led to my purchase of ST402 in March of 1983. At that time he had owned and competed in ST428 (the red car in the photo) for a number of years, and Gary also had his Fiat powered convertible (ST441 I believe), though it also was red when he got it, prior to Ernie's later correctly reshaping the flattened front end and getting it resprayed yellow some time later.
The photo dates from the very early years of the SCCA track called “Thunderhill,” just outside the small town of Willows, up near Chico about three hours drive north from the mid-San Francisco peninsula. I think the facility opened around 1991, and consisted of less than half the full built-out configuration it now has, the most used version being about double the roughly 1.5 mile, eight turn original pavement with one long straight that we are trundling down in the photo.
And it was as crude a place you could imagine...gravel paddock, no shade or buildings, and either blazing hot, bone chilling cold, brutally wind-driven, or cold, wet, AND windy all at the same time!
On one occasion in October the wind blew sand and gravel around to cover my Quantum Formula Junior and put a layer of grit into the floor of the car. Try as I might to clean it out, even with as easy as it was to pull off the body and get to everything, I was still finding grit and sand spewing out from odd corners of the car several years later!
Today, Thill is a competitor's dream...with fully paved paddock, huge dual “carports” for early arrivals and claimants, a comfortable lounge and tower with an air conditioned and heated viewing room, actual bathrooms, and electrical hookups for trailers and RVs.
But Ernie's car was the first to go...sold to a collector and racer in Mexico. The car has not been seen since. And now Gary's is leaving for an East Coast collector car dealership. So 402 is now the lone survivor of the group. Of course, at the imte I got it Bob Graham's 420 (also blue) was still around, but that car too seems to have disappeared into the mists of time.
But it is the loneliness and diminutive perspective of the photo which now makes me sigh, knowing it is “for certain” the world will never again see such a sight...three of these wonderful little warriors charging happily together down some track or another.
Like many things these days in ways well beyond those of the “vintage” car communities, the world has moved on, and not necessarily for the better.
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