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One of the first Italian sports cars to feature an American V8 was the little-known Nardi Silver Ray they built in 1960. Designed by Giovanni Michelotti and then Nardi built it on a tubular frame with some suspension parts from Alfa Romeo. However, the most interesting thing was the engine. The Nardi Silver Ray used a 1958 350 cubic inch engine with two AFB carbs attached to a two speed Powerflite transmission. The Plymouth Golden Commando V-8 engine develops about 350BHP giving it a maximum speed of about 140mph. The frame is tubular, suspension is by modified Alfa Romeo coil spring units at the front and semi elliptic springs at the rear; brakes are discs on all four wheels. The chassis was that of the Alfa Romeo 412 Spider Vignale, a one-off which had a very interesting but also sad story: bought by Enrico Nardi and then dismantled with parts used to build this Silver Ray.
Source: carrozzieri-italiani
Images: carstyling
