RareONES You may still remember our article about the Alfa Romeo 412 Spider Vignale racing cars of 1950s that said have never been used to race. Well, our discussion this time is also related to those 1950s rare racing cars, because it was a donor for a car project called Nardi Raggio d’Argento(Silver Ray) which was built in 1960. How come?
The one-off Nardi Raggio d'Argento (Silver Ray) was designed by Giovanni Michelotti, and built by Carrozzeria Vignale based on the rare Alfa Romeo 412 Spider racing car. (Picture from: CarrozzeriaItaliani)
This car project was initiated by Enrico Nardi, founder and CEO of Officine Nardi which begins by dismantling of Bonetto Alfa 412 racing car for parts to be used in the project. Furthermore, the one-off Nardi Ray Silver was designed by Giovanni Michelotti.
The
one-off Nardi Raggio d'Argento (Silver Ray) is part of the 'Raggio' series created by Nardi himself in the 1950s after the construction of two model of Blue Rays, consisting of Raggio Azzurro I and II. (Picture from: SportsCarDigest)
As quoted from Carrozzeria Italiani, this car is also known as the Plymouth Silver Ray which is part of the Ray series created by Nardi himself in the 1950s after the construction of two model of Blue Rays, consisting of Raggio Azzurro I and Raggio Azzurro II by Carrozzeria Vignale based on a design by Michelotti.
Enrico Nardi (on the left), and Giovanni Michelotti (on the right) while posed in front of the Raggio d’Argento, the finished car was shipped to William Simpson in September of 1961. (Picture from: CarrozzeriaItaliani)
Even though it uses the chassis from Alfa Romeo, it turns out that the Silver Ray is powered by an V8 engine of Plymouth Golden Commando coupled with an automatic transmission system. For that then required modifications to the entire front of the chassis. This was initially seen as impossible, but Nardi insisted on doing this complicated job.
The one-off Nardi Raggio d'Argento (Silver Ray) was
designed by Giovanni Michelotti, and built by Carrozzeria Vignale based
on the rare Alfa Romeo 412 Spider racing car. (Picture from: CarrozzeriaItaliani)
The machine is capable of spraying power up to 350 ponnies and with all that is in the performance of this car is expected to be able to give it a maximum speed of about 140 mph. While, this 1960s Vignale-made car built on a tubular chassis with some of the suspension is by modified Alfa Romeo coil spring units at the front and semi elliptic springs at the rear, with brakes are discs on all four wheels.
This is the number plate attached to the one-off Nardi Raggio d'Argento (Silver Ray), so it is thought that this car is currently still in the United States. (Picture from: SportsCarDigest)
In short, the car which was commissioned by an American client named James Simpson was finally completed and shipped to America in 1961. And it is known that the Silver Ray was about the last of the cars bearing Nardi's name.
Last photo of the one-off Nardi Raggio d'Argento as published in VeloceToday archives, November 21, 2103. (Picture from: VeloceToday)
Seems at this point, Nardi could clearly see that his company's future lay in aftermarket parts not just steering wheels. Reportedly, the car's current whereabouts is unknown.😢
In short, the car which was commissioned by an American client named James Simpson was finally completed and shipped to America in 1961. And it is known that the Silver Ray was about the last of the cars bearing Nardi's name.
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