• The Cisitalia 808XF was a one-off built with Ford in the 1950s.
  • It paired Italian coachwork with Ford and Mercury components.
  • Ford walked away due to cost, ending the project abruptly.

Automotive history is littered with projects that died quietly in conference rooms, but here’s one you probably didn’t know about. Called the Cisitalia 808XF and being auctioned this month, it’s the result of an Italian-American project that nearly put some European GT glamor into Ford’s US dealerships decades before the De Tomaso Pantera debuted.

The project dates back to 1951, when Henry Ford II, who reportedly owned a Cisitalia 202, agreed to explore a collaboration with the Turin-based automaker.

Related: Ford’s CEO Applauds Trump’s CAFE Rollback, Says They Were Forced Into EVs

The idea was to combine swanky Italian design with readily available Ford mechanicals to create a stylish, attainable sports car for the US market, which was being turned on to MGs and Jaguars.

Think European flair, American serviceability, and V8 power.

This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car

Cisitalia handled the heavy lifting on the prototype. The 808XF – named for its X-shaped frame and Ford-based powertrain – used an in-house chassis designed by Giovanni Savonuzzi, who also penned the sleek fixed-roof coupe body built by Ghia.

Under the hood is a 255.6-cubic-inch (4.2-liter) Mercury flathead V8 breathing through twin Holley carburetors and backed by a Ford three-speed manual transmission.

Just too expensive

This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car

On paper, it sounded like a winner, and in the metal, it looked sensational. But when the finished car was shipped to the US in 1952 for evaluation, reality set in.

Ford engineers and accountants concluded that production costs were simply too high to make the project viable, and even two further prototypes, this time with Vignale bodies, couldn’t change the suits’ minds. The green light never came.

Instead of becoming America’s first Italian-bodied Ford sports car, the 808XF was advertised for sale in Road & Track Magazine for $7,500 and later shown at the 1953 International Motorsports Show in New York.

It eventually entered long-term private ownership, spending decades off the radar before undergoing a meticulous restoration that returned it to its original metallic blue finish and period-correct details.

Family heirloom

This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car

BaT

Today, the car is both a design time capsule and an engineering curiosity, blending Ford suspension and braking components with bespoke Italian craftsmanship and luxury touches. Incredibly, it’s been in the custody of the same family since 1960, and with its current owner for the past 48 years.

While Ford ultimately walked away from the 808XF, the concept of a sporty-looking GT backed by durable Detroit-sourced mechanicals didn’t die.

Ford had huge success from 1955 with the Thunderbird, which cost far less to produce than the 808XF would have. In the early 1970s it supplied the V8 engines for the Italian-build De Tomaso Pantera supercar, even selling the cars through its Lincoln-Mercury dealerships until it lost its patience over build quality niggles and pulled out in 1975. 

You can check out the full Bring a Trailer auction listing for the gorgeous-looking Cisitalia over here.

This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car
This Gorgeous Prototype Nearly Became Ford’s First Real Sports Car

BaT