1952 MG TD Schiaretti Special was purchased new from Fattori & Montani in Rome, Italy on December 3, 1952 by William Edward Petot who was stationed with the US Forces in Naples, Italy. He delivered the car to Virgiolio Schiaretti Carrozzeria in Parma for a conversion to competition spyder coachwork in aluminum. It was completed on December 28 of 1955. It is believed that Mr. Petot competed with the car while in Italy before returning to Shell Knob, Missouri in 1959. Restoration was completed in 2015 by Honest Engine with final assembly and sorting by Huffaker Engineering. It has the MG TD 1498cc 4-cyl engine and MG TD running gear.
The MG cars web site reviews the car thus…
The Schiaretti may not be strictly an racing MGTD but it is a one-off car that looks like it was designed for racing so I am going to put it on this page. The car was originally a regular 1952 MGTD (20325) that was imported into Italy by Fattori & Montani. It took four years for Schiaretti to convert the car to this form.
The history of this unique model is described by John Pressnell in the journal Enjoying MG 2006. It is a TD Midget manufactured in 1952 and sold to Edward Petot, an American soldier stationed in Italy. He says the bodybuilder V. Schiaretti converted the car with this special aluminum body in 1956. The car was modified with: double Weber carburettors, alloy casing, special intake manifold, Mallory distributor, Andrex dampers, Alfin brakes, master cylinder and pedal original to a Lancia, etc.. The car returned to the U.S. in 1959 and reappeared in 1991 in its original state. Pressnell but says nothing about the bodybuilder, otherwise it would be a native of Parma, which seems confirmed by this shield in the insignia of the brand. In fact, we find the name of Virgilio Scharietti as bodybuilder car Renato Valenzi using a chassis and engine Ermini (first 1100cc and a 1500cc). After working on the 1100 Fiat and Alfa 2500, Pasquino Ermini built its own engines in 1949, installed in many cars. Ermini also build its own cars based on a Gilco chassis, originally, with a body Tofani. It could not satisfy the demand, other bodybuilders became involved, including Motto Morelli Scaglietti or Frua. It is clear that the MG TD Schiaretti Ermini is largely inspired by models of the time, especially one of them bodied by Mariani in 1951. (Source: https://www.mg-cars.org.uk/mgtd/mgtd_racing.htm#schiaretti)