Abarth Heritage

Founded in 1949 by the Austrian Carlo Abarth, the company made its début in the racing world with the 204 A Roadster (based on the Fiat 1100), which became instantly capable of winning the Italian 1100 sport and Formula 2 championships.

The brand became increasingly popular among motoring enthusiasts and its progress appeared unstoppable. Over the years it became a particularly authoritative name, reaching its peak at the end of the 1950s and throughout the 1960s. Carlo Abarth devoted himself entirely to building up the 'Scorpion' legend, and his work rate, almost frenetic, revealed the nature of his genius.

This epic success story, almost without equal, forged ahead at a pace that is incredible even by today's standards. A long road, marked by records, victories and ground-breaking ideas that were to change the way people looked at sports cars.

In 1956, using a Fiat Abarth 750 styled by Bertone, Abarth set a lengthy string of endurance and speed records: at the Monza circuit on 18 June, he beat the 24 hour record, covering 3743 km at an average speed of 155 km/h. Later, from 27-29 June, on the same circuit in Lombardy, he notched up a series of records: the 5000 and 10,000 km, the 5000 mile, and even the 48 and 72 hour records. His success was international, and the influential German magazine Das Auto Motor Und Sport, in its issue no. 15 (21 July 1956), even featured the Abarth 750 on its cover. The same car was styled by Zagato in two different versions: the Fiat Abarth 750 Zagato (1956) and the Fiat Abarth 750 GT Zagato (1956). On 11/12 May 1957, at the 24th Mille Miglia, there were no fewer than 20 'Scorpions' in the 750 class, of which 16 finished the race.

In 1958, Abarth achieved nothing short of a masterpiece with the new Fiat 500, completely transforming the little utility car and enhancing its potential to the full. In the same year, he formed an even closer relationship with Fiat, which agreed to award cash prizes to Abarth according to the number of victories and records set by the team. This event was to form the foundations for the impressive roll of honour that followed: 10 world records, 133 international records and over 10,000 track victories.

The Abarth legend kept on growing, and even became part of everyday parlance. The 1960s were the golden age for Abarth, and the name came to symbolise speed, courage, performance and modification. The list of vehicles which have helped to engrave the Abarth name deep into motor racing history is a long one, from the 850 TC which won at every international circuit including the Nurburgring, to the Fiat Abarth 1000 Berlina and the 2300 S which notched up an extraordinary series of records at Monza, despite adverse weather conditions.

In 1965, Carlo Abarth wanted to set his own personal record. On 20 October 1965, at Monza, with the Fiat Abarth '1000 Single-seater Record' Class G, (105 hp) he set the record for acceleration over the 1/4 mile and 500 metres. The following day, in a 2000 cc class E single-seater, he set the same records for higher categories. Once again, an anecdote says much about the tenacity of this man, who had to lose 30 kilos before he could fit into the narrow cockpit and take his car to victory - at the age of 57.

From 1971 onwards, Fiat Auto became the outright owner of Abarth, and the last vehicle in which its founder was to play an active part was the A112 Abarth. During the 1980s, the story continued with celebrated cars like the Ritmo Abarth and the Fiat 131 Abarth which won the World Rally Championship no fewer than three times: in 1977 and 1978 with Markku Alen (the father of Anton Alen, currently a driver in the Abarth team) and in 1980 with Walter Röhrl.

Abarth inherited the activities of the Fiat Racing Team, and has once again entered the world of rallying on a winning streak. Last year, the Grande Punto S2000 won all the championships it entered: the International, European and Italian Rally Challenges.

Abarth Returns

Abarth opened its purpose-built new premises in February this year at the Fiat Group's Mirafiori complex in Turin.

The motorsport, design and manufacturing divisions, along with the revered Abarth Racing Team, are housed in the 23,000m2 building, which took a mere eight months to construct. It houses more than 100 employees.

Located in the former Mirafiori engineering plant - known as Officine 83 - the Abarth building is perfectly placed to interact directly with the Fiat Group's Style Centre (Centro Stile), experimental construction centre and the Engineering and Design departments.

Inside, the new HQ has been divided into several different areas: competition cars, prototype development, cars derived from standard production, and the Racing Department. Technical and design offices are located right next to the workshops, while marketing, sales, finance and other units are housed on the floor above. The new workshop, which is equipped with eight vehicle lifts, features an area set aside as a future assembly line for specialist Abarth cars in small production runs.

The building's entrance hall houses the company's characteristic 'Wall of Fame' showing famous Abarth victories, while next to the entrance is a 560m2 showroom displaying models and artefacts from Abarth's rich history.