Tuner Series - Abarth

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Were Abarth the most prolific racing and tuning company to come out of Italy? 

Ignoring the more recent badge engineered Fiats, as good as they are, or the car's produced under Abarth and C S.p.A post 2007, and the Fiat N Performance cars with the Scorpion on their flanks, Carlo and his factories, working with the likes of Fiat, Simca, Porsche, Autobianchi, Alfa Romeo and Lancia certainly have a good case.


Although he worked with of styling houses Zagato and Bertone, Abarth's were not always the most beautiful cars on the track, but they have a purposeful presence, screaming "veloce" before the ignition switch is flicked on, and the choice of the Scorpion? Small, with a nasty sting (ignoring it was Carlo Abarth's Zodiac sign)

The Lancia 037 took its name from the Abarth project number SE037

The Fiat Abarth 1000 TC, the first car that springs to mind that Abarth had a hand in?





Abarth "Even at the age of 11 Carlo Abarth was already a legend in the making; covering the wooden wheels of his scooter with a leather belt so that he could go faster and win against the older children in his neighbourhood.





Performance, speed and motoring was ingrained in Carlo's DNA, unable to resist the temptations of a challenge, whether on two of four wheels. After a career racing motorcycles and cars, Carlo Abarth founded Abarth & C with Guido Scagliarini in 1949. The first vehicle produced was the 204 A Roadster, based on the FIAT 1100. It immediately won the 1100 Sport Championship as well as Formula 2. Alongside racing, the company started to produce tuning kits that improved performance, power and speed of standard vehicles.





In just a few years, Abarth & C. had 375 employees and production of around 300,000 exhaust systems a year. 

Abarth vehicles were renowned for being high-performing and powerful, but first and foremost small and agile just like the Scorpion.





His performance modified cars achieved success in every competition and with Carlo Abarth at the wheel, took many records.

In the 1950s and throughout the 1960s, the Abarth brand continuously and incessantly made a name for itself in the public mind as the synonym for sport, tuning and performance, changing the sports car world"














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