1965 Abarth Simca 1300GT Corsa
From Scorpion Classics Facebook page who in turn, took the details from the Bonhams Sale listing when the Maranello Rosso Collection was sold after the Museum closed, fetching €128,000 (inc premium).
1965 Abarth Simca 1300 GT Corsa
'Long-Nose World Champion' Coupe
Coachwork by Beccaris
Chassis no.130S-0080, Engine no. 230-98
The narrative in italics quote Bonhams, skip through if you dont want a potted history on Abarth Simca's.
Rumours of a collaborative agreement between Abarth and the French company of Simca began to circulate in 1961. The French company had begun to assemble assorted Fiat models under licence in France, intending to provide the French motoring market with low-price utility cars. Upon Simca's establishment in 1935 a plant producing Fiat 508 Balillashad been set-up at Nanterre, and the Simca Cinq began production the following year, exactly replicating the contemporary Fiat 500. Late in 1961 the Simca company – which had been founded by Italian entrepreneur Enrico Teodoro Pigozzi, launched its most successful model – the Simca 1000. This was its first rear-engined car and also a neat four-door saloon that became the direct competitor of the contemporary Renault Dauphine. Its chosen power unit was Fiat 600-derived, emerging as a 944cc 4-cylinder providing 35bhp in standard form. The Simca 1000 was larger, more roomy, more powerful and faster than the contemporary Fiat 600D, and after its launch at the 1961 Paris Salon its production mushroomed into 1962 to reach 160,000 units for the year.
Carlo Abarth's old Viennese sparring partner, Rudi Hruska, had become a technical consultant with Pigozzi's French venture, and regularly brought Abarth's successes with its Fiat-based cars to the company boss's attention. The powerful promotional platform of competition success reflecting credit upon the source-vehicle manufacturer really appealed and in effect Abarth was then invited to become a test and promotional partner of the French company. Abarth was to produce a Gran Turismo car using Simca 1000 components as its base, and hence the 'Simca Abarth' or 'Abarth Simca' – the terms are interchangeable - 1300 emerged.
Carlo Abarth's team designed a completely new engine for the new venture, using the tried and tested broad architecture of the twin-cam 1000 Bialbero bore and stroke dimensions of 76mm x 71mm to displace 1288,compression ratio cited as 10.4:1 and induction via two twin-choke Weber 45DCOE carburettors. The twin overhead-camshaft head disposed its two valves per cylinder at an included angle of 80-degrees. The new model's floor pan, transmission, steering and suspension were drawn from Simca 1000 production, while the body matched the latest Fiat Abarth Coupe configuration.
The Simca Abarth 1300 was launched in February 1962 at a list price of Lire 3,300,000. Pending its homologation by the FIA as a Gran Turismo the Simca Abarth 1300s contested the sports category and immediately became dominant within its International category. The model's early victories –particularly in hill-climbs – persuaded Carlo Abarth to invest in further development of the Simca-based theme.
The Simca Abarth 1300s proved capable of running rings around the rival Alfa Romeo Giulietta during the 1962 season, and the subsequent 1600 variant with 138bhp at 7,800rpm and with Girling disc brakes all round was capable of 240km/h – 149mph. These were rocket ships, indeed.
But still there was a further step that the Simca Abarth series would take. Abarth's 1963 racing record included a staggering 535 victories, of which 90 were scored alone by the Simca Abarth 1300s.
Based on gossip circulating during the closing months of 1961, the media and enthusiast fraternity expected that Abarth would work upon the mechanics of the new rear-engined Simca 1000 saloon model and transform it simply into a sports car. However, the big surprise came in February 1962. when the press were given a preview of the new Simca Abarth 1300, powered by a new twin-overhead camshaft engine – internal code '230' – which was clearly inspired in its general configuration by the new 1000 Bialbero (twin-cam) motor of the latest Fiat Abarths. The body design of the new Franco-Italian Gran Turismo Coupe was also influenced by the latest small-capacity GTs styled in-house by Mario Colucci at Abarth's famous Corso Marche factory, and built "just around the corner" there by Odoardo Beccari's specialist carrozeria.
The new model's wheelbase length of 2090mm also lent itself to a more graceful, better-proportioned and elegant appearance compared to the Fiat 600-based sister GT car's 2000mm length.
Carlo Abarth personally invested considerable resources and enthusiasm in the 1300 Coupe, which – according to marque historian Luciano Greggio – "...plugged a gap beyond the 1-litre capacity in the range of cars he produced".
With bore and stroke dimensions of 76mm x 71mm, the new 1300's swept volume was listed as 1288cc, standard compression ratio 10.4:1, and with two valves per cylinder the unit breathed through two twin-choke Weber 45DCOE carburettors. It had dry-sump lubrication and a rev limit of 7,200rpm, and its claimed power output was 125bhp at 6,000rpm. With its floor-pan, transmission, steering and suspension all derived from the Simca 1000. Weighing-in at barely 630kg – 1,388lbs - the new model was capable of 230km/h – 142mph. Its list price upon introduction in February 1962 was Lire 3,300,000 – and in both International and national competition it instantly became the 1300cc class car to beat...
From the 1300 model grew the 1600 and ultimately the definitive 'rocket ship' 2000GT model. All shared externally quite similar bodywork and the cars absolutely proliferated most notably in European and American competition during the early-to-mid 1960s.
What of Chassis #080?
If you've got this far, you may have noticed that the narrative has very little about chassis #130S-0080 specifically, unusual for an auction listing for a car such as this. So, what of it's history?
Bonhams list the car as a 1965. Research shows that chassis's with both earlier and later numbers were produced in 1963. Was it originally bodied in 1963 then re-bodied in 1965? Plausible, and appears probable.
The Bridge - Built in 1963 by Carlo Abarth and bodied by the Torinese outfit of Beccaris, chassis 080 was campaigned all over Italy throughout the 1960s, including a class win at Monza in 1963 and 3 time participation in the Targa Florio in 1963, 68 and 69.
Chassis 080 was preserved in the Rosso Maranello museum in San Marino for two decades, and carefully recommissioned by the current owner while preserving original finishes where possible. It is one of only a handful left with the original Abarth engine.
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| Not #080 sadly, this is photo has been credited as taken during the '64 Targa Florio and I can find nothing to confirm #080 entered. |
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| Another image from Bonhams sale in 2015 |
Using Google, and after a great deal of research provide a Summary of the Driver Log for Chassis 130S-0080, but, while it credits the results via Fast Lane, Fast Lane doesn't actually confirm the chassis number.
1963 Monza GT Championship—Vittorio Venturi1st in Class.
1963Targa Florio#38Teodoro Zeccoli / Vittorio VenturiDNF (Overheating)
1968Targa Florio—Giuseppe Valenza / Antonio Ferraro3rd in Class (48t Overall)
1969Targa Florio—Antonio Ferraro / Giuseppe Valenza7th in Class (37th Overall)
Some 4000 plus words with ChatGPT and I still can't find any more history on who raced #080, where and when.
My ChatGPT research believes that;
“Racing Sports Cars links the Abarth-Simca raced by Maggiore and Valenza in 1966 with Valenza's 1968 and 1969 cars as a single, unidentified chassis. The 1969 car carried registration CR 66076, a fact independently visible in period Targa Florio photographs.”
“The Bridge identifies chassis 130S-0080 as having competed at the Targa Florio in 1963, 1968 and 1969. The coincidence is compelling, but I have not yet found the surviving document that actually connects chassis 130S-0080 with CR 66076.”
I'd love someone to fill in the missing gaps.
Sources:
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