 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Automotive |
| Founded | 31 March 1949; 76 years ago (1949-03-31) |
| Founder | Carlo Abarth |
| Headquarters | , |
Area served |
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Key people |
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| Parent | Stellantis Europe |
| Website | abarth.com |
Abarth & C. S.p.A. (Italian:[ˈaːbart]) is an Italian racing- and road-car maker andperformance division founded by Italo-AustrianCarlo Abarth in 1949.[3] Abarth & C. S.p.A. is owned byStellantis throughits Italian subsidiary. Abarth's logo is a shield with a stylizedscorpion on a yellow and red background, a short, wideItalian flag in the middle, and "Abarth" text on a black background.[4]
Carlo Abarth wassporting director of theCisitalia racing team starting in 1947.[5] The following year, the manufacturer folded, and founderPiero Dusio flew to Argentina.
Abarth, funded by Armando Scagliarini,[a] took over Cisitalia's assets and on 31 March 1949,Abarth & C. was founded inBologna.[6][7] Carlo's astrological sign,Scorpio, was chosen as the company logo.
From the Cisitalia liquidation, Abarth obtained five 204 sports cars (two complete Spiders and three unfinished), a D46single-seater, and various spares.[5] The Cisitalia 204s were immediately rechristenedAbarth Cisitalia 204A.[5] Abarth proceeded to build and race a series of sports cars developed from these lastCisitalia cars. In addition to Guido Scagliarini, the "Squadra Abarth" racing team lined up celebrated drivers, includingTazio Nuvolari,Franco Cortese, andPiero Taruffi. Notably, Tazio Nuvolari made his last appearance in racing at the wheel of an Abarth 204A, winning its class in the Palermo–Monte Pellegrinohillclimb on 10 April 1950.[8] Alongside racing, the company's main activity was producing and selling accessories and performance parts forFiat,Lancia, Cisitalia, andSimca cars, likeinlet manifolds andsilencers.[9]
On 9 April 1951, the company's headquarters were moved toTurin;[7] Abarth began his well-known association with Fiat in 1952, when the company built theAbarth 1500 Biposto on Fiat mechanicals.[10]
In 1957, Abarth entered a deal with Fiat whereby they were paid direct fees for successful competition finishes.[11] Abarth accordingly went on to enter their cars in countless hillclimbing and sports-car racing events across the world, mainly in classes from 850 to 2000 cc, competing withPorsche 904 andFerrari Dino in the higher echelons. Since they were paid based on the number of results, Abarth entered their cars in every conceivable class and in countries across the entire world.[11]Hans Herrmann was a factory driver from 1962 until 1965, winning the500 km Nürburgring in 1963 withTeddy Pilette.[12]
Abarth promisedJohann Abt that he could race a factory car for free if he won all the races he entered.[when?] Abt almost succeeded; of the 30 races he entered, Abt won 29 and finished second once.[when?][12] Abt later foundedAbt Sportsline.
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Abarth produced high-performance exhaust pipes, diversifying into tuning kits for road vehicles, mainly for Fiat. A racing exhaust was produced for the 1950sLambretta models "D" and "LD". Original Abarth LD exhausts are now valuable collector's items. Reproductions are available, which carry the Abarth name; how Fiat feels about this is not known. Lambretta even held several 125 cc motorcycle land speed records during the 1950s due partly to the exhaust that Abarth developed for them.[13][14]
In 1958, Abarth developed theAbarth Alfa Romeo 1000 in collaboration with the Milanese manufacturer. They sent an engineer, Mario Colucci, to oversee the process. Abarth was impressed with his skill, and while the car remained a one-off, Colucci was given the position of Abarth's Technical Director in 1960.[15] Colucci's first design was a mid-engined, tubular framed roadster using the 750 engine called theAbarth Spider Sport. This car had an unfortunate gestation period and never attained much success in competition, while Abarth himself favored the rear-engine layout and kept offering both types.[16] The Spider Sport series was also built with 700 and 1000 cc displacements, while a few late examples were fitted with 1300 cc engines of Simca origins. Colucci's next design, the Group 41000 SP, was much more successful and spawned a range of mid-engined, tubular-framed, fibreglass-bodied sports prototypes.[17]
Abarth also helped build sports or racing cars with Porsche[18] and Simca.
Carlo sold Abarth to Fiat on 31 July 1971.[12][19] The acquisition was not made public until 15 October.[20] As Fiat was not interested in the Reparto Corse racing operations, these were taken over byEnzo Osella.[12] Osella obtained cars, spares, technicians, and drivers (amongst themArturo Merzario), and continued the racing activity, founding theOsella racing team.[21] Thus ended for Abarth the days of sport prototype and hillclimb racing.
Under Fiat ownership, Abarth became the Fiat Group's racing department, managed by engine designerAurelio Lampredi.[12] Abarth prepared Fiat's rally cars, including theFiat 124 Abarth Rally and131 Abarth.[12]In December 1977, in advance of the 1978 racing season, the beforehand competing Abarth andSquadra Corse Lancia factory racing operations were merged by Fiat into a single entity named EASA (Ente per l'Attività Sportiva Automobilistica, Organization for Car Sports Racing Activities).[22]Cesare Fiorio (previously in charge of the Lancia rally team) was appointed director, whileDaniele Audetto wassporting director; the EASA headquarters were set up in Abarth's Corso Marche (Turin) offices.[22]The combined racing department developed theLancia Beta Montecarlo TurboGroup 5 racing car which won the1980 World Championship for Makes and the1981 World Endurance Championship of Makes. It also created theLancia Rally 037Group B rally car, which won for Lancia the1983World Manufacturers' Championship).
On 1 October 1981, Abarth & C. ceased to exist, and was replaced by Fiat Auto Gestione Sportiva, a division of the parent company specialised in the management of racing programmes that would remain in operation through to the end of 1999, when it changed to Fiat Auto Corse S.p.A.
Some commercial models built by Fiat or its subsidiariesLancia andAutobianchi were co-branded Abarth, including theAutobianchi A112 Abarth, a lightweight and inexpensive "boy racer". The A112 Abarth was introduced with a 58 hp engine, soon followed by a 70 hp one, and a specific "A112 Abarth trophy" was run from 1977 to 1984.[23]
In the 1980s, Abarth name was mainly used to mark performance cars, such as theFiat Ritmo Abarth 125/130 TC.
In 2000s, Fiat used the Abarth brand to designate a trim/model level, as in theFiat Stilo Abarth.
On 1 February 2007, Abarth was re-established as an independent unit with the launch of the current company, Abarth & C. S.p.A.,[24] controlled 100% by Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A., thesubsidiary of Fiat S.p.A. dealing with the production and selling of passengercars andlight commercial vehicles.
The first models launched were theAbarth Grande Punto and the Abarth Grande Punto S2000. The brand is based in the Officine 83, part of the old Mirafiori engineering plant.[25] TheCEO as of 2022 isOlivier François.
In 2015, Abarth's parent company was renamedFCA Italy S.p.A., reflecting the incorporation of Fiat S.p.A. intoFiat Chrysler Automobiles that took place in the previous months.
In 2017, Abarth collaborated withYamaha to produce a limited-edition motorcycle, the "Sport Heritage café racer special". Named theXSR900 Abarth it was based on the 847 ccinline-triplestandard neo-retro Yamaha XSR900.[26]
CurrentOlivier François (since 2011)[27]
| New 500e | Pulse | Fastback | 600e |
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| Class:City car (A) Body style: 3-doorhatchback 3-doorcabriolet Production: 2023–present | Class:Subcompact crossover (B) Body style: 5-doorhatchback Production: 2022–present | Class:Subcompact crossover SUV (B) Body style: 5-doorcoupe SUV Production: 2023–present | Class:Subcompact crossover SUV (B) Body style: 5-doorSUV Production: 2024–present |
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