In the latter half of the 1950s, Abarth and Alfa Romeo teamed up to develop a two-door sports coupe based on the Abarth 1000 race car. Entrusted to Alfa Romeo engineer Mario Colucci, the project came to fruition in 1958 with a bodywork designed by Franco Scaglione — an employee of now-defunct Bertone. The car was powered by a 1.0L 4-cylinder engine but remained a prototype. However, Carlo Abarth was impressed nonetheless and hired Colucci as Technical Director, and in 1966, entrusted him with another ambitious project — Abarth 1000 SP.
It was based on the Fiat 600 platform but was powered by a 1.0L (982 cc) engine. A limited number of road-going cars were built just to get homologated for racing. Its first victory was at the Nürburgring 500 km in September 1966. Now, after 55 years, the folks at Centro Stile Fiat have created a modern interpretation of the Abarth 1000 SP. The tubular chassis of the historic Sport Prototipo gives way to a hybrid frame, with a central cell in carbon fibre and an aluminum front. The 1.0L engine also gives way for a 1.7L (1,742 cc) 4-cylinder turbocharged engine that pumps out 177 kW (240 metric hp). The suspension setup comprises double wishbones at the front and MacPherson struts at the rear.
So, what’s the plan with this new Abarth 1000 SP? Well, nothing except that it will be taking part in vintage car events.
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