Fiat Abarth ...

[Lightweight_911]

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I'm sure there are some people on here that won't understand the appeal of a car like this & I've already received a fair amount of 'p*ss-taking' in person over it - merely shrugged off ...

One thing that influences my choice of car ownership (ignoring my everyday transport) is the desire to have something a bit 'different' - I don't want to be out driving & come across another similar car ...

Abarth was to Fiat like Cooper was to the Austin/Morris Mini & it might surprise a few people that the '62-'64 850 TC Nurburgring was significantly faster to 60mph than both the 970cc & 1071cc Cooper S - & not that much slower than the 1275 S, despite having only 847cc.

Top speed was around 100mph too - although I wouldn't want to be driving one on the (private) road at anything like that speed !!

"Between 1962 and 1971 the 850cc and 1,000cc class cars won hundreds of races all over the World and were commonly called "Giant Killers" due to their superior performance over much larger cars, culminating in a famous dispute with SCCA authorities in the USA when Al Cosentino (FAZA) was banned from running his 1970 Fiat Abarth Berlina Corsa 1000 TCR "Radiale" engine because his car was faster (mainly in wet conditions) than many of its V8-powered contemporaries.

The SCCA authorities dictated FAZA and Cosentino be forced to use an early design engine - a non "Radiale" engine from 1962 model - in his cars but he still achieved 51 Victories from 53 races. The most victories in SCCA racing history, thereby cementing the superiority of the Fiat Abarth Berlina Corsa over larger and more powerful cars".




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[Lightweight_911]

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Typically for an Italian import there was no history/paperwork with the car - just the 'Certificato di Proprieta' stating the name & location (Bergamo) of the the previous owner.

So, after a quick 5 min search on google, I managed to track down the person named (a prestigious specialist Classic Car Dealer) :



& emailed him.

I got this reply almost immediately:

"Hi yes was of mine, around 10 years a go, I bought it in Ostuni on the Puglia coast, very nice place in Italy, I saw it on the street, I was there for holiday, I left my business card and the owner call me back after a while and we deal.
It was damn fast, and very good made, Cavallo in Torino did all the mechanics job with many original parts, I had been told the car was converted in Puglia Region and Torino. Except the fact was perfect I don't remember more, I sold if I do remember right through artcurial auction in Paris and after while they resold again. Good to know you are the new happy owner.
I never open the engine but there should be a lot of good stuff on it.
Best Dan "

[Lightweight_911]

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As mentioned previously, the car had only covered approx 200 kms during the past 8 years (mainly to & from its annual MOT test) & the dealer stated that he could never get the engine to run cleanly so when it neared the time for its MOT in 2017 he had taken the car to his favoured (Jaguar) mechanic to sort out.

The mechanic identified the problem as being incorrect carb set-up &, due to it being a non-standard Weber of unknown origin - & hence 'experimental' jetting - suggested fitting a new carburettor.

After discussing it with Tony Castle-Miller (UK's Abarth expert) at Middle Barton Garage, the decision was made to buy/fit a twin-choke downdraught Weber 40 DCNF.

I don't know whether the mechanic used the fact that these carbs are most commonly found on 246 Dinos (x 3) but the bill presented to the dealer for supplying/fitting (of which I have a copy) was definitely in 'Ferrari' territory ...

The engine still suffered from a degree of 'popping & banging' until warmed thoroughly & the dealer told me that he thought this was due to the front-mounted radiator requiring a longer warm-up time.

However, when I got the car I wasn't convinced - the symptoms were similar to those I've experienced with 'stale' fuel in the past - so I drained the fuel, put in some fresh Esso Supreme (one of the few sources of ethanol-free petrol) & the problem virtually disappeared !

[anglophone1]

Fab little car - I love it!
You need this
http://www.stefanbogner.com/works/abarth/
Shot by Stefan Bogner of Curves Magazine etc
C

[Darren65]

Great thread Andy and glorious little car, thanks for sharing

[jury]

Yes Andy !!!

[jonno1]

Chap I know is selling this little beast....

http://www.mrspeedlux.com/1965-fiat-aba ... evocation/

Mental!

[Lightweight_911]

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Someone ought to tell him that all of the pictures disappeared about a week ago - to be replaced by a selection of Alfasud pictures ...

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[Lightweight_911]

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Time for a minor update ...

As several on here will know, one of the aspects of a new 'project' that gives me a great deal of satisfaction is researching all of the key 'period' details that define a particular model &, if missing or incorrect, tracking down those (often elusive) parts.

In the case of Abarth-specific parts, many of these are available (some original but mainly good quality repro) from marque specialists such as world-renowned Berni Motori in Italy (from whom I got the Zagato-style seats for my Giulietta Sprint) or his counterpart in the UK Tony Castle-Miller at Middle Barton Garage but, if possible, I much prefer to find the original suppliers for those parts - thus saving (often significant amounts of) money ...

As mentioned earlier, two of the areas of the car that would definitely need changing were the steering wheel & the gauges - here's the set-up that came on the car:





- & this is a typical arrangement in an original car:




Although the wheel in my car was an often-fitted period-correct Personal woodrim wheel, I prefer the original plastic-rimmed version typically found on virtually all of the '50's/'60's Abarths - & I just happened to have had this particular wheel hanging in my garage for a few years waiting for the right recipient :




The gauges in my car needed changing too - although vaguely similar (indeed the dealer from whom I bought the car had no idea that they were wrong) it was immediately obvious that the rev counter was a modified Alfa instrument ...

Virtually every 850 TC (& Nurburgring model) seems to have a slightly different gauge combination - with 7k, 8k or 10k rev counters fitted & typically either 160kph or, less often, a 200kph speedo - all being Jaeger instruments.

Original Abarth gauges are hugely expensive - it's not uncommon to see asking prices of 7000 or 8000 euro for the gauge cluster - & even repros were far more than I was prepared to pay.

However, the instrument binnacle complete with the 3 Jaeger gauges is such iconic part of the cars that tracking down something suitable was paramount ...

Many hours were spent researching & following various links - eventually paying off when I managed to find these at a fraction of the price typically advertised:






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[hot66]

what car are they originally from then Andy ( assuming that's why they were availble for less money ? )

[Lightweight_911]

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As far as I'm aware James, the original gauges were specifically supplied to Abarth by Jaeger & bear the 'Abarth' name on the faces.

The ones I bought (in the photo above) are repros but I managed to track down the guy in Italy who makes them & bought them direct - hence I got them for a significant saving ...

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[Lightweight_911]

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The other instrument often fitted to 'Nurburgring' models was a separate small oil temp gauge mounted centrally on top of the dash in its own rectangular angled housing:





- again this was from Jaeger &, again, most that you see advertised are 'disproportionally' priced ...

In this instance there are no 'Abarth' markings but a very specific style was used - here's a close-up:





So, after much scouring of the internet I managed to find something very close for sale in Spain - a NOS Jaeger oil temp gauge - &, even better, it was only 30 euro !





- OK, the eagle-eyed amongst you will have noticed that the thermometer logo points the opposite way (& is a slightly different style) & the bezel is a slightly different profile too but I can live with that - & I don't suppose anybody else will notice ...

So, the next job was to make a suitable housing.

First a cardboard mock up*:











* in fact this was the 5th different version I made after experimenting with dimesions, angles, etc


The plan was then to transfer the pattern & utilise some of my ubiquitous 'black textured ABS' sheet ...

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[willbrown]

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[Lightweight_911]

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So I produced my 'Mk I' version of the housing in textured ABS:










- not too bad for a first attempt.

I'll see what it looks like when 'in situ' before I decide whether to go for a 'Mk II' version ...

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[sladey]

Looks great Andy