Synopses & Reviews
Few of the protagonoists of automobile history have been more eclectic and ingenius than Carlo Abarth or more able to transfer those unchanged qualities to their work. Founded on 31 March 1949, in almost 30 years of manifold activities. Abarth & C. was concrete proof of an absolute symbiosis between inspiration, the will of one man and his creations in the specific case of the car, so many variations of which were tested, elaborated and built by the company. Writing the story of Abarth & C. is to narrate the life of a company that rose from the ashes of Cistalia and dedicated itself to the elaboration and transformation of cars built in long production runs and had them re-bodied by the most prestigious stylists of the period: from Ghia to Bertone and Zagato, from Allemano to Boano and Pininfarina. This book tells of how a passion for all things technical and the need to create a business that supported racing and testing led Abarth to become involved in the production of exhaust systems, manifolds, valves and water pumps, able to transform basic utilities like the Fiat 500 and 600 into fast and agile racing cars. It is also a narration that lives again the intense and fascinating cut and thrust of motor racing: the dozens of international and world speed records set up by Abarths modified and bodied for the purpose, victories on the tracks, roads and in hillclimbs achieved by 1000, 1300, 1600, 2000 and 3000 cc prototypes in the Sixties and Seventies, before the company was absorbed into the Fiat Group in 1971. Until now, no book has completely and systematically relived the fundamental stages of this diverse and intense human and professional story, which is now presented to the reader at long last not only through a text accurate and precise in its historical research, but one that is also illustrated with rare documents and priceless pictures from the Abarth family's private archives.
Synopsis
The vivid personality, great intelligence and strong determination of Carlo Abarth are revealed through the pages of his large biography. Described is Abarth's personal life, his early motorcycling projects and races, and the Cisitalia period and its unfortunate decline. Includes the long and successful new adventure in car-tuning which made Abarth and his cars renown all over the world.
This book also contains technical data for each model produced, supported by company chassis drawings and engine cutaways. Exhaustive and accurate listing of competitions which saw Abarth cars dominating the racing fields year by year. The book is richly illustrated by appealing and never published before photos, many of them belonging to the personal Abarth photo archive.
Synopsis
The vivid personality, great intelligence and strong determination of Carlo Abarth are revealed through the pages of his large biography. Described is Abarth's personal life, his early motorcycling projects and races, and the Cisitalia period and its unfortunate decline. Includes the long and successful new adventure in car-tuning which made Abarth and his cars renown all over the world.
This book also contains technical data for each model produced, supported by company chassis drawings and engine cutaways. Exhaustive and accurate listing of competitions which saw Abarth cars dominating the racing fields year by year. The book is richly illustrated by appealing and never published before photos, many of them belonging to the personal Abarth photo archive.
About the Author
Born in Milan in 1933 Luciano Greggio is an authorative specialist in motoring journalism with a maniacal passion for the story of the automobile on the international front. His knowledge of the motoring world ranks him among the most punctilious experts on the sector.
Arcore (Milan), Italy