Abarth & C. S.p.A. () is an Italian racing and road car maker and performance division founded by Italo-Austrian Carlo Abarth in 1949. Abarth & C. S.p.A. is owned by

Stellantis Stellantis N.V. is a multinational automotive manufacturing corporation formed in 2021 on the basis of a 50–50 cross-border merger between the Italian-American conglomerate Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) and the French PSA Group. The comp ...

through its Italian subsidiary. Its logo is a shield with a stylized scorpion on a yellow and red background.

History

1949: Abarth & C.

Carlo Abarth was

sporting director A sporting director, or director of sport, is an executive management position in a sports club. The role is well known as a manager role for European football clubs, which are sometime also "sports clubs", offering many types of sports. The sport ...

of the Cisitalia racing team starting in 1947. The following year, the manufacturer folded, and founder Piero Dusio flew to Argentina. Abarth, funded by Armando Scagliarini, took over Cisitalia's assets and on 31 March 1949, Abarth & C. was founded in Bologna. 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 D46

single-seater An open-wheel single-seater (often known as formula car) is a car with the wheels outside the car's main body, and usually having only one seat. Open-wheel cars contrast with street cars, sports cars, stock cars, and touring cars, which have thei ...

, and various spares. The Cisitalia 204s were immediately rechristened Abarth Cisitalia 204A. Abarth proceeded to build and race a series of sports cars developed from these last Cisitalia cars. In addition to Guido Scagliarini, the "Squadra Abarth" racing team lined up celebrated drivers, including

Tazio Nuvolari Tazio Giorgio Nuvolari (; 16 November 1892 – 11 August 1953) was an Italian racing driver. He first raced motorcycles and then concentrated on sports cars and single-seaters. A resident of Mantua, he was known as 'Il Mantovano Volante' (Th ...

, Franco Cortese, and Piero Taruffi. Notably, Tazio Nuvolari made his last appearance in racing at the wheel of an Abarth 204A, winning its class in the Palermo–Monte Pellegrino hillclimb on 10 April 1950. Alongside racing, the company's main activity was producing and selling accessories and performance parts for

Fiat Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. (, , ; originally FIAT, it, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili di Torino, lit=Italian Automobiles Factory of Turin) is an Italian automobile manufacturer, formerly part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, and since 2021 a subsidiary ...

Lancia Lancia () is an Italian car manufacturer and a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is currently a Stellantis division. The present legal entity of Lancia was formed in January 2007 when its corporate parent reorganised its businesses, but it ...

, Cisitalia, and Simca cars, like

inlet manifold In automotive engineering, an inlet manifold or intake manifold (in American English) is the part of an engine that supplies the fuel/air mixture to the cylinders. The word '' manifold'' comes from the Old English word ''manigfeald'' (from th ...

s and silencers. On 9 April 1951, the company's headquarters were moved to Turin; Abarth began his well-known association with Fiat in 1952, when it built the

Abarth 1500 Biposto The Abarth 1500 Biposto was an experimental coupe designed by Franco Scaglione, who worked for Bertone at the time. It was displayed at the 1952 Turin Motor Show. Following the Turin Show, it was purchased by Packard Packard or Packard Moto ...

on Fiat mechanicals. In the 1960s, Abarth was successful in hillclimbing and sports-car racing, mainly in classes from 850 to 2000 cc, competing with Porsche 904 and Ferrari Dino. Hans Herrmann was a factory driver from 1962 until 1965, winning the 500 km Nürburgring in 1963 with

Teddy Pilette Theodore "Teddy" Pilette (born 26 July 1942, in Brussels) is a former racing driver from Belgium. He participated in 4 Formula One World Championship Grands Prix, the first on 12 May 1974 with Bernie Ecclestone's Brabham team. Son of André Pil ...

. Abarth promised

Johann Abt Johann, typically a male given name, is the German form of ''Iohannes'', which is the Latin form of the Greek name ''Iōánnēs'' (), itself derived from Hebrew name ''Yochanan'' () in turn from its extended form (), meaning "Yahweh is Gracious" ...

that he could race a factory car free if he won all the races he entered. Abt almost succeeded: of the 30 races he entered, Abt won 29 and finished second once. Abt later founded Abt Sportsline. Fiat Abarth 595 - Automotoretrò 2012 (6864198535)

Fiat Abarth 595 - Automotoretrò 2012 (6864198535)

Abarth produced high-performance exhaust pipes, diversifying into tuning kits for road vehicles, mainly for Fiat. A racing exhaust was produced for the 1950s Lambretta models "D" and "LD". Original Abarth LD exhausts are now valuable collectors' 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. Abarth also helped build sports or racing cars with Porsche and Simca.

1971: Fiat takeover

Carlo sold Abarth to Fiat on 31 July 1971. The acquisition was not made public until 15 October. As Fiat was not interested in the Reparto Corse racing operations, these were taken over by Enzo Osella. Osella obtained cars, spares, technicians, and drivers (amongst them Arturo Merzario), and continued the racing activity, founding the Osella racing team. 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 designer Aurelio Lampredi. Abarth prepared Fiat's rally cars, including the Fiat 124 Abarth Rally and 131 Abarth. In December 1977, in advance of the 1978 racing season, the beforehand competing Abarth and Squadra 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).

Cesare Fiorio Cesare Fiorio (born May 26, 1939) is a former Formula One sporting director for Ferrari, Ligier and Minardi, and former team manager of Lancia's factory World Rally Championship team. He is currently employed as a TV commentator. His son Alessan ...

(previously in charge of the Lancia rally team) was appointed director, while

Daniele Audetto Daniele Audetto (born May 4, 1943) is an Italian racing manager, former rallycar driver and sponsorship management executive. Previously, he was a managing director at the Super Aguri F1 team. He was formerly a racing manager with FIAT and Arrows ...

was

; the EASA headquarters were set up in Abarth's Corso Marche (Turin) offices. The combined racing department developed the Lancia Beta Montecarlo Turbo Group 5 racing car which won the

1980 World Championship for Makes The 1980 World Sportscar Championship season was the 28th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1980 World Championship for Makes which was contested as a series running under both Fédération Internationale d ...

and the

1981 World Endurance Championship of Makes The 1981 World Sportscar Championship season was the 29th season of FIA World Sportscar Championship motor racing. It featured the 1981 FIA World Endurance Championship which was contested over a fifteen race series which ran from 31 January to 27 ...

. It also created the Lancia Rally 037 Group B rally car, which won for Lancia the

1983 The year 1983 saw both the official beginning of the Internet and the first mobile cellular telephone call. Events January * January 1 – The migration of the ARPANET to Internet protocol suite, TCP/IP is officially completed (this is consid ...

World Manufacturers' Championship The World Manufacturers' Championship, also known as Automobile World Championship, was a competition organised by the Federation Internationale de l'Automobile, AIACR between 1925 Grand Prix season, 1925 and 1930 Grand Prix season, 1930. Scoring ...

). 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 subsidiaries

and Autobianchi were co-branded Abarth, including the

Autobianchi A112 Abarth The Autobianchi A112 is a supermini produced by the Italian automaker Autobianchi. It was developed using a shrunken version of the contemporary Fiat 128's platform. The mechanicals of the A112 subsequently underpinned the Fiat 127. It was introdu ...

, a lightweight and inexpensive " boy racer". The A112 Abarth was introduced with a 58 hp engine, soon followed by a 7 hp one, and a specific "A112 Abarth trophy" was run from 1977 to 1984. In the 1980s, Abarth name was mainly used to mark performance cars, such as the Fiat Ritmo Abarth 125/130 TC. In 2000s, Fiat used the Abarth brand to designate a trim/model level, as in the Fiat Stilo Abarth.

2007: Rebirth of Abarth & C. S.p.A.

On 1 February 2007 Abarth was re-established as an independent unit with the launch of the current company, Abarth & C. S.p.A., controlled 100% by Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A., the

subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company or having a s ...

of Fiat S.p.A. dealing with the production and selling of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles. The first models launched were the

Abarth Grande Punto The Fiat Punto is a supermini car (B-segment) produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat from 1993 to 2018, spanning over three generations. The third generation of the car was marketed between 2005 and 2009 as the Grande Punto, and between 2009 a ...

and the Abarth Grande Punto S2000. The brand is based in the Officine 83, part of the old Mirafiori engineering plant. The

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

as of 2022 is Olivier François. In 2015, Abarth's parent company was renamed

FCA Italy S.p.A. Stellantis Italy, formerly known as Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. from 2007 to 2014 and FCA Italy S.p.A. from 2014 to 2021, is the Italian subsidiary of the multinational automaker Stellantis, dedicated to the production and selling of passenger ...

, reflecting the incorporation of Fiat S.p.A. into

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles Fiat Chrysler Automobiles N.V. (FCA) was an Italian-American multinational corporation primarily known as a manufacturer of automobiles, commercial vehicles, auto parts and production systems. The Italian holding company Exor was the largest ...

that took place in the previous months.

Yamaha XSR900 Abarth

In 2017, Abarth collaborated with Yamaha to produce a limited-edition motorcycle, the "Sport Heritage café racer special", named the XSR900 Abarth. It is based on the Yamaha XSR900 847 cc inline-triple neo-retro standard.

Production

Current models

Cars produced by Abarth

* Fiat-Abarth 500 * Fiat-Abarth 750 * Fiat-Abarth 1000 TC (Fiat 600 based) * Fiat-Abarth 850 TC *

Abarth 1100 Scorpione Spider (Boano) Abarth & C. S.p.A. () is an Italian racing and road car maker and Car tuning, performance division founded by Italo-Austrian Carlo Abarth in 1949. Abarth & C. S.p.A. is owned by Stellantis through its FCA Italy, Italian subsidiary. Its logo is a ...

* Abarth Simca 2000 – coupé *

Abarth 204A Berlinetta Abarth & C. S.p.A. () is an Italian racing and road car maker and performance division founded by Italo-Austrian Carlo Abarth in 1949. Abarth & C. S.p.A. is owned by Stellantis through its Italian subsidiary. Its logo is a shield with a styliz ...

Abarth 205A Berlinetta The Abarth 205A Berlinetta was a coupé sports car, also known as the Abarth 205A Monza built by Austrian born tuning expert Carlo Abarth in 1950. It was a development of the Abarth Cisitalia 204A but with a new platform chassis, still using the ...

Alfa Romeo Abarth 2000 Coupe The Alfa Romeo Abarth 2000 Coupe (also known as the Abarth-Alfa Romeo 2000 Coupe) is a one-off concept car produced by Abarth, in collaboration with Alfa Romeo, and designed by Ghia, in 1954. History The coupe was designed by Italian automotive d ...

* Abarth 207A Spyder Corsa Boano *

Abarth 208A Spyder Boano Abarth & C. S.p.A. () is an Italian racing and road car maker and performance division founded by Italo-Austrian Carlo Abarth in 1949. Abarth & C. S.p.A. is owned by Stellantis through its Italian subsidiary. Its logo is a shield with a stylize ...

* Abarth 209A Coupé Boano''Abarth 209A Boano Coupe'', www.ultimatecarpage.com
Retrieved on 15 July 2014 * Abarth 210A Spyder Boano * Porsche 356 B Carrera GTL Abarth *

Abarth Simca 1300 GT The Abarth-Simca 1300 GT is a sports racing car built by Abarth from 1962 to 1965. Description The Abarth-Simca 1300 was the first product born from the collaboration between Carlo Abarth and Simca. The negotiations between the two companies w ...

* Fiat-Abarth OT1000 * Fiat-Abarth 1000 OTR Berlinetta Bertone * Fiat-Abarth OT1600 *

Fiat-Abarth OT 2000 Competition Coupé The Fiat 850 (''Tipo 100G'') is a small rear-engine, rear-wheel-drive car manufactured and marketed by Italian car manufacturer Fiat from 1964 to 1973. History Overview Its technical design was an evolution of the successful Fiat 600. The interna ...

The Observer's Book of Automobiles, Thirteenth Edition, 1967, page 27 * Fiat-Abarth 750 Zagato * Fiat-Abarth 2200 * Fiat-Abarth 750 Spider Allemano * Fiat-Abarth 2400 * Fiat Abarth 1000 TCR Berlina * Abarth 215A Coupé Bertone * Abarth 216A Spyder Bertone *

* Fiat-Abarth 595 SS * Fiat-Abarth 695 SS * Abarth OT 1300 * Abarth Monomille * Abarth Grand Prix/Scorpione * Abarth 3000 Prototipo * Fiat Ritmo 125/130 TC Abarth *

Fiat Abarth 124 Rally The Fiat 124 Sport Spider is a convertible sports car marketed by Fiat for model years 1966–1985. Designed by and manufactured at the Italian ''carrozzeria'' Pininfarina factory, the monocoque, front-engine, rear drive ''Sport Spider'' debu ...

* Fiat 131 Abarth Rally * Lancia Rally 037

Cars not produced by Abarth but with Abarth badges

* Fiat Bravo GT/HGT (Abarth) * Fiat Stilo 2.4 Abarth * Fiat Punto HGT (Abarth) * Fiat Cinquecento Sporting (Abarth) * Fiat Seicento Sporting (Abarth)

Cars produced under Abarth & C. S.p.A. (2007–)

* Abarth 500 / Fiat 500 Abarth (NA) *

Abarth 595 The Fiat 500 is an A-segment, A-segment city car manufactured and marketed by the Fiat subdivision of Stellantis since 2007. It is available in hatchback coupé and convertible#Variations, fixed-profile convertible body styles, over a single gen ...

* Abarth 695 *

* Abarth Punto Evo *

Abarth 124 Spider The Abarth 124 Spider is a performance version of the Fiat 124 Spider (2016) manufactured by Mazda for Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, FCA under the Abarth marque. It was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show#2016, 2016 Geneva Motor Show, along with th ...

/ Fiat 124 Spider Abarth (NA) * Fiat Abarth Punto

Cars produced with Abarth tuning

* Fiat 500 TwinAir byAbarth * Fiat 500S by Abarth * Fiat Avventura Powered by Abarth * Fiat Urban Cross Powered by Abarth * Fiat 124 Spider Elaborazione Abarth (cancelled)

Cars produced by other manufacturers with involvement from Abarth

Lancia Delta S4 The Lancia Delta S4 is a Group B rally car manufactured by the Italian car company Lancia. The Delta S4 competed in the World Rally Championship in 1985 and 1986, until Group B class was disbanded and the cars were eventually banned from competit ...

for Group B – Helped to engineer the engine which utilised a supercharger and turbocharger.

Cars produced under Fiat Corse – N Technology named Abarth

* Fiat Punto Abarth (rally version only) * Fiat Cinquecento 900 Trofeo kitcar (teams had to build up their own rallycar from Fiat N Technology derived Abarth racingparts) * Fiat Cinquecento Sporting 1.1 Rally car * Fiat Seicento Sporting 1.1 Rally car

Motorsport

Rally

FIA R-GT Cup

* 2017 FIA R-GT Cup (Runner-up) *

2018 FIA R-GT Cup The 2018 FIA R-GT Cup was the fourth edition of the FIA Rallying, rally cup for Grand tourer, GT cars in Group RGT, Group R-GT. The cup was contested over 5 tarmac rounds from the 2018 World Rally Championship, WRC, the 2018 European Rally Champion ...

(Champion) *

2019 FIA R-GT Cup The 2019 FIA R-GT Cup is the fifth edition of the FIA rally cup for GT cars in Group R-GT. The cup is being contested over 8 tarmac rounds from the WRC, the ERC and the Rallye International du Valais.