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The Abarth 1000 GT Coupé or Alfa Romeo 1000 Abarth GT Bertone Coupé is a prototype car made by the
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, a Romance ethnic group related to or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance languag ...
car producer Abarth
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. Abarth's logo is a shield with a ...
in collaboration with Alfa Romeo, and designed by Franco Scaglione for Bertone
Gruppo Bertone, commonly known as Bertone, was an Italian industrial design company which specialized in Automotive design, car styling, coachbuilder, coachbuilding and Contract manufacturer, manufacturing. It was also a Automotive industry in ...
. Three cars were built; one example survives, rebodied by Luigi Colani
Luigi Colani (born Lutz Colani; 2 August 1928 – 16 September 2019) was a German industrial designer.
His long career began in the 1950s when he designed cars for companies including Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Volkswagen, and BMW. In 1957, he d ...
.
Overview
The cars were built in 1958, and was fitted withAlfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo Automobiles S.p.A. () is an Italian carmaker known for its sports-oriented vehicles, strong auto racing heritage, and iconic design. Headquartered in Turin, Italy, it is a subsidiary of Stellantis Europe and one of 14 brands of mu ...
's 1.0-litre straight engine
The straight engine (also called inline engine) is a configuration of multi-cylinder piston engine where all of the cylinders are arranged in a single row, rather than radially or in two or more cylinder banks.
Design
A straight engine is eas ...
with double overhead camshafts with a power output of . The engine was a short-stroke version of the Alfa Romeo Giulietta Alfa Romeo Giulietta is the name of three different automobiles made by Italian car manufacturer Alfa Romeo:
* The first Giulietta (Type 750 and 101) was a rear-wheel drive car made from 1954 to 1965, in 4-door saloon/sedan, coupé, spider and e ...
's 1.3 litre engine, developed so as to enable it to compete in racing categories restricted to engines of less than one litre. The stroke was reduced to while the bore remained . The tubular chassis reportedly only weighed , and the car was fitted with a fully synchronized five-speed "System Porsche" transmission. The modest engine was offset by the kerb weight of just .
Only three were built, and after at least two of them were crashed while testing at AVUS
The ('Automobile traffic and training road'), known as AVUS (), is a public road in Berlin, Germany. Opened in 1921, it was also used as a motor racing circuit until 1998. Today, the AVUS forms the northern part of the Bundesautobahn 115.
C ...
in Germany the project was abandoned.
Rebodied by Colani
Young designerLuigi Colani
Luigi Colani (born Lutz Colani; 2 August 1928 – 16 September 2019) was a German industrial designer.
His long career began in the 1950s when he designed cars for companies including Fiat, Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Volkswagen, and BMW. In 1957, he d ...
bought the wrecked cars and pieced together a fibreglass-bodied design of his own, which still exists although it is currently powered by a 1.3 litre Giulietta Veloce engine.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:1000 GT Coupe Abarth vehicles Alfa Romeo concept vehicles Cars introduced in 1958 Rear-wheel-drive vehicles Sports cars Coupés