After spending about 5 years looking for a classic Abarth this Christmas Santa has been very kind and an Abarth 1000otr Bertone evocation will shortly be in my garage. Hopefully it will be on the road in the Spring in time for Auto Italia etc.
Most of you will not be familiar with this car.
In 1965 Abarth and Bertone together produced a one-off motor show car based on the recently introduced Fiat 850 Spider. The car featured the fixed metal roof design which would re-appear some three or four years later in the limited run Fiat 850 Bertone Racer.
The engine was Abarth’s ubiquitous 982cc radiale engine with twin Weber 40DCOE carburettors and an Abarth exhaust system. The radiator was moved from the engine bay to a new housing at the front of the car.
The show car has been lost over time although it has been speculated that it may be in a private collection in Japan.
The evocation was built for the Abarth Works Museum on a 1966 Series 1 Spider chassis. Finished in the original car’s silver colour it features a fixed metal roof, an ‘Abarthised’ 982 cc engine with big valve head, twin Webber 40dcoe carburettors (currently being fitted) and original Abarth exhaust. Like the show car the radiator has been moved to a fabricated housing at the front of the car and is fed by new grills above and below the bumper. The steel wheels and chrome hubcaps with applied metal Abarth logos were also a feature of the show car and will replace the magnesium wheels currently fitted.
The interior features an original Abarth steering wheel and very rare Abarth seats which were offered as an option on Abarth’s production 1000ot Spider.
See here for photos of the original prototipo
http://www.bernimotori.com/abarth_1000_otr_coupe_bertone_en.htmland here for my car
http://forum.abarth-gmr.be/index.php?topic=4100.15If anyone knows the whereabouts of the original show car or another evocation I should be pleased to hear about it.