Abarth & C.S.P.A
Abarth & C. S.p.A. is an Italian racing- and road-car maker and performance division founded by Italo-Austrian Carlo Abarth in 1949.3 Its logo is a shield with a stylized scorpion on a divided yellow and red field with or without a lightning bolt.
Fiat’s purchase of Abarth on July 31, 1971 marked the beginning of a new chapter for the venerable 124. In 1971, the 124 Spider was prepared for the International Championship for Manufacturers when Abarth became involved with its production and development. Abarth designer Ing. Colucci was responsible for getting the 124 Spider into Group 4 rally trim.
Over this period, the Abarth Spider was successful. With early wins at the 1972 Hessen Rally, the challenging 1972 Acropolis Rally and 1973 Poland Rally against competitors like BMW, Porsche and Audi, the legacy of the 124 was made. The Fiat 124 Abarth Rally continued to perform admirably through 1976 when it was replaced by the Fiat Abarth 131. Today, Fiat Abarth models from the 1970s are the rarest and most highly sought after of the car’s long production run.
Modern enthusiasts have made faithful clones of the Fiat 124 Abarth models from the 1970s. These are usually identifiable due to the larger clam shell door handles on later models, square turn signal markers and, most distinctly, the positioning of the gas flap at the left rear corner of production models. The gas cap was prominently seated directly behind the driver between the trunk deck and the hard top on all Abarth models.
The Fiat 124 Spider and Abarth Rally Variant from 2016 to 2019.
In May 2012 Mazda and Alfa Romeo, at the time a subsidiary of Fiat, announced a joint venture to manufacture a common rear wheel drive platform. The companies would “develop two differentiated, distinctly styled, iconic and brand specific, lightweight roadsters featuring rear wheel drive”, with the two variants offering proprietary engines unique to each brand. The new Fiat 124 Spider was powered by Fiat’s 1.4 litre FIRE Multiair turbocharged inline-four, producing 140 PS (103 kW; 138 hp) and 240 N⋅m (177 lb⋅ft) of torque[1] in European specification—and 160 hp (119 kW; 162 PS) and 184 lb⋅ft (249 N⋅m) of torque in North American specification.[5] The 124 manual transmission is from the third generation MX-5‘s six speed transmission to cope with the turbo’s torque.
An Abarth 124 Rally Spider variant was also introduced at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show.
Manufacture of this high performance twin turbo 1.7 litre version of the Fiat 124 Spider was completed at the Officine Abarth in Turin, Italy. The twin turbo 1.7 litre engine found in the new Abarth Rally 124 is similar [although not the same] to the all-aluminium 1.75 L (1,742 cc) inline 4 cylinder twin turbo engine found in the Alfa Romeo 4C of the same vintage that was mated to a six speed transmission.
The original Fiat 124 models [with the exception of the Azzura and Supereuropa which were build entirely in house by Pininfarina] were produced at the old Fiat plant in Turin, Italy, which is today a museum.
Photo credits: thesun.co.uk and Wikipedia