1967 FIAT 1000 - Abarth ??

Marty Fareri · 11-27-2002, 07:24 AM

My father ( who is also a sports car enthusiast ) had bought a fiat Back in 1967. It looked like a 850 model but was actually a 1000 ABARTH model. He purchased it new and paid about $3500.00. For those of you who know anything about FIAT autos, could you tell me more about this model? My dad says that there were only a selected few models manufactured and even fewer were imported into the US. He since sold it about 12 years ago to a collector in ITALY, but I don't know how much he sold it for. Any and all info is welcome.

Milu · 11-30-2002, 08:02 AM

This site has some information on FIAT 850 Abarth.

http://www.lanciaflavia.it/archivio/archivio.htm

However, from your description and the year I think it may be a different model again, with the later 850 saloon body and an Abarth shield with a side bar on the left, fitted to the front panel instead of a cosmetic front grill. Very rare and very expensive new for what it was. I think the mechanical spec would have been the same as for the model quoted.

As an aside Carlo Abarth was originally an Austrian tuner.

andyjboy · 12-01-2002, 02:46 AM

Marty, it could have been a Fiat Abarth OTS 1000 Coupe which was built from 1966-'69 & was based on the Fiat 850 Coupe.

Engine displacement was 982 cc utilising an Abarth crankshaft, cr was 11.5:1 & power was 74 bhp.

The car was homologated into Grp 3 by the FIA & Sports Car Graphic tested one (of only a few imported into the US) in 1967 & found it to be extremely responsive, noisy & expensive !

All genuine Abarth models are now highly prized & command high prices.

Any photos ?

Andy Boyle (UK)
'69 911E

sithot · 12-01-2002, 06:56 AM

http://www.gandw.com/Home/Cars/1960abarth.htm

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

while I understand the motivation, this picture really depresses me:

http://www.gandw.com/Home/Cars/porsche904.htm

that being said, I'm madly in love with this one:
http://www.gandw.com/Home/Cars/orange911.htm

sithot · 12-01-2002, 10:07 AM

Original "press car" and one of the first 904's. Too valuable to drive. Sorry if it depresses you but these things are not growing on trees. It is a neat car but it is tiny. I'm 6'2" and it just about took an act of Congress to get in, never mind trying to extricate myself.

The orange 911S is a nice car(and is for sale). I've driven it and it runs well. Last time I took it for exercise I drove by a Harley shop and downshifted into second at about 40 mph, blipped the throttle and let it engine brake. The sport exhaust "inhaled" and the die hard HD clones just looked in amazement at the little car that sounded so damn good! I had them all looking which was a testament to the sound.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

well as I said, I understand the motivation. It seems a shame somehow though. It reminds me of countless old guitars I've seen on display. While appreciate the "value" of the instrument, it was built to be played. Back in the mid 80's, "collectors" came in and started buying up old Fender Stratocasters. Many of these instruments went into storage never to see an amplifier again. imho a waste. It didn't help that this also drove up the prices of all the other pre-CBS Stratocasters on the market such that players then couldn't afford them.

I guess I don't have the collector mindset. There are lots of things I appreciate, but I only end up buying things that I'm actually going to use. Of course for those things I like to get the coolest thing I can rationalize owning.

I witnessed an amazing moment this year that somehow speaks to this. John Warnock (former CEO of Adobe) was keynote speaker at a symposium we organized. He is a collector of rare books, and gave a talk on the history of typography and books. He brought about 12 different examples from this collection including a first edition Principia (Newton), a rare 19th century book created by a punchcard loom stitching on silk, and a page from the Guttenberg bible. After his talk he invited the audience to come up and check out the books. What shocked me was he encouraged people to pick them up and touch them. When I asked him about this, he said the books, while valuable could only be experienced properly in a manner in which they were originally intended. He of course didn't let people spill their Pepsi on them (and the Guttenburg page was sealed in plastic), but it was important for him to have people pick up the books, touch and see them.

Again, I understand the need to preserve some specimens for future generations, but I think for 99.9% of examples, guitars are for playing, and cars are for driving.

I exit the soapbox

andyjboy · 12-01-2002, 01:15 PM

I am surprised that this thread hasn't already been moved to the OT Forum & I don't understand what most of the posts have to do with the original query (apart from links to Carlo Abarth)...

Marty, this is the Fiat Abarth 1000 OTS Coupe :

Andy Boyle(UK)
'69 911E

Milu · 12-02-2002, 01:25 AM

But if it was in the OT forum would it have had any replies at all?

pkfrdh · pkfrdh's Garage

Sithot,

What do you know about the history behind the Porsche Abarth Carrera GTL cars?

What is the price of this one listed at the same site as the above 904?

JGL

sithot · 12-02-2002, 05:06 AM

It is about to have a full restoration which will be documented on the website. Car will go back to it's original silver color.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

evidently the 996 shape was a sparkle in *someone's* eye during the 60's...

Peterfrans · 12-03-2002, 11:54 AM

I came across this article on the FIAT 1000 Abarth in the latest Oldtimer Markt ( a german mag). Your father seems to have nice taste in cars! High reving light cars.