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YESTERDAY LIKE TODAY - On 31 March 1949 the Abarth brand was born

71 years ago, the historic Scorpion brand was born thanks to Karl Abarth. Performance and tuning still to this day

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Anyone who loves old Fiats will already by misty-eyed. Abarth is a car tuning brand that takes its name from Karl Abarth, a well-known figure in the racing world and beyond. In fact, racing and competitions run through his DNA. We remember the undertaking astride a motorcycle fitted with a sidecar, when he took on and beat the Orient Express on the 1,370 km of the Vienna – Ostend line. After a career as a racer, both in cars and on bikes, Karl Abarth and Guido Scagliarini founded the company on 31 March 1949: Abarth & C.

Brief history

The first vehicle produced, the 204 A Roadster, a derivation of the Fiat 1100, won the Italian 1100 Sport and Formula 2 championship right out of the gate. Simultaneous to the races, production began on the first tuning kits, conceived for the purpose of improving the performance of stock factory cars. In just a few years, the company had rather interesting numbers: 375 employees and production of almost 300,000 mufflers per year.

The brand? A scorpion, ergo, "maneuverable, high performance and powerful ", but above all, small and aggressive, exactly like a race care (or vice versa). In the '50s and '60s, the brand was obviously identified as a sports brand, and from then on, tuning enthusiasts simply could not do without it!

Abarth today

Today, Abarth provides a full range of accessory kits, service and replacement parts. Kits that include the exhaust, the suspension and everything you could possibly desire to increase the performance of your stock factory car, including parts for the cosmetics of your vehicle. Currently, four ranges are in production: 124, 595, 695 and Special Series. There are clearly various tuning steps, and if you’re curious, you can find everything you want to know here.

Translated by Jonathan Blosser
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