The Fiat Abarth 1000SP is a

Group 4 Group 4 may refer to: *Group 4 element Group 4 is the second group of transition metals in the periodic table. It contains only the four elements titanium (Ti), zirconium (Zr), hafnium (Hf), and rutherfordium (Rf). The group is also called the t ...

and

Group 6 Group 6 may refer to: * Group 6 element, chemical element classification * Group 6 (motorsport), FIA classification for sports car racing * Group 6 Rugby League, rugby league competition in New South Wales, Australia {{disambig ...

sports racing car built by

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 1966 and 1970.

Development

The car was built by engineer Mario Colucci, and based on the mechanics of the

Fiat 600 The Fiat 600 (, ) is a small, rear-engined city car and Economy car, economy family car made by Italian carmaker Fiat Automobiles, Fiat from 1955 to 1969 — offered in two-door fastback sedan and four-door Multipla mini MPV body styles. The 60 ...

extensively modified, to participate in the races reserved for Group 6 sports cars. For this reason, 50 road specimens were built to obtain homologation for racing.

Overview

The car uses a tubular steel frame chassis and a

DOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine in which the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combus ...

inline 4 A straight-four engine (also referred to as an inline-four engine) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout ( ...

-cylinder engine; making 105 HP with a twin-shaft cylinder head, placed in a central position capable of pushing the car up to a maximum speed of . This engine was equipped with two Weber 40 DCOE carburetors, while the lubrication was a wet-sump with a separate oil filter. The gearbox was a five-speed manual. The front of the vehicle was particularly sharp to allow a good flow of air through two openings that led to the engine coolant radiators. The suspensions in the front section were equipped with superimposed wishbones, stabilizer bars, coil springs, and telescopic shock absorbers, while in the rear section there were tubular oscillating arms, stabilizer bars, and coil springs, and telescopic shock absorbers. The bodywork was made of plastic to lighten the overall weight.

Racing history

The first race of the 1000SP was the Coppa dell Collina di Pistoia in 1966, where it finished fifth driven by Anzio Zucchi. Subsequently, she obtained the class victory and the third place overall in the 500 km of the Nurburgring with the driver Hans Hermann. Another noteworthy result was the class victory in the Aosta Pila climb with Leo Cella. In 1968, after obtaining approval for Group 6, the 1000SP obtained the class victory in the Stellavena-Boscochiesanuova climb led by Paolo Lado and the first position at the 1000 km of Monza, a race valid for the Marche World Championship. Numerous other national and international successes followed.

References

{{Early European Fiat vehicles Abarth vehicles Fiat vehicles Cars introduced in 1966 Sports cars Rear-engined vehicles Group 6 (racing) cars Group 4 (racing) cars Mid-engined cars Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive vehicles