FERRARI GROWL FROM A TINY TIGER—THE 1958 FIAT-ABARTH 750

“UNDOUBTEDLY A FAVORITE SPORT of Fiat-Abarth owners will be VW-baiting,” R&T said in June 1958. “Even our somewhat jaded test crew got a tremendous kick out of driving the Fiat-Abarth 750 derivazione; in fact, we had the machine for a week, and everyone who drove it for even a few minutes fell in love with it.” 

This and other images from R&T, June 1958.

High praise indeed from those having already driven the AC Aceca-Bristol, the Austin-Healey Mille Miglia, the Ford Thunderbird, Paul O’Shea’s Mercedes-Benz 300-SL roadster, the Mercedes-Benz 180-D, the Plymouth Fury, the Porsche Speedster, the Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud, and cited here at SimanaitisSays, the Berkeley Sport, the BMW Isetta and the Chrysler 300D as well.

Gee. It was only June of that year. Quite the busy test crew.

Image from Car Badges of the World.

Call me Carlo. Vienna-born Karl Abarth came to Italy in 1947 to work on the Porsche-designed Cisitalia Grand Prix car. He stayed on to make engine components and became famous for what he extracted from Fiats of various displacements. His emblem made sense: Abarth was born under the zodiacal sign of Scorpio. 

“The Abarth-modified car,” R&T wrote, “announces itself to other small car owners with a much brighter, more decorative grille. Poor chrome was evident on the hood ornament, but only there.”

Not Your Father’s Fiat 600. “The modification process is not simple, or cheap,” R&T observed. Cylinders are bored increasing displacement to 747 cc, thus the 750 moniker. “The crankshaft is machined at the rear to clear the counterweight, and the valve tappet holes are counterbored to allow for higher valve lift (see illustration).”

Other machining improved oil circulation at the center main bearing, “always the most heavily loaded on an in-line 4,” R&T noted. “The camshaft is special, not reground, with higher lift…. Valve springs are, of course, heavier. A larger Weber carburetor (type 32) is used and requires a suitable mounting surface on the cylinder head. The head itself has polished ports, and domed pistons supply the compression ratio increase from 7.0 to 9.0:1. 

Above, the oversize ducted radiator resides adjacent to the inline-4. Below, direct exhaust manifolding “lets the engine exhale properly.”

“Other changes,” R&T recounted, “include a lightened flywheel, heavier clutch springs, a larger radiator and a change in final drive….” Various engine tunes gave the Abarth 750 outputs from 38 to 47 bhp. The test car sported 41.5 at 5500.

Performance Enough? “In the process of testing and reporting on practically all of currently available small sedans, we have come up against this question: ‘What is the minimum acceptable performance for American driving conditions?’ There is, of course, no conclusive answer to the question, though it can stimulate considerable argument.” 

“Insofar as actual performance goes,” R&T said, “it is easier to look at the following table than to describe the results.”

It sure tells me one thing: The standard Fiat 600 would have been no fun. Even the earlier-cited tiny Berkeley’s top speed of 58 mph came with relative promptness in getting there. And I’d suspect the BMW-Isetta’s rolling-egg 0-50 in 52 seconds would have had its idiocentric charm. And, of course, there’s that Beetle-baiting. 

Sports Car Feel. “What the figures do not tell,” R&T said, “is the fun qualities of the Italian car; this is a small sedan with a genuine sports car feel. What are the drawbacks, the shortcomings, resultant from such a drastic modification? Only one, and that not objectionable to everyone; namely the exhaust note. While not noticeable inside the car, the Abarth exhaust system has a fairly pronounced rap. We liked it.” 

I suspect I’d have liked it too. See “Fiat Abarth Brava Alitalia Group 4” for my commuting around southern California in a later sibling. ds 

© Dennis Simanaitis, SimanaitisSays.com, 2024