Abarth: First racing success 70 years ago 🎥
FOUNDATION STONE WITH NUVOLARI On April 10, 1950, Tazio Nuvolari ended his great career at Monte Pellegrino near Palermo. With an Abarth 204A, the Italian laid the foundation stone for the brand's series of successes. The cinematic compilation shows historic moments from 70 years of Abarth in motorsport and on the road. Tazio Nuvolarin is also briefly at the wheel [...].
The cinematic compilation shows historic moments from 70 years of Abarth in motorsport and on the road. Tazio Nuvolarin can also be seen briefly at the wheel of the first winning car.
Exactly 70 years ago, Tazio Nuvolari (1892-1953) ended his great career behind the wheel of an Abarth 204A. Nuvolari, one of the most successful Grand Prix drivers of the 1930s and winner of the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1933, competed for the "Squadra Carlo Abarth" in the Monte Pellegrino hill climb near Palermo in Sicily. The Tipo 204A was the first racing car of the company founded a year earlier.
The open two-seater had an 1100 cubic centimeter engine under the hood, whose output was increased to around 80 hp by master tuner Abarth. In his farewell race, Tazio Nuvolari won the displacement class and finished fifth overall.
From Cisitalia to your own company
Tazio Nuvolari, a native of Mantua, had met Austrian-born Carlo Abarth a few years earlier as racing manager in the Cisitalia team of Italian industrialist Piero Dusio. When Dusio dissolved the racing department and emigrated to Argentina, the inventory formed the cornerstone of Carlo Abarth's own company, which he founded in Bologna in 1949.
Abarth also took over factory driver Nuvolari. As an ambassador for the new company's tuning kits and exhaust systems, he raised the profile of the brand with the scorpion in its crest.
Flood of titles in the 1960s and 1970s
The historic victory of Nuvolari in the hill climb in Palermo was soon followed by others. Among the most significant were six titles in a row in the International Makes Championship (1962-1967), the 1972 European Makes Championship with Arturo Merzario, and four titles in the European Touring Car Championship (1965, '66, '67 and '69).
In the 1970s, Abarth became Fiat's official factory team in rally racing. The Fiat 131 Abarth Rally won the one-make world championship in 1977, 1978 and 1980.
After the Finn Markku Alén additionally conquered the FIA Cup for Drivers in 1978, in 1980 the German Walter Röhrl won the title of World Rally Champion, which had been newly created a year earlier. Between 1975 and 2011, Abarth also secured seven titles in the European Rally Championship.
Versatile sports commitment
The most recent successes were achieved by rally drivers with the Abarth 124 rally, with which they continued the brand's winning streak in 2018 and 2019 in the FIA R-GT Cup - an internationally held rally championship for GT sports cars.
In the 2020 racing season, Abarth is involved in two areas. Firstly, the Abarth Rally Cup, in which all participants compete in the Abarth 124 rally, will once again be held as part of the European Rally Championship. In addition, Abarth is the official engine partner of the Formula 4 junior series in Germany and Italy.
In Switzerland, the sportiest Abarth owners compete in the Abarth Trofeo Slalom as part of the Swiss Slalom Championship. In addition, Abarth dealer Beat Wyssen from Spiez with daughter Janine in the passenger seat has been driving an Abarth 124 rally at selected rallies in Switzerland for three years.
