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Title: History repeating? Post by: Gremlino on November 14, 2008, 02:59:04 PM Whilst on my search for new things 131 and Abarth I stumbled upon an article on Italiaspeed covering the celebration of what would have been Karl (Carlo) Abarths 100th birthday.
There are many pics of the display in Turin showing an assortment of Abarth cars and a pic of the new Abarth 500 0-100 limited edition Assetto Corsa. I thought the colour looked strangely familiar... When I was building my 1000TC replica way back in 1996 I liked the shade of silver that was popular on exotic cars of the 1950's, a slight tint in the silver leant itself to curved body panels. My Pal the sprayer was into old Lancias and he liked the same shade of silver. We decided to paint my car Dolphin Grey as this had just the right tint. When I was later running the car at Hillclimbs in Italy I was often asked by the Italian enthusiasts what the 'colore' was as they really liked it and were thinking of painting their cars the same shade. I wonder who these guys were?...you never know ;) Title: Re: History repeating? Post by: miro-1980 on November 15, 2008, 01:46:37 AM Well, at least tradition has a modern folow-up.
Is the Fiat capable of building the prestige, popularity and emotional appeal of the new Abarth to the new generation of drivers whose apparent main appeal comes from black windowed BMW's, "visual tuning", tire burning, drifting and 1000 bhp engines in cars that one would not dare put not a sharp curve ? Unless the new Abarth actually wins races and rallies (in its class, of course) it will be just a poor reflection of history. Remember the times when Fiat was putting more money into rallying than Farrari into F1? Unlikely this will ever come back ... though it is really nice to have the Abarth back. Miro PS: Even thought the new 500 Abarth appeals to me, I really like your 1000TC replica better. Title: Re: History repeating? Post by: Gremlino on November 21, 2008, 08:30:49 AM Thanks Miro,
If Nuova Abarth become successful once again in motorsport and manage to capture a new generation of fans/owners then they will go from strength to strength. If they fail on boths fronts then this rebirth will indeed be a short term venture. I remember when Lancia Racing (Abarth) rally cars had comparable engine power to F1 Ferrari ;D I prefer my old TC rep too (120mph in a car that small is a real mind sharpener ;) G |