CC5C: Enter the Dragon

Benvenuti amici!

Cream City 500 Club is more than a group of Milwaukee/Madison/Oshkosh-based FIAT loving, beer drinking and cream-colored brick laying loonies. We are actively involved in supporting the greater (national, international) community of Italian city car drivers. We support one another in our FIAT life and attend national as well as local events. One national event on the radar of many CC5C Famiglia members is the Brett Melancon founded & led FIAT on the Dragon (FotD). For those unfamiliar with this massive event, you can read more about it here and keep up with FotD related news here.

The Mighty Mouse Militia is Growing

This year, a number of CC5Cers joined the swelling Mighty Mouse Militia roster on this curve carving trek. Duane Hand reports his very personal experience in this entry. The photos used for this entry are courtesy of Brett, David, Duane, Edwin and yours truly. 

Duane & Mary Ann Hand w/Luigi (sans stripes)

It's 4:00 AM, Thursday, April 9th, 2015, and I'm wide awake. The plan is to get an early start anyway but I'm too excited to sleep. At 4:30 I wake my wife, Mary Ann, so that we can make the final preparations for our trip.  With the usual morning rituals completed, we begin the process of packing the final items in the suitcase and loading everything into the back of the car... double checking along the way to be sure nothing is being left behind.

We're all loaded up by 5:15, so we slide into our 2012 giallo FIAT 500 Sport (Luigi) and set the navigation on my phone for our destination, 650 miles southeast of home. The phone tells us this trip will take us 10 hours to complete. Wasting no time, we set out on our journey -- we want to start out early, in order to avoid Chicago rush hour traffic. And also in order to arrive at our destination early enough to unwind before going to bed for the night.

Luigi (with stripes) Summer 2014

We sail through Chicago with no traffic delays and feel like we are truly on our way. With the Windy City in our rear view mirror, we decide to stop in Indiana to have breakfast. We did not take the time for that at home, partly because it was just too early but also, because we needed to get a jump on Chicago traffic. We settle for fast food because we're anxious to reach our destination at a decent hour.

The next leg of the journey is fairly uneventful, with just short stops for restroom breaks, fuel, or to change drivers. We get our rest but not so for Luigi. That's okay because I like to think he's doing what he was made for and is enjoying his first ever extended road trip.

We've been at this for a while, now, and the hunger had returned. We just entered Kentucky a short while ago and agree to stop for some lunch... fast food again. We've been driving through rain, quite hard at times, for most of the trip. One of the wiper blades has been making a loud, annoying clunking sound on each cycle, so it's off to an auto parts store, while we're off the highway, for a replacement. With the wipers blissfully silent again we resume our trip.

It's almost 4:00 PM, local time, and we've just crossed over into Tennessee. Finally, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. We're less than 2 hours from our destination.

We leave the freeway and make our way on the final leg of the trip. One more stop for fuel to make sure we're ready for tomorrow. Just before 6:00 PM we arrive at the Talley Ho Inn in Townsend, TN. We get checked in, go for dinner and settle in for the night. Big day tomorrow.

I spy Mirabella (James' A500). Can you?

Gigante meets up with (Doc)Ron's lil' beastie

Chris' bianco A500 with Jolly Club livery

850 Sport Coupe: Old is still New in Italian

Vintage X1/9: Among a host of Nuova 500s

FIATs rival nature's beauty in this gorgeous shot

Friday morning I'm up early again. You see, today, I'm participating in FIAT on the Dragon and the excitement is building. A few years ago, we were vacationing in the same part of Tennessee. We were going somewhere (Where? I don't remember.) and the GPS led us into North Carolina. It eventually deposited us on the Cherohala Skyway. We thought, "this sounds scenic", and it was! There were numerous spots to pull off with spectacular views of the mountains and valleys. The Skyway suddenly turned into the Tail of the Dragon.  None of us knew what this was, at the time. But the GPS said this was the way to go... So, what the heck, let's go! I was driving an SUV with four passengers. I was having the time of my life, but not so for my family. The many, sharp turns were making them feel ill. Being the driver, I didn't feel the same effects as they were. I was persuaded to take it a bit slower. It seemed like this road was never going to end -- turn, after turn, after turn.

Once we made it safely back to our cabin, I looked up the Tail of the Dragon and discovered it is an 11 mile stretch of mountain road, in North Carolina and Tennessee. In that 11 miles the pavement makes 318 turns, many of them very sharp.

After I became the proud owner of a FIAT 500 Sport, it dawned on me that it would probably be fun to drive 'the Dragon' in this spirited little car. I discovered that FIAT Club America's Brett Melancon organizes an event each year called FIAT on the Dragon and that's why I came here.

Greg's tuned 500L (Jolly Club livery)

Duane-Cam POV...

In hot pursuit!

Hard right at your 12!

Drivers and FIATs (over 100 of them) gather, in the rain, on a field at the Inn, for final instructions before we make our way to 'the Dragon'. I am alone in Luigi because Mary Ann has no desire to experience this again. We leave in small groups and head to the Foothills Parkway. This Parkway is good practice for what lies ahead. It has quite a few turns on it, though not as severe. This gets you used to what is coming up.

At one point, the leader of my group pulls off at one of the spots on the side of the road and we all follow. I'm thinking, "What a beautiful view of the Smokey Mountains from here. But I can't take my eyes off of the caravan of FIATs whizzing past us". It's very cool to be in such a caravan, but it's impressive to be on the side of the road watching and hearing them go by.

We're approaching 'the Dragon' and, again, we pull off. This time it is for a tree that has fallen over half of the road. I get the feeling that this is not an uncommon occurrence. Soon, we're back on the road again.

Finally, I see a road sign -- Sharp Turns Next 11 Miles. This is it, we're here!

No turning back now -- Fun is on the way!

Gigante leads an aggressive group...

Mark & Co. join the fun in his tuned 500T

At first, it's not too bad, but it quickly evolves into a very challenging roadway.  Some of the turns are quite mild and easy to handle. But it seems that most of the time, as  I come out of one turn, I am immediately thrown into another. I am trying to be conscious of the center line and not cross it because, on occasion, I encounter a vehicle coming the other way, right in the middle of a curve. I notice that there are very few spots on this road that have guardrails. Indeed, I take a couple of curves that are sharper than I expected and the adrenaline starts pumping and I'm thinking, "I'm going to be driving down the side of the mountain without a road."

Finally, I see Welcome to North Carolina and I know I'm almost done. A short while later, I arrive at Deals Gap -- which is the other end of the Tail of the Dragon. I pull into the parking lot and I just sit there allowing the tension to slowly release. Luigi doesn't seem to need to do this. Going into this, I wasn't sure how well this little car was going to perform going up such a challenging roadway. Now that I've done it, I'm very impressed. Despite the steep grade, at points, the wet pavement, and the challenging turns, this little 500 performed very well. This has been so much more fun than in a larger SUV.  Also, being without passengers, I was able to go faster which made it more fun and, at the same time, scarier!

Luigi with new window dressings!

After shopping (I needed a window decal to proclaim our achievement) and some, well needed decompression time, I turn around to do it again... downhill. The rest of the group is going on to do the Cherohala Skyway before turning around, but I came here to do 'the Dragon', and now that I have lived the dream, I just want to go back. The return trip is a totally different experience.  Going downhill is a lot different because I'm relying more on gravity and less on the accelerator. Also, I feel a bit more relaxed because I don't have the constant feeling that I may be holding back the group (behind me).

There are more drives and FIAT activities this weekend. But we choose not to participate in most of them, because this is our vacation time and we have plans of/drives to do on our own. This is beautiful country and we want to take the time to appreciate it.

This has been an amazing experience, which I encourage all FIATisti to participate in. Whether you want to do something different or you want to see how far you can push your car, and yourself, you can NOT be disappointed.

The end… Or is this just the beginning?

Luigi on the Dragon (with CC5C grille badge)

Special THANK YOU to Duane for taking the time to write this entry and GRAZIE MILLE to Mary Ann for being a good sport and life partner to our reporter. We look forward to seeing you soon...

Vivere.Amare.Guidare.
For Brett Melancon & the Mighty Mouse Militia

Ciao!

@

Icons: F500 & LEGO

Benvenuti amici!

As has been mentioned countless times on this blog, the Cream City 500 Club is a FIAT lifestyle affair. Not all of life is reading about, tinkering with, restoring/building and driving FIATs. No, there is also collecting models, die-casts, toy racetracks and remote control versions of our favorite city, track & rally cars (chuckles). In this blog entry, we mean to draw your attention to a new popular pastime proposal for FIATisti around the world.

LEGO © has been making toys since 1932 and, since 1949, has been producing the popular interlocking blocks we know today. Well, not exactly, but the company was on its way to the perfect system by that time. The basis for the modern system was sorted out in 1958. FIAT S.p.A. has been manufacturing automobiles since 1899, and has been producing affordable-yet-attractive city cars since 1936. However, in 1957, the automaker introduced what has since become the most iconic runabout in Italian history.

Both companies have evolved over the years, becoming global phenomenons in the process. Both companies continue to introduce innovation after innovation in their respective areas of industrial entertainment. Both LEGO© and FIAT S.p.A. draw ideas from their consumer base. The focus of this CC5C blog entry, as mentioned earlier, is to draw your attention to one of the latest proposals from LEGO©… one that comes from the inspired LEGO IDEAS©, formerly LEGO Cuusoo. The website, that allows LEGO© users to submit their ideas for new products, was coincidently launched in 2008… once again the year after FIAT launched a reintroduction of the 500.

Not long ago, one LEGO IDEAS© user proposed a product based on the 1957 iteration of the FIAT Cinquecento. I must confess to wondering whether or not such a set of building blocks was ever created. I've seen several independent builds online, but never came across any official set. I may have very well missed this particular ambitious LEGO IDEAS© entry, if not for Sarah Hand (CC5C member/driver of bianco 500 Pop).

The following is taken from the LEGO IDEAS© site...

"The Fiat 500 is a simple compact city car designed and built in Italy by Fiat. It was designed to be a cheap and simple family in post WWII Italy. The car would go on to be produced for almost two decades with close to four million built over that time."

"The car is a rear engine design with the gas tank in the front. The engine was I-2 motor with a 4-speed manual transmission. The engine started off as a 479cc unit, but grew to 499cc and later to 594cc. This model has a hood and engine cover to reveal the details."

"The interior could seat four people and was surprisingly large for such a small car. The interior of this model includes the seats, all of the knobs and shifters, and the door panels with window cranks and door pulls."

"The model also includes several stickers for the license plates and logos. Personally, I'd like to see them printed directly on the pieces if possible. I'd like to hear everyone's comments on this design and, if possible, see it on the shelves!"

Well, it appears there is some interest coming from the LEGO© camp… as the model design is up for 'Support' on the LEGO IDEAS© site. I think, with some minor tweaks to better tie it to the inspiration, this is one project worth moving to production. In addition, I'd like to see an entire range of iconic FIAT LEGO kits (500 Topolino, 600, 131, 124 Spider, X1/9, Panda, 2007 500, etc.). I think they'd go over like gangbusters… with 'kids of all ages'.

If you'd like to see this proposal come to fruition, head over to the FIAT 500 LEGO IDEAS page and cast your vote. Thanks to the builder & LEGO© for doing their part to bring joy into the lives of other people.

Vivere.Amare.Guidare.

Ciao!

@

850% FIAT!

Benvenuti amici!

The Cream City 500 Club is a Social Motoring club inspired, of course, by the return of FIAT S.p.A. & the iconic 500 to the North American (NA) market. But our fandom, as is evidenced by the entries found within this blog, is not limited to any one model or marque. As the founder of our local clan and the scribe of this blog, I can attest to being a huge fan to a number of notable FIAT-badged models. One such motorway queen is the 850.

The FIAT 850 was first offered in three different models/lifestyle choices; the 850/850 Speciale, the 850 Sport Coupé, and the Sport Spider.

FIAT 850: La Dolce Vita

The man credited with designing the 1964 FIAT 850 is none other than the late, great don Dante Giacosa. This should come as little surprise to any self-respecting FIATista. Under his brilliant engineering & styling leadership, one can easily argue FIAT and Autobianchi churned out more noteworthy city cars than any other automaker in history. In my opinion, don Dante is the among the most important designer-engineers to ever put pen to paper. To be clear, his name would appear very near the top of any list of genius automotive innovators I could be tasked with compiling.

If you are unfamiliar with his name or you simply think of his work as too corporate and/or 'safe', because you follow the flashier Italian design houses as opposed to the in-house FIAT S.p.A. dream team/s, I trust this spotlight on the 850 will help you come to some deeper appreciation for his undeniable place in global industrial/automobile antiquity.

Reimagining the 600 a/k/a Mission Impossible

The mechanicals of the launch model were largely unchanged from its predecessor & the successor to the 1936 500 'Topolino'... the 1955 600. In the predecessor to the 850, FIAT had a bonafide hit. For decades it was the motorized choice in Italy, Spain, former Yugoslavia, Russia as well was several other countries in Europe. The 600 is also the runabout deserving lion's share credit for mobilizing South America. ABARTH & Co. created more 600-based variants than it did with any other 4-wheeler. The corporate pressure to deliver a replacement that strayed little, in engineering & aesthetics, from his decade old work must have weighed heavily on the shoulders and cranium of don Dante. After all, he was a visionary. He yearned for assignments requiring him to pen models that pushed the automotive language forward. In the end, the late master did succumb to the assumed directive from above. 

Sr. Giacosa was not a fan of repeating himself and he did consider his original 850 to be little more than an updated 600, as opposed to a brand new model. Even the internal name of the 850, 100G, followed the generational letter designators of the Seicento. The former (600) held letter designators A through F. However, don Dante did find a way to smooth out the rear quarter humps, add a sedan-like tail end w/circular tail lights as well a more a aggressive, sleeker  bonnet & nose (this was accomplished by 'flattening' the former bubble design).

FIAT 850: L'avventura Giacosa

With these slight but confident design changes, Dante Giacosa gave us a glimpse of his new vision for the modern city car. Still, the shape/model most people would identify as being quintessentially 850... the sleeker 850 1965 Sport Coupé... was penned by the Centro Stile FIAT in-house father-and-son team of Felice & Gian Boano. The Boano version, cruising in a fresher and bolder design direction -- without leaving the important Giacosa style cues in the dust, pleased the 'King of Runabouts' and FIATisti alike.

FIAT 850 Sport Coupé: From Boano with Love

FIAT ABARTH OT 1000: The Nights of Merano

The Boano take on the 850, to be sure, inspired the style language of future offerings from FIAT. The more aerodynamic fastback roofline shape properly drew a crystal clear delineation from the 600. Even the 'mustache' change made a statement. The original bushier mustache was a holdover from a bygone era. The thin pencil mustache the Boanos added, in some way, lends a more modern appearance to the commuter.

But that is not all. Because the Boanos all but started from stratch, with their  Sport Coupé, the father-and-son team was able to bestow a better balanced design to the 850. At nearly any angle, there is an almost Yin & Yang energy in relation to the space around the runabout. Later, with the 1968 update, quad head & tail lights were added to the model. This further distinguished the offering from its predecessors.

In his memoirs, don Dante wrote of this variant, "The coupé with coachwork for which the Boanos, father and son, should be given all credit, was one of the most beautiful of all FIAT models." As any leader worth his weight would do, Sr. Giacosa gave audience to the voice/s of his team and credited their effort/s. Thanks to this benevolent act, his employer now had new future-forward curb (sex) appeal.

What FIAT car family/model range would be complete without a Cabrio or a Spider? Apparently, the Agnellis & Giacosa would answer an incomplete one. The automaker introduced the 1965 Sport Spider alongside the Sport Coupé. If one considers the standard model the coolest commuter of the day and the Sport Coupé its more adventuresome younger sister, the Sport Spider must be thought of as the sexy 'wild child' of the 850 family.

FIAT 850 Sport Spider: The Gandini Job

Marcello Gandini, the Gruppo Bertone designer known for a long list of lust-inducing cars that includes the FIAT X1/9 and the Lancia Stratos, is credited as holding the pen that gave us the 850 Sport Spider. Although FIAT has produced a large number of partial and full convertibles over the decades, there is something decidedly special about the lines in the Sport Spider. 

Once again, the all-too-important Giacosa design cues are preserved in this variation. But the alluring animalistic energy felt in other Gandini-penned sports cars permeates every slinky inch in this arachnid. This is most definitely the model for getting into memorable midnight hour trouble. I have no doubt most 850 Sport Spider drivers did/do just that (and then some).

Always an automaker about the business of proposing appropriate choices to suit the lives of people in urban (and suburban) areas, FIAT tends to offer the widest range of possibilities in one model family. With the 850, iconic company went so far as to put 'family' into the name & design of one variant.

FIAT 850 Familiare: 8 1/2… for 7

The automaker introduced the 850 Familiare, the boxier successor to the 600 Multipla, in 1966. It borrowed the first time double headlight detail from the 1968 Sport Coupé and was able to carry seven adults. Yes, my beautiful FIAT Famiglia, you read that correctly... S-E-V-E-N. The 850 Familiare is further testament to just how flexible and viable the Dante-standard city car can be.

The variety of connected lifestyles represented by the equally varied, but related, models is remarkable. This attention to the needs & desires connected to the personality of any given driver is a hallmark that has drawn enthusiasts to the brand for decades. It is a big part of what makes us believers… believers with absolute, indomitable passion...

FIAT 850 Famiglia: The Italian Connection

Vivere.Amare.Guidare.
For Brown, Olthoff & the Mighty Mouse Militia

Ciao!

@

ABARTH: Scorpio Rising

Benvenuti amici!

We celebrated our 100th blog entry with a short story on Autobianchi a/k/a the heritage of innovation. We continue that theme with another FIAT S.p.A. partner… the one & only King of "Small but Wicked".

By now, after the relaunch of the performance brand in 2008, all the world knows the name Abarth. If you are fortunate enough to live with either a vintage or contemporary ABARTH, you may know a little about the ethnic Austrian founder… Karl 'Carlo' Abarth. But I'd like to look at the abbreviated story we know in a slightly little less abbreviated way. I think doing this helps appreciate the heritage of our FIATs in a personally deeper way than we already do. Does this read like a worthwhile venture to you? 

Ready. Steady. Go.

ABARTH-Porsche: The Austrian Connection

In his youth, Herr Abarth raced bicycles and, later, motorcycles. Following a life-threatening accident, in Wels Austria, he was forced to retire. He took to the idea of utilizing the motorbike sidecar and returned to racing (against physician's advice) with Joseph Holly. In Holly he found a kindred spirt… someone equally possessed by the engine and the freedom it provided those wielding its power. It was, perhaps, during this period the young Abarth developed his fighting spirit. 

Together, the pair would design an unusually modified & dangerous motorcycle sidecar (a sidecar that increased their competitive edge and scared the bejesus out of their sponsor, Sunbeam Motorcycles). But the relentless pairing of Holly & Abarth would go on to secure many victories. This marked the beginning of what would become the Abarth way…

'Live to Win ~ Win to Live'.

Mounting victories took Herr Karl Abarth outside Austria and, eventually, in a tragic race in Ljubljana Slovenija (former Jugoslavija/Yugoslavia), out of motorcycle racing forever. But graver challenges lay ahead of him.

Down but not Dead: 1939 Motorcycle Crash

By this time, the hostilities of World War II were in full swing and Hr. Abarth, an Austro-Italian, found himself in now hostile territory. He was allowed to join the migratory movement out of Yugoslavia and made his way, on foot, to Meran/Merano Italy via Trst/Trieste (Slovenia/Italy). Abarth's paternal family long owned a successful business in Merano (a half Germanic-Autsrian-half-Latin-Italian territory). From the ashes of war and the comfort of his childhood sanctuary, don 'Carlo' would emerge a man more determined than ever to carve a name for himself in the annals of history. But, first, new life would need to be pieced together and fortunes would need to be replenished. Sr. Abarth returned to bicycles, reluctantly selling Bianchis. With the benefit of hindsight (Bianchi + FIAT = Autobianchi), one could theorize the occasion must have been an omen.

A short time later,  don Carlo would make contact with old family friends and fellow Austrians, the Porsche family. He began, in earnest, to secure rights to represent Porsche interests in Italy. Following WWII, it was near impossible for the automaker to do so without inside help. Sealing the distribution deal would/did mark his official return to the motorized world. The man was, once again living up to his astrological birth symbol and doing so with an unquenchable passion for speed.

 Scorpio Rising Star Cluster

With Porsche backing and the benefit of Italian nationality, don Carlo found himself in an unique position and in exclusive company. Representing the company interests meant Abarth had access to industrialists with the means to help him exercise his motorized ideas in gas, tires and oil. One particular racing legend turned industrialist, don Piero Dusio, having already convinced don Dante Giacosa to build the Cisitalia D46 (engineered from the FIAT 1100 and the FIAT 500 Topolino), found a passion-for-petrol match in the Austro-Italian. See, the Cisitalia D46 marked the rebirth of Italian Motorsport and don Dusio was hungry for more. These relationships were key to bringing don Carlo to Torino/Turin and, ultimately, into the the Angelli/FIAT fold.

Piero Dusio: Builder-Racer

Investment misfortune in the Cisitalia camp and Abarths insistence on 50% share in the company whose former success was in large part due to his work for them, as both an engineer and serving as sports director, would later set the stage for don Carlo to strike out on his own.

ABARTH & Co. was founded in 1949, with a lovely new Slovene wife (polyglot Nadina Abarth-Zerjav) and a handful of engineers-designers-technicians from the, now, defunct Cisitalia. The fledgling company needed a logo… one that defined the man at the helm and the spirit of the journey that lay ahead of his team. Don Karl 'Carlo' Abarth looked back on his life and chose the only symbol that made sense of the peaks & valleys he saw… his astrological sign… The Scorpio Rising. The early logo also utilized the primary colors; azzurro/blue, giallo/yellow and rosso/red. This color combination is also represented on the Meran/Merano coat-of-arms. I find it difficult to consider these choices as anything less than filled with absolute philosophical purpose.

Coat of Arms Meran/Merano

Early ABARTH & Co. logos

Coat of Arms Merano/Meran

Now, Abarth was on his own & once again solely responsible for his motorized legacy. But, now, he was also responsible for the livelihoods of the gifted individuals he was able to secure from Cisitalia. Don Carlo defined the collective mission of the fledging company as such, "The production of vehicles and complementary equipment for sports and racing cars, as well as modification of and improvements to sports and racing cars, service, preparation of equipment for mass production, the assumption of representatives and the sale of fuel for racing cars". No pressure… not ambitious at all. Am I right? 

Where does one begin?

Well, if you're someone as committed as the new industrialist, you take some time to evaluate what was gained in the liquidation of Cisitalia. In this case, don Carlo assumed possession of don Dante's D46 and three other race cars. Oh! and a team consisting of many of the greatest drivers of the period.

The company logo, engineering & driving team, and accompanying mission statement said it all. Sr. Abarth was interested in nothing less than becoming a legend for all times. He was willing & able to get the job done.

Cisitalia D46: Respect the Legend of the Line

Yes… 1949 was an exciting year for the Austro-Italian. Most men and/or women would be very pleased with themselves. I mean, the 'Carlo Abarth Team' placed as high as second place in their inaugural season. But you're reading about Karl 'Carlo' Abarth. 'Live to Win ~ Win to Live'. Remember? There was no room for satisfaction. There was not time for complacency. There was more to be done and ABARTH & Co. was the company to do it. All the aforementioned accomplishments of the year were overshadowed by what would become the single most identifiably ABARTH of creations… a performance exhaust system. This comes as no surprise to enthusiasts of the cars that came and continue to come from the house of ABARTH. 

In the worlds of philosophy and religion, every great teacher… every miracle worker… has a herald or scribe to announce their coming and arrival. In the world of small performance cars, that herald is the sound of an ABARTH. It is worth mentioning the system don Carlo created was especially popular with the 500 'Topolino' crowd. The scene, as they say, was set for all involved players.

A new company, one of the best race teams in the business and a popular exhaust system in the bin and… still… the man behind it all was still not satisfied. Fast-forward to 1955. On 12 March, the most influential of all ABARTH cars hit the marketplace. The Abarth version of the ultra-popular FIAT 600, another creation of Sr. Dante Giacosa, is still among the most popular Italian runabouts of all time. The base car, from its inception, was designed-engineered to be simple and reliable. But even don Dante has been quoted as conceding it was capable of much more. His mission was to create cars FIAT could build inexpensively and people could afford to purchase & maintain. The ABARTH mission was quite different. Don Carlo saw all the power don Dante left untapped and set out to exploit it.

FIAT 600-based ABARTH 210A

The Boano-designed ABARTH 210A is first of many cars don Carlo would base on FIAT 600 mechanicals. The discoveries made with the 210A, as well as the modified 600s that followed, set the stage for the brand we know today. Design houses, such as, Bertone, Pinnifarina and Zagato entered relationships with ABARTH & Co.. Together, they designed-engineered land speed record rockets. The greatness Sr. Abarth dreamed for himself & his team was beginning to materialize. The man, of course, set the bar of expectation higher.

In July 1957 FIAT S.p.A. introduced the Nuova Cinquecento. While the Seicento was much more affordable than the original 500, it was still designed with drivers in mind. Its size and sophistication were a clear indication of the fact. The automaker, with the pen of don Giacosa, now set out to create a less sophisticated, less intimidating selection meant to put non-drivers behind the wheel. Don Carlo, still unable to hold the full attention of the top brass at FIAT  believed a combination of his accomplishments with the 600-derived performance cars and a new performance version of the not yet as popular 500 could get him what he sought. As it would turn out, he was spot on.

FIAT 500-based ABARTH-Zagato GT Coupé

The ABARTH-Zagato version of FIAT's latest utility car garnered lots of attention when it appeared alongside other 500 variations at its launch. The ABARTH-Zagato team had already produced the very popular 600-based 750 GT Coupé, and FIAT [successfully] sought to keep those wheels rolling with their new offering. If it was not already clear to him, Karl 'Carlo' Abarth had arrived. His life and the world of the automobile... and automobile racing... would never be the same. In the years that followed, ABARTH & Co. would continue to set land speed records as well as rule at the track. The company virtually became known, in the industry, as the 'Factory of Victories'. It seemed every company and marque wanted an ABARTH version. This did not escape the notice of the automaker responsible for the cars on which his fame was built.

ABARTH & Co. Stable of Champions

In 1971 FIAT S.p.A. purchased ABARTH & Co. and, in doing so, would build a legend of FIAT domination in track, rally and hill climb competition not seen since the end of World War II. The Italian industrial dynasty had long abandoned such activities in favor of putting all of Italy (and greater Europe) on the road. But don Abarth had proven mass popularity could also be won on the track, in rallies and hill climb events. Utility cars need not only get drivers from Point A to Point B. Utility runabouts could deliver massive amounts of fun and democratize the racing world. I'm sure the lesson learned is not missed on any FIAT drivers since that time… including those initiated to the FIAT life experience since 2007.

So, as you make your way out to your beloved FIAT-ABARTH Punto or 500, I trust you will take what you've read here with you. Take your time to slide into the cockpit of your ride. Strap in and enjoy the process of placing your key into the ignition. Close your eyes. Turn said key & wait for the primer buzzing to stop and then, of course, start. Take a deep breath and listen intently at the sound of the exhaust Siren singing her song...

"Welcome to the Cult of the Scorpion."

2012 North American FIAT-ABARTH 500 Targa

Vivere.Amare.Guidare.

Ciao!

@