Abarth 1000 Bialbero Zagato

Vehicle Overview

The Fiat Abarth 1000 Bialbero more than other cars highlights Carlo Abarth’s skill in processing. It is in fact a real racing car with chassis and most of the mechanics of the Fiat 600. That of 1964 is only the last of the Bialbero series, started in 1957 with the 750 Record Monza, when Carlo Abarth believed that the distribution with balanced temples of the Fiat 600 represented a limit for its elaborations. From the collaboration with Eng. Gioachino Colombo, formerly a designer at Ferrari, Maserati and Bugatti, studied a cylinder head with two overhead camshafts. As mentioned, the bodywork derives from that of the 750 Zagato with single-shaft engine. However, the size of the new cylinder head required to modify the rear part of the bodywork. The racing career of the 750 Record Monza was short: in fact the new sporting regulations of 1959 abolished the 750cc class and established the 700cc, 850cc and 1000cc. Thus was presented the 850 Record Monza model and to follow (1960) the 1000 Bialbero model which in addition to the new displacement was adopted a new bodywork that Zagato made more beautiful and rational. In 1961 the 1000 Bialbero won the Compasso d’Oro award for design with the following motivation: “For the excellent quality of the design, the unscrupulousness of the solutions adopted and the intelligence of every detail.”