Abarth historian Luciano Greggio writes in his fine book upon the marque ' Abarth – The Man – The Machines ' (Giogio Nada, 2002) "On the much discussed question of the mid-engine favoured by Mario Collucci and the power plant inclined over the rear axle preferred by Carlo Abarth, Colucci recalls thirty years later 'The location of the rear engine gave vent to a diatribe without end and I found drivers were split between the two layouts.

Arturo Merzario sided with Abarth, but it should also be said that he was the only one who knew how to drive the cars he test drove and helped to tune.

On the other hand Lualdi" – the great Edoardo Lualdi-Gabardi, the multiple mountainclimb Champion – "...was never comfortable with the (overhung) power unit and moved on to mid engines".

For some venues, particularly the hairpin-packed mountain-climbs of the period, and on the tighter road circuits – much mimicked today by most modern Autodrome circuit designs – the wheelspin-limiting tractional advan...