39 bhp, 747 cc OHV inline four-cylinder engine, four-speed manual transmission, independent front suspension with a transverse leaf spring, trailing arm coil-spring rear suspension, and four-wheel hydraulic drum brakes.

Wheelbase: 2,000 mm Carlo Abarth, motorsport director of Piero Dusio’s Cisitalia SpA., took over the foundering of that firm’s Italian assets when Dusio decamped to Argentina in 1949.

Abarth & Co.

in Bologna thus came into being, and its proprietor took the leftover Cisitalia cars, renamed them Abarths, and set off racing with such drivers as Tazio Nuvolari, Franco Cortese, and Piero Taruffi.

Starting with Fiat’s new 600, Abarth bored and stroked its 633-cubic centimetre engine to 747 cubic centimetres.

The camshaft and flywheel were modified and a larger carburettor was fitted, with the result being nearly 40 brake horsepower and a top speed of more than 80 mph.

The Abarth 750 GT debuted in 1956.

Fiat delivered the standard-body 600s to Abarth in incomplete cond...