After a brief career as a racing privateer during the interwar era, Carlo Abarth came to the attention of the greater motorsports world when he was appointed the sporting director of Cisitalia in 1947.

When Cisitalia went into receivership a year later Abarth managed to acquire the manufacturer’s assets, and in 1949 he founded his eponymous concern Abarth & C.

The company soon became famous for its competition successes, both with proprietary standalone models and collaborative efforts utilizing other manufacturers’ chassis.

Over the following decades, no manufacturer participated in more racing classes and in more countries than Abarth, and it is no exaggeration to consider the company the most successful competition concern of all time, as it went on to claim 10 world records, 133 international records, and more than 10,000 victories.

Key to this prodigious output was Abarth’s relationship with Fiat, which commenced in 1952 with the creation of the Abarth 1500 Biposto.

Fiat went...