MOTOR CARS | 87Abarth 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 mountain-
climb 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
advantages of the Carlo Abarth-preferred, Porsche-type overhung
engine location often proved a winning recipe.
Hence his long-held allegiance to this configuration for the sports-
prototype cars which Mario Colucci and his design team continued
to create in parallel with the Abarth marque’s Gran Turismo and
touring car series.
On April 7, 1968, the latest variant Abarth 2000 Sport Prototipo
model made its victorious debut in the Ampus hill-climb in France
driven by the Swiss sprint specialist Peter Schetty. The car was
derived from previous experience with the SE04 series of barchetta
cars, being assembled around a multi-tubular spaceframe chassis
in 22mm chrome-molybdenum tubing, stiffened and reinforced with
laminated glassfibre panelling. Overall chassis weight (bare) was
claimed to be only 47kg – 103lbs – and weight distribution, with the
2-litre 4-cylinder engine hung outboard in line with Carlo Abarth’s
design tenet, if not Colucci’s – was split 38 per cent to the front and
62 per cent rear.The 1,496cc engine used at Ampus retained two of the factory
team’s huge preferred twin-choke Weber 58DCO3 carburettors, and
power output was up to around 250bhp at a raucous 8,000rpm.
Cooling was by twin nose-mounted water and oil radiators. The
wheelbase length was listed as 2085mm, front and rear track
1405mm and 1435mm and the bodywork comprised a lightweight
detachable glassfibre shell that complete with vast goldfish-bowl
windscreen still weighed barely 50kg. The car’s overall weight was
declared as being 575kg – 1,267lbs – and it was geared for some
270km/h – 169mph maximum speed.