Tweet
I was just studying the Nassau photo from 64 or 65, showing the two Abarth Carreras. I suddenly realized the second car, No.6, is serial number 1017 which I used to own. You can tell it because the rear quarter windows are rounded (compare to the car in front of No. 6). I purchased this car from a guy in the Atlanta Georgia area in about 1972 or so. He told me that it was sitting in his back yard with no engine. We agreed on a price (probably around $4000!), and he told me he would have the car ready to go when I picked it up.
I purchased a VW trailer hitch for my VW Squareback and borrowed a steel open trailer. I realized the hitch wasn't strong enough, so reinforced it and also strengthened how it was attached to the Squareback. Of course the trailer and Abarth Carrera were way heavier than anything that I should have tried to tow with a Squareback! I arrived in Atlanta, and the owner and I went in his backyard. He didn't have it ready at all, as it was sitting on flat tires with leaves inside the car from when a window was left down! It looked like the car had been parked in the backyard for several months. I got the tires pumped up and managed to load the car on the trailer. Fortunately I made the 700 mile trip home safely! (I certainly would never try such a trip with an overloaded trailer now!)
I learned that Chuck Cassell in Florida had raced the car in his part of the country and also at Nassau when it was fairly new. I put a 912 engine in the car, and it moved along quite nicely. It had the original Abarth Carrera seats, which had built up sides as compared to a Speedster seat. I took the driver's seat apart to reinforce it (the steel shell had cracked), and discovered the shell was identical to a Speedster seat shell, except the factory had just added a piece of steel to each side to give the driver and passenger more lateral support when cornering. The car was very noisy, as there was no insulation or sound deadening.
I took it to an autox, and while waiting for the event to start took my girl friend (now my wife for 41 years) for a ride. While we were going down a nearby road, the clutch cable broke. We went back to the autox site, and I told her the only way to get the car started if I stopped, was to have people push on the rear aluminum body (and all those louvers!). I told her I didn't want anyone pushing on it, so she was going to have to jump out! (We were all a lot younger then!) I returned to the autox site, got the car into first gear, and got it going so slowly that the car was bucking and the engine was barely running. She successfully bailed out onto the dirt parking lot without falling, and I drove the 20 miles home without using the clutch, shifting as infrequently as possible.
I only had the car a year or so, and sold it with the 912 engine still in it. I used the money to then buy an RSK, which fortunately did still have the four cam in it. The next time I saw the Abarth Carrera was many years later at the Monterey Historics, where Tom Mittler was racing it. Between races I walked up to him and told him I used to own his car. He had purchased it from a German estate, and hadn't realized the car had been in the U.S. and raced in the U.S. before he purchased it.
Jim Perrin
I purchased a VW trailer hitch for my VW Squareback and borrowed a steel open trailer. I realized the hitch wasn't strong enough, so reinforced it and also strengthened how it was attached to the Squareback. Of course the trailer and Abarth Carrera were way heavier than anything that I should have tried to tow with a Squareback! I arrived in Atlanta, and the owner and I went in his backyard. He didn't have it ready at all, as it was sitting on flat tires with leaves inside the car from when a window was left down! It looked like the car had been parked in the backyard for several months. I got the tires pumped up and managed to load the car on the trailer. Fortunately I made the 700 mile trip home safely! (I certainly would never try such a trip with an overloaded trailer now!)
I learned that Chuck Cassell in Florida had raced the car in his part of the country and also at Nassau when it was fairly new. I put a 912 engine in the car, and it moved along quite nicely. It had the original Abarth Carrera seats, which had built up sides as compared to a Speedster seat. I took the driver's seat apart to reinforce it (the steel shell had cracked), and discovered the shell was identical to a Speedster seat shell, except the factory had just added a piece of steel to each side to give the driver and passenger more lateral support when cornering. The car was very noisy, as there was no insulation or sound deadening.
I took it to an autox, and while waiting for the event to start took my girl friend (now my wife for 41 years) for a ride. While we were going down a nearby road, the clutch cable broke. We went back to the autox site, and I told her the only way to get the car started if I stopped, was to have people push on the rear aluminum body (and all those louvers!). I told her I didn't want anyone pushing on it, so she was going to have to jump out! (We were all a lot younger then!) I returned to the autox site, got the car into first gear, and got it going so slowly that the car was bucking and the engine was barely running. She successfully bailed out onto the dirt parking lot without falling, and I drove the 20 miles home without using the clutch, shifting as infrequently as possible.
I only had the car a year or so, and sold it with the 912 engine still in it. I used the money to then buy an RSK, which fortunately did still have the four cam in it. The next time I saw the Abarth Carrera was many years later at the Monterey Historics, where Tom Mittler was racing it. Between races I walked up to him and told him I used to own his car. He had purchased it from a German estate, and hadn't realized the car had been in the U.S. and raced in the U.S. before he purchased it.
Jim Perrin
Comment