"Abarth" (no "REAL" Abarth content, no "REAL" Alfa content)

["John Hertzman" <johnhertzman@domain.elided>]

Responding to the query of Bob in chilly New York Mike in barmy Tejas wrote of
Abarth "After the Fiat takeover they were relegated to providing engines for
the Lancia rally cars.  Now, it seems, they make sunglasses and aftermarket
front spoilers sold from the boutique corner of Fiat dealers to boy racers."

Quoting from one of a pair of articles in Racecar Engineering about the DTM
and BTTC nominally Alfa 155s of a few years ago:

"The DTM development team and the BTTC race team are run from the Abarth
factory, where the design and development of complete cars and transmissions
for TC-1 and TC-2 cars is also carried out. In addition, Abarth is responsible
for the production and development of the two-liter race engines.

"At the time of writing, the Abarth staff included ten engineers working on
both the TC-1 and TC-2 projects. Those assuming the ultimate design
responsibilities are Sergio Limone (chassis, suspensions and aerodynamics),
Giuseppe d'Agostino (engines) and Enrico Alviano (electronics). The remaining
seven engineers are responsible for research and development and racecar
engineering. There are 20 personnel involved in engine design and development,
35 building and modifying race engines, and 25 building and modifying
racecars. There are 11 administrative personnel."

While I do not have the dates or other facts my understanding is that Abarth
had become a division within Fiat much as Carlo Chiti's Autodelta (the REAL
one, that is) had become a division within Alfa Romeo SpA, and that the name
"Abarth" now has two distinct meanings, the historic meaning and the current
proprietary meaning, which (as with Alfa Romeo) is fraught with potential for
confusion among the public. That is not to suggest that either "Abarth" or
"Alfa Romeo" don't build interesting product of real merit, but that those
products have only a nominal, and not a historic or philosophical connection
to either Carlo Abarth or to Alfa Romeo SpA of Milan. With that major caveat,
however, it is something more than "providing engines for the Lancia rally
cars" or making "sunglasses and aftermarket front spoilers sold from the
boutique corner of Fiat dealers to boy racers."

Back to Bob's question, since the V-6 in the street 155 was derived from the
engine used in the GTV 6, it should be not much more difficult to fit the DTM
engine and power-train into a GTV 6, if Bob doesn't mind the lost
displacement. The 420 hp at 11,000 rpm, with the torque peak at 9,000, in a
four-wheel-drive GTV 6, should still enable Bob to do well in his local
autocross. How Russ Neely would classify it for AROC competition purposes is
his problem, not mine.

Cordially,

John H.

Raleigh, N.C.

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