Abarth Love

Something about Abarth’s Lunacy that reached its heights in the little 695 carlo converted Fiat from the sixties. Any manufacturer who would strap an oversize engine into a production car and solve the cooling issue by leaving the boot open is good enough for us. Apparently there was an aero advantage in the rake of the sprung bonnet – so the apparent ungainliness produced a racing advantage too – of around ten KM/h in the top end. We’ve also had a perennial and irrational soft spot for the brutush and boxy Fiat 130 Abarth.

This was the sort of car from the seventies driven by that man from middle management who wanted to get down with his bad self and sniff something of those playboy days of yore. Lovely. There’s something in this bodgit-and-scarper mentality that appeals endlessly – especially when you look at the cult of perfection that exists in most contemporary cars. While the current crop of Abarth editions are a little lacking in that rough round the edges appeal, they’re nicely silly and in these gloomy days, that can only serve to brighten up our lives. Let’s have a little more polished imperfection, please.