More Magic from Corso Marche
The end of the Fifties and the beginning of the new decade was an especially busy period at the Abarth Corso Marche factory. The 750 GT Zagato had been well-established and a range of variants of the type was continuously developed, embracing Street and Race models, four different engine capacities, twin-cam engine option and an entry-level (‘Sestriere’) model. The desire/need for ever-changing specifications was compounded by the FIA’s propensity at the time for redefining/restructuring its Sports/GT racing classes. When the FIA GT Cup championship was introduced in 1960, there were class divisions for engine capacities up to 500 cc, 850 cc, 1000 cc, 1300 cc, 2000 cc, 3000 cc, 4000 cc and 5000 cc. For the ‘smaller’ events, (GT cars only – no ‘sportscars’), the subdivisions by capacity were, 500, 700, 850 and 1000. The following year, these were revised to 700, 1000, 1150 and 1300, (hence Abarth’s adoption of the Simca 1300 platform for a new GT, with a 1300 cc Abarth twin-cam eng