Abarth 1300 OT - Last of the Sixties' Champions

The Simca 1000 platform adopted in 1961 for its GT race cars served Abarth well for the successive seasons, 1963-65.  Results achieved with the Abarth Simca 1300 Bialbero GT earned the World Championship for the Marque for those three years.  The Fochi-designed engine, (Tipo 230S), initially developing 128 bhp, had gained an additional 10 or 12 bhp by 1964.  For 1965, reliability was optimised by the introduction of a five main bearings version, and with kerb weight maintained around the 650 kgs mark, the car’s competitiveness was comfortably preserved.  However, the collaboration agreement with Simca lapsed at the end of 1964.  Carlo Abarth’s initial reaction in order to continue the Marque’s ability to race successfully in Group 4 was to give Mario Colucci his head and let him design a mid-engined, tubular chassis, aluminium-bodied coupe – the 1300 OTC. However, Abarth soon took against it, largely, no doubt, because of his aversion to the mid location for the engine, but also because the ‘ground-up’ nature of the design made it a more expensive car to develop than the modified production car basis which had been so successfully exploited up to then.  While still being developed, he decided to cut his losses and sold the car to the Lufthansa team, but it achieved little despite the change in ownership.

1300 OTC (Courtesy Webcarstory)

The experience with the OTC caused Abarth to revert to a Fiat chassis basis in developing a further new GT – the Tipo 137, 1300 OT - to spearhead its 1966 championship campaign.  The 850 platform combined well with a new glass fibre body, again styled by Mario Colucci.  The engine, Tipo 237, was carried over from the Abarth Simca GT, with 147 bhp, (and, eventually, 157 bhp), output in this application.  Weight of the car was just about the same as the Simca-based coupe.  The required number of 50 units was completed in Q1 of 1966, allowing homologation for Group 4 that April.

1300 OT unveiled at the 1965 Turin Motor Show (Courtesy Motorsport Images)

 

As launched, the car distinguished itself by having a body that was not only aesthetically pleasing, but also very effective aerodynamically.  Good enough in fact to enable it to achieve a higher top speed than the ‘sister’ 1600 OT spider model despite that benefitting from around 20 more bhp thanks to the larger capacity engine.  After initial consultation with glass fibre specialist, Michel Liprandi, (well known as co-founder of LMX Automobile S.R.L., maker of the Sirex GT), building of the bodies was the work of Sibona & Basano and incorporated features – notably, the front and rear ‘clamshells’ - that the carrozziere had innovated on the ‘long nose’ versions of the Abarth Simca GTs. Use of the clamshells also provided a link to the OTC which had featured this configuration.

1300 OT with opened clamshells. © 2012-2023 DAVINCI Media

A second series was developed for 1967, mainly distinguishable by its much larger Plexiglass rear ‘window,’  the roof-mounted ‘periscope’ engine air intake and the 10 bhp increase in engine power.

(Courtesy Conceptcarz.com)

© 2018 - 2022 Tumblr Gallery

It took 10 months for Abarth to build the 50 cars required for Group 4 homologation.  This hampered the car’s initial competitivity as it had to run in the prototype class until May 1966.  Despite this, however, 5 cars were fielded for the September running of the 500 kms of Nurburgring and that driven by Gerhard Mitter, finished 2^nd.  At the same circuit the following June, the 1300 OT competed in the 1000 kms for the first time as a Group 4 car in the International Sports Car Championship.  Seven cars in total were run, four being factory entries  It was a highly satisfactory debut since the car driven by Kurt Ahrens Jr and Ernst Furtmayr took the Division 1 victory.  In fact, the 1300 OT was victorious at the Green Hell twice in 1966, Furtmayr winning the 500 kms in the September.  The 1300 OT won its class at five of the season’s rounds, thus clearly heading the championship table, with Alpine in second place.  The other first-placed OTs were driven at Mugello by Luigi Taramazzo and Giulio Bona, at Enna by Alfio Gambero and at Zeltweg by Johannes Ortner.

1300 OT of Cella/Fischhaber, Nurburgring 1000 kms, June 1966 (Courtesy Motorsport Images)

The 1967 season’s first championship round was at Hockenheim in July, where Toine Hezemans led home a 1300 OT 1-2-3-4 result.  At Mugello it was ‘just’ a 1-2, with the winning 1300 OT driven by Hezemans, Furtmayr and Mauro Nesti.  As in 1966, Gambero took a 1300 OT to class victory at Enna, and Ortner also repeated his previous year win at Zeltweg.  Hezemans was again a winner at the Ollon-Villars hillclimb, while Furtmayr rounded off the year taking class honours at the Nurburgring 500 kms.  With 45 points, Abarth achieved a bigger margin of victory in the championship, second place going to Diva, which managed only 12 points.  Beyond the World Championship campaign, the 1300 OT won its class on the Targa Florio in the hands of Guido Garufi and Giuseppe Ferlito.  At Le Mans, Marcel Martin and Jean Mesange’s 1300 OT finished 16^th overall and 1^st in class.

Guido Garufi/Giuseppe Ferlito, class winners on the Targa Florio (Courtesy Antonio Garufi)

Marcel Martin/Jean Mesange class winners at Le Mans (Courtesy Motorsport Images)

The 1300 OT continued to be run in a range of events through the remaining 1960s and into the 1970s.  After 1967, however, models such as the 1000 SP, the 1600/2000 Sport Coupes and the SE04/10/14/18/19 assumed the lead role in Abarth’s sports car racing endeavours.  The SE020/22 followed, representing the end of the line for the Marque, while Osella took over responsibility for the Abarth brand’s on-track activities.