If Only: The Abarth T140
The more I learn about Carlo Abarth, the more I wish I had had the opportunity to work for him. He was I believe an especially notable example of the sort of distinctive personality one could encounter in a leader/senior management role in the automotive industry around the middle of the 20 th Century. Their behaviour and outlook was such that in today’s social culture they probably would not retain their position for very long. Such people had singular vision/belief, tremendous drive and no inhibitions about using their personality to manage and direct subordinates. In anecdotes from people who worked for him, Abarth himself is often referred to as someone who expected nothing less than their 100% dedication to the task, was very averse to ‘buttering them up,’ but who showed that he did in fact notice excellence by, for instance, handing over an envelope of bank notes! By his own vision and dynamism he created a superb line of performance cars, the racing versions of whi