The creation of a new, non-Fiat-derived model was for
Abarth a significant step in mid-‘61.
The basis of the Abarth Simca 1300 GT is outlined in the Do Look Back
post, A
Bit of Scorpion Worship . As pointed
out there, neither the chassis nor the engine were developments of any existing
Simca products. Equally, at this point
Abarth had completed its divorce from Zagato, confident to execute styling
in-house and to entrust the construction of the bodywork to the carrozzeria, Beccaris
& Teraschi S.n.c. in nearby Grugliasco. The collaboration with Simca was supposed to
benefit the French maker by allowing it in forward-looking mode to develop more
sporting products – especially high performance engines - using the specialist
expertise and knowledge available at Corso Marche. However, for Abarth the immediate and very
necessary pay-back was a steady supply from Poissy of the 1000 model floor pans
on which the Mario Colucci-designed Abarth 1300 GT body, (initially made at Beccaris
and subsequently at Sibano & Basano), was mounted.
Carlo Abarth tasked Lucano Focchi with design of a new
engine to power the Abarth Simca. Focchi
was happy that the Abarth 982 cc block would make a good basis and be capable
of enlarging to a capacity of 1288 cc.
The resulting Tipo 230-A unit featured three main bearings and as
installed in the GT Coupe developed 90 bhp @ 6000 rpm – very similar
performance to the Fiat Abarth 982 cc Tipo 229 which powered the Fiat Abarth 1000
Coupe, though this required 7100 rpm to reach maximum output. Both these engines had twin cam heads. A further, enlarged, Abarth Simca coupe road
engine emerged in ’63 – the 1592 cc Tipo 235 (the first Abarth twin spark
engine) giving 155 bhp @ 7400. With this
version the car adopted the revised ‘duck tail’ rear which contrasted markedly
with the more ‘bulbous,’ and multi-louvred engine cover usually associated with
the bodies made by Beccaris. Meanwhile,
a ‘Corsa’ 2.0 litre (1946 cc) model, Tipo 136, utilised the Tipo 236-SC engine,
producing 177 bhp @ 6800 rpm. In
deference to the increased power ratings of these two higher capacity versions,
the crankshaft was carried on five main bearings. ’63 also saw an uprated engine for the 1300,
Tipo 230-S, which generated 125 bhp. A
batch of one hundred 2.0 litre GTs were scheduled to be built for Appendix J
Grand Touring category homologation purposes; how many actually were, is
a matter for conjecture! The FIA
documentation cited 14th January ’64 as the effective homologation
date.
 |
| FIA
Homologation document |
 |
| Tipo
236 engine Courtesy Berni Motore |
 |
‘Early’ Abarth Simca 2000 GT – ‘shortnose,’ and no
brake or engine bay cooling duct
intakes. Courtesy Ultimatespecs.com |
During ’64 running changes were applied to the bodywork –
two circular intakes for ducting to cool the front brakes, a rectangular
additional intake running between these and below the level of the central
elliptical intake, and circular intakes in the C pillar to increase air
circulation in the engine bay.
 |
Next iteration – still ‘shortnose’ but now with
additional intakes. (#0046). Courtesy en.wheelz.me |
Further points of detail on #0046 are seen below:
For
’64 there were two more Abarth Simca GT 2000 versions. In the January, a new 6 speed model was
powered by the Tipo 236-S/A engine, tuned for 202 bhp. In addition to the power increase, the car
was a little lighter – at 665 Kg – resulting in a top speed capability of 168
mph. A more radically revised variant
appeared the following month. The main new
characteristic was a bodyshell largely still of aluminium construction, but now
featuring a front clamshell in GRP. This
swiftly became known as the ‘longnose,’ a format which had been first seen in
the 1300 version of the Abarth Simca GT in Spring ’63; the same configuration
was evident in the Fiat Abarth 1000 Bialbero GT released in September ’63. As usual, there is some confusion as to these
dates, the factory for instance citing January ’65 as the point at which the
1300 became available as a longnose.
With a higher engine output of 209 bhp and concerns about the durability
of the gearboxes ongoing, the opportunity was taken to specify a Tipo 132-A, 5
speed transmission for the GT 2000 longnose.
This version was back to a kerb weight of 675 Kg and claimed top speed
of 161 mph.
 |
‘Longnose.’ (0117) A well-known Abarth Simca 2000 GT
owned by Les Burd. Courtesy Mike Gulett |
The
car below, #0125, was built from one of a batch of bodyshells which were in ’66
still on the premises at Corso Marche after production of the 1300/2000 GTs had
ceased two years previously. It is
included here to illustrate the form of the 2000 GT ‘longnose’ body. Otherwise, it is not typical, however, in so
much as it was equipped with a Simca 1204 cc engine, as featured in the
Bertone-styled Simca 1200S coupe.
Further details about these bodies and their utilisation are provided in
the concluding paragraph of this article.
 |
‘Longnose.’ (#0125) Just a larger single, central
intake at the front, but engine bay intakes retained. Courtesy Bonhams |
A second longnose appeared in January ’65. This was tweaked in minor degrees to enhance
reliability and better accommodate the Tipo 132 six speed gearbox – featuring a
reversion to the 202 bhp specification Tipo 236-S/A engine.
As mentioned above, the relationship with Beccaris for
the Simca floor-based GTs was short-lived.
The Carrozzeria was well respected for its proven capability to provide
bodies in aluminium to a consistent dimensional quality standard. But it is probable that disputes arose with
Carlo Abarth over production aspects such as delivery scheduling, as he was
soon prospecting for an alternative bodyshell supplier. Perhaps he first became aware of Sibona &
Basano as a newly formed Turin company in ’62 when Pietro Sibona joined forces
with the Basano brothers, Emilio and Elio.
It quickly established itself as an innovative enterprise, keen to
exploit new technologies. As such, it
sought to rapidly build its experience of working with the ‘plastic’ materials
then becoming seen as an alternative to the sheet metal traditionally utilised
in car body construction. This focus enabled the company to be of interest to
the automotive trade and consumer publications and resulting coverage of its
activities apparently resulted in a higher profile/reputation than might
otherwise have been the case. Carlo
Abarth for one considered Sibona & Basano’s focus aligned with his own
objective of creating cars with exceptional power to weight ratios.
One of the companies that Sibona & Basano found itself working
for was Studebaker, the innovative American manufacturer which managed for some
time to be competitive with the mighty Big Three of Detroit. Legendary designer, Brooks Stevens, as well
as consulting on industrial design across many business sectors, became
involved with efforts to revitalise and ‘save’ the Studebaker company. In seeking to achieve this with a product-led
strategy, Stevens came across Sibona & Basano and his account of his visit
to the business illustrates the commercial naivety of the Carrozzeria: “Fortunately,
I discovered the small body shop in Turin called Sibona-Basano. I went in and
there was laundry on the line and chickens running around. I got the two little guys out and filled them
with Camparis. We got (from) them good
prices - $ 16,500 per car - an incredibly low price. Even better, the finished vehicles were worthy
of a Pininfarina."
A project in collaboration with Ghia and Virgil Exner
fizzled out before becoming financially beneficial for Sibona
& Basano – perhaps ‘bad luck,’ as the design involved was deemed to be
somewhat bizarre in its press reportage.
Subsequently, the possibility of a production run for Lamborghini arose,
but Sibona & Basano found itself outflanked/outbid for this by the vastly
more experienced carrozzeria, Touring.
There should too have been potential with a beach car, ‘The Decathlon,’
for Fiat, based on the 500, but this was another that attracted criticism for
being ‘odd.’ Another 500-based project
was a city car named Tsé-Tsé, but Fiat’s management could not be convinced to
push it forward for production.
Sibona & Basano’s tendency to become involved with
projects which lacked commercial focus and were liable to drift was again seen
when there was renewed contact with Virgil Exner. This time, a nostalgia-based concept was
proposed – an open sports car echoing a design that had stalled in its original
creation, some forty years previously.
The vehicle, titled Mercer Cobra, looked good on paper, but once ‘in the
metal,’ could only have a ‘show car’ existence where it usually drew
complimentary comments but failed to attract any orders for a functioning
model. In another ‘success’ within the
halls of a motor show, Sibona & Basano enjoyed some good press for the
Autonova MPV when it was presented in conjunction with NSU in ’65 in Frankfurt,
but full development was ruled out when the Neckarsulm-based manufacturer
reviewed its strategic position and decided that it should put all its focus on
the nascent RO80.
Further hope that new business would enable Sibona &
Basano to prosper was not rewarded. A
Bizzarrini proposal for a new Spyder model to be bodied by Sibona & Basano
failed to get past the planning stage and it became common within the industry
for Sibona & Basano to be thought of as a jinxed business. It was not surprising therefore that Pietro
Sibona decided to exit the business in ’66.
As of ’67, Sibona & Basano was no longer trading. Considering the situation at the beginning of
the decade, when Sibona & Basano was involved with the GT models which did so much to
establish Abarth’s reputation as the maker of attractive, innovative sports
cars, it was both an unexpected and sad end.
 |
Eberhard Mahle, Aspern April ’64 Courtesy Rajdy i Wyścigi |
Just one week later, Abarth Simca 2000s were first and
second at a GT2.5 race at Imola, Franco Patria being the winner. Patria enjoyed a successful summer in the car
with DARM GT wins at Mainz and at Wunsdorf, further victories at the Coupes du
Salon and the Coupes de Paris Salon, a second placing in the Coppa Citta di
Enna and another second placing at the major hillclimb meeting at
Schauinsland. But, as the season turned
to autumn, Patria’s good fortune deserted him – he was killed in an accident,
(in which he was not at fault), at the 1000 Kms of Paris, at Montlhéry, on
October 11th.
In that first full year on track for the Abarth Simca
2000 GT, Herrmann also took a victory – at the Coppa Citta di Enna – while Kurt
Ahrens Jr. was also a winner, in the Pries von Tirol at Innsbruck. Behind closed doors at Corso Marche however,
Carlo Abarth had lost interest. He was
especially unimpressed with the Simca transmissions, which, despite
modifications/the addition of ratios, proved to be prone to failures, often, it
was believed, because of inadequate heat treatment of the gears
themselves. But, in any event, the
original co-operation agreement with Simca – by then in effect with Chrysler,
new owner of the brand - came to an end as ’64 concluded. At that point, production of both the 1300
and 2000 Abarth Simca GTs ceased.
After the 2000 GT’s racing competitiveness had lapsed,
the model became the subject of an unexpected ‘rebirth,’ orchestrated by the
West London Abarth specialist garage, Radbourne Racing. The business, (alongside an associated Weber
carburettor distribution firm), was founded in October ’65 by brothers John and
Geoff Anstead together with Lincoln Small.
Initially servicing/repairing and providing parts for Abarths being run
in and around London, Radbourne was soon assembling cars for local supply in
the UK with agreement from Corso Marche.
Small became the partner usually making the trips to Turin necessary for
facilitation of the business. In his
account , Abarth, Radbourne Racing and Me, published in 2025 by Whitefox
Publishing Ltd, (ISBN 978-1-916797-04-8), Small outlines this episode of
serendipity:
On one of my regular visits to Abarth’s factory in
late 1966 I was looking around the yard with Lorenzo Avidano when I spotted
some forlorn-looking Abarth Simca 1300 and 2-litre bodyshells just sitting
there in one of the warehouses. There
were thirty of them. . . . judging by
the look on Avidano’s face when I said, ‘I’d like to buy those bodyshells,
please,’ he thought I was totally mad. .
. . I’m convinced he thought we’d go broke buying those bodyshells. As it turned out we nearly did!
They would become the Radbourne 1300, of course, which
despite everything else of a much larger nature that we were involved in seems
to be the thing that put us on the map in some ways.
The Radbourne Abarth 1300 was finally ready by the
summer of 1968 . . . to avoid purchase tax I decided to sell (them) in
component form. . . . We priced them at
£1,350, but it should be pointed out that we also just happened to offer a
completion service and every customer went for that so no one actually built
one from a kit.
Unfortunately, interest was less than we expected . .
. By the time we’d sold eight we were forced to pull the plug on the project
due to pressure from the bank. . . . We
were left with twenty-one remaining ‘shells and we reluctantly decided to just
get rid of them almost regardless of price.
