Carlo Abarth

Karl (Carlo) Alberto Abarth (November 15, 1908 - October 24, 1979) was an Austrian born automobile designer, he changed his nationality later to became an Italian citizen, at the same time the name Karl was changed to more Italian sound Carlo.Cite web|url=http://www.sportingfiatsclub.com/models/124/CarloAbarth.asp|title=Carlo Abarth|accessdate=2008-01-26|work=sportingfiatsclub.com]

Abarth was born in Vienna, during the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a teenager, he worked for Castagna in Italy (1925-27), designing motorbike and bicycle chassis. [ [http://www.conceptcarz.com/vehicle/z11226/Fiat_Fiat%20Record%20Monza%20Bialbero/default.aspx conceptcarz.com] (last accessed March 6, 2007)] Back in Austria, he worked for Motor Thun and Joseph Opawsky (1927-34), and raced motorbikes [ [http://www.grandprix.com/gpe/con-abart.html Abarth Corse SpA] from grandprix.com (last accessed March 6, 2007)] , winning his first race on a James Cycle in Salzburg on July 29, 1928). [ [http://www.abarth.nl/index.html Carlo Abarth] from abarth.nl (last accessed March 6, 2007)] He later was European champion five times, along continuing the engineering. After a serious accident in Linz he abandoned motorbike racing, and designed a sidecar (1933) with which he managed to beat the Orient Express railway on the 1300 kilometer stretch from Vienna to Ostend (1934). [ [http://www.reinhard-mergel.de/not_only_old_cars/italian_cars/Abarth/Abarth__Historie/abarth__historie.html Abarth Historie] from reinhard-mergel.de (last accessed using Google cache, March 6, 2007)]

He moved permanently to Italy in 1934, where he met Ferdinand Porsche's son-in-law Anton Piëch, and married his secretary. [ [http://usuarios.lycos.es/cporschecat/angles/porsches/cisiteng.htm Cisitalia] from usuarios.lycos.es (last accessed March 7, 2007)] Abarth was long hospitalized and had his racing career end, due to a racing accident in Yugoslavia (1938). Following this, he moved to Merano, where his ancestors originated from. [ [http://www.histomobile.com/histomob/internet/1/histo02.htm Abarth history] from histomobile.com (last accessed March 6, 2007)] Abarth got to know both Tazio Nuvolari and the family-friend Ferry Porsche, and with engineer Rudolf Hruska and Piero Dusio, he established the «Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia» (CIS Italia, later becoming Cisitalia), having the Italian Porsche Konstruktionen agency (1943-48). The first automobile outcome of this cooperation was the rather unsuccessful «Tipo 360» F1 prototype (see also Porsche 360). The «CIS Italia» project ended when Dusio moved to Argentina (1949).

Carlo Abarth then founded the Abarth & C. company with
Armando Scagliarini (father of Cisitalia racing driver Guido Scagliarini) in Turin (March 31 1949), [ [http://www.lanciarally037.com/abarthpage.htm Abarth ... attenti alle scorpione!!!] from lanciarally037.com (last accessed March 6, 2007)] using his astrological sign, the
Scorpio, as the company logo. The company made racing cars, and became a major supplier of high-performance exhaust pipes, that still are in production as «Abarth». Carlo Abarth personally set various speed records at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza (October 20, 1965). [ [http://www.italiaspeed.com/2007/motor_shows/geneva/preview/abarth/history.html Behind the Abarth name] from italiaspeed.com (last accessed March 6, 2007)] He sold the company on July 31 1971 to Fiat and continued a while as a CEO and then moved back to Vienna, Austria.

Footnotes

External links

* [http://www.abarth.it/ Official Abarth site]
* [http://www.myabarth.com/ Fiat Abarth Photos]
* [http://www.abarth-gmr.be abarth works museum - Lier - Belgium]
* [http://www.abarth.be a tribute to Carlo Abarth - Scuderia La Fortuna]