FIAT History, Vol. 8
Fiat Abarth 750
Stay with me on this one, because there were multiple design houses involved...
The story of the Fiat Abarth 750 begins in 1955 at the Turin Car Show. At that show, FIAT introduced the Fiat 600, a small family saloon featuring a 633cc 4 cylinder motor that produced 22 hp. Carlo Abarth, ever the mad scientist of small motors and cars, saw the vehicle's potential and spoke about it with Elio Zagato at the show.
Elio agreed with Calro's vision and, in 1956, FIAT introduced the "Fiat 600 Derivazione Abarth 750 GT Carrozzeria Zagato". That mouthful to say was soon reduced to simply the "FIAT Abarth 750 GT Zagato" or "FIAT Abarth 750 Zagato"
The 750 used the 600's 633cc motor bored and stroked to 747cc. With a stronger crankshaft and increased compression, the 750 produced 47 hp. Importantly, the 747cc motor positioned it perfectly to compete in Class H racing - designed for motors between 500 and 750cc. Protoypes of the 750 were entered in the 1956 Mille Miglia; 1 of which took second in its class.
By the time the car was officially debuted at the 1956 Geneva Car Show, the 750 GT sported its famous "double bubble" top. The bubbles weren't just a fashion statement. Abarth had doubled down on weight reduction so much they had lowered the roof line to the point they needed to create the bubbles to allow the driver and passenger enough head room to fit into the car.
The weight reduction effort was fairly extreme; the 750 GT tipped the scales at a mere 1179 lbs! Five Zagato GTs finished the 1957 Mille Miglia with Alfonso Thiele driving his to the 750cc class win.
At the same time Abarth and Zagato were designing the Zagato GT, Carlo Abarth and Franco Scaglione over at Bertone were creating the 750 Bertone (changed to the 750 Record) to pursue speed records. Only 2 were built. The 750 Record was an extremely areodynamic, single seat, purpose-built race car. It only had brakes on the front axle and had a 3 speed gearbox with a high ratio axle designed to hold its top speed. The car weighed 847 lbs.
On 17 June 1956, the 750 Record was put to the test at the Monza high speed race track. The record attempts lasted 5 days. They began with a 24 hour attempt. Remo Cattini, Umberto Maglioli, Mario Poltronieri, and Alfonso Thiele combined to cover a H class record of 2,326.16 miles at a record average speed of 96.9 mph. It was the very first of what became 155 speed records Carlo Abarth powered vehicles would eventually be credited with setting.
Over the next 3 days the 750 Record would go on to set records at the 500 km, 500 mile, 1000 km distances as well as records for 48 hour endurance and 72 hour endurance runs. Over 72 hours, the 750 Record logged an amazing 6,291.7 miles! In all, the 750 Record ended up setting 10 world records for speed and endurance.
If the single axle-only brakes seem bothersome to you, the high speed track at Monza was designed so cars didn't have to slow down except to pit. Brakes on all 4 corners were not needed, so many purpose-built race cars of the era only had brakes on 1 axle to save weight.
Abarth wasn't done with setting speed records in a 750. In 1957, this time partnering with Pininfarina, Carlo took another single seat aerodynamic 750 to Monza. This car featured a tube framed chassis. Over 4 days in July 1957, the Pininfarina-designed 750 set 15 new world records, including an average speed of 102.75 mph over 72 hours.
Meanwhile, off the track, especially in Italy and Belgium, the 750 Zagato GT was racking up win after win in hill climbs. And in the US, the Abarth 750 GT Zagato took 1st and 2nd in the GT750 class at the 1957 Sebring 12 hour endurance race.
Abarth's success at Monza resulted in an updated 750 for 1958. First shown at the 1958 Paris Motor Show, the 750 was renamed the 750 Record Monza Zagato. Designed by Pininfarina and built by Zagato, the Record Monza offered a choice in motors: a single overhead cam version produced 44hp and a dual overhead cam version called the Bialbero produced 57 hp. The double bubble top disappeared.
At the time, Rod & Track said this about the 750:
"Not only is the Zagato tremendous fun to drive, one also feels safe at all times. The car is easy to drive, steady at speed and nimble in traffic. True, the behemoths with the long, low look do tower menacingly in heavy traffic, but when the lights change this little car leaps forward in a manner that comes as a bit of a shock to most people up there.”
The 750 Record Monza Bialbero dominated race circuits and hill climbs. (By the way modern 124 owners - ever wonder why your perfomance exhaust is called the Record Monza? Now you know.)
Around the world, on the track, the 750 was racking up top step podium finishes. It started off appropraitely winning a 12 hour enduro at Monza. In the US, it took the top 4 spots in its class at the 12 hour Sebring race for "Team Roosevelt", a race team run by FDR's son.
Overall, the 750 Zagato ended up winning hundreds of races worldwide. In 1960, the GT class rules changed. The 750cc class disappeared in international racing; replaced by 700cc and 1000cc classes. National races also had a 850cc class. Abarth built 850cc and 1000cc motors. Zagato was no longer involved in the larger displacement cars; Abarth built them.
The 750cc Zagato continued to race, now entering the 1000cc class, securing more wins through 1962.
The Fiat Abarth 750 Zagato secured a place in automotive history as one of the best racing cars of its era, and certianly the best in its class. 750s today are highly desireable, with well preserved units fetching well north of 100K at auction. In 1921, a 750 sold for $230,000 on Bring-a-trailer. Don't despair though. Most 750s go for between $50,000 and $100,000.