Mario Colucci and his design team designed the iconic Abarth Sportscar, the 1969 Abarth 1300 Sport Spider SE010 'Quattro Fari' Sports Racing Prototype. Carlo Abarth mostly liked an engine inclined over the rear axle and that was the way they did it. Arturo Merzario did the testing and the tuning.
On April 7, 1968, the latest variant Abarth 2000 Sport Prototipo model made its victorious debut in the Ampus hill-climb in France driven by the Swiss sprint specialist Peter Schetty. The car was derived from previous experience with the SE04 series of barchetta cars. They were assembled around a multi-tubular spaceframe chassis in 22mm chrome-molybdenum tubing, stiffened and reinforced with laminated glass fibre panelling. Overall chassis weight was claimed to be only 47kg and weight distribution, with the 2-litre 4-cylinder engine hanging over the rear was split 38 per cent to the front and 62 per cent rear.
The 1,496cc engine at Ampus had two twin-choke Weber 58DCO3 carburettors, and power output was up to around 250bhp at a raucous 8,000rpm. Cooling was by twin nose-mounted water and oil radiators. The wheelbase length was listed as 2085mm, front and rear track 1405mm and 1435mm and the bodywork comprised a lightweight detachable glass fibre shell that complete with vast goldfish-bowl windscreen. The car's overall weight was declared as being 575kg and it was good for some 270km/h maximum speed.
The sloping wedge-shaped nose form was most distinctive, and it was made even more so by the adoption of twin headlights on each side forming the soon-famous 'Quattro Fari' or four-headlight keynote by which the Abarth SE010 model would become known worldwide.
Although no official record appears to survive of the total number of each design that were produced by the Abarth factory, it is widely acknowledged that perhaps as many as 50 of these SE010 sports-prototypes were completed as the design enjoyed a long and distinguished motor racing career.
The first 25 examples of the 2000 Sport Spider were produced for FIA homologation into the contemporary Group 4 category, into which the design was accepted on April 1, 1969. Both four-valve per cylinder and two-valve per cylinder heads were used in the overall production run, with the 8-valve units tending to be preferred for hill-climb use, and the 16-valve alternative for circuit racing.
The chassis no. SE010/0040 made its debut in 1000 km at Monza 1970 driven by Mario Casoni/Johannes Ortner (#23) and was used in some hillclimbs and a few races. For 1971 it was run as part of the Squadra Corsa Meda. It finished P11 in the 1000 km at Monza driven Pal Joe/Romolo Becchetti (#29). Pal Jo used it to race in the interserie 500 km Imola.
The car passed to the Italian Collector and Racer Fabrizio Violati. There it was on display in the Maranello Rosso Collection and was listed by him as a 2 Litre, 2000 model, and the undeniable highlight of the group. To judge from its condition then, it had clearly been restored at some point during that custody and this must have been a highly sympathetic job, as the interior had the appearance of being completely original, as it still does, while perhaps some new/old stock front & rear body sections were used to compensate for the later modifications done during the 1971 season.
When offered by Bonhams in 2014, it was established that this 2000 model attribution was actually incorrect, and that the power unit that it carried by then had a 55mm stroke of the 1300 unit, and 8 valve, 8 plug head.
Although its race record is now more comprehensively charted, one aspect of its history is still yet to be documented, that of when its original 2 litre unit would have been replaced with the 1300 that it has today.
With the research carried out, a restoration was commenced to return it as closely as possible to the aesthetics of its original career early days and the iconic 1970 Monza guise. At the same time the seller reports that it has been completely mechanically rebuilt and that it is now running superbly and is a lot of fun to drive.
