Automotoretrò 2018 in Turin FCA Heritage Featuring Fiat, Abarth, Alfa Romeo, & Lancia – Video
FCA Heritage is to take part in the 36th edition of “Automotoretrò”, to be staged at Lingotto Fiere, Turin from the 1st to the 4th of February together with the ninth edition of “Automotoracing”. One of the event’s most exciting sessions is sure to be the presentation scheduled at 12.30 am on the 1st of February at the Lingotto Congress Centre, where Director Roberto Giolito will be introducing major novelties in the operations of FCA Heritage, the Group Department dedicated to conserving and promoting the historic legacy of the Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Lancia and Abarth brands.
Fiat-Abarth 850 TC
Carlo Abarth is world-famous for his courage in transforming simple mass-market runabouts into brilliant racing cars capable of defeating all comers on Europe’s top tracks. The Fiat-Abarth 850 TC is one of the milestones in Abarth’s constant development work on the basis of the Fiat 600 D. With sophisticated technical changes to its setups but above all to its mechanicals, the 850 TC got up to 140 km/h due to its light weight (610 kg) and the 52 horsepower squeezed out of its engine, upgraded to 847 cc. The car displayed at Automotoretrò has a unique back-story, because it is not an “ordinary” racing car, but one of the unmarked cars used by the Italian Finance Police in the fight against smuggling. A car which looks at first glance like a run-of-the-mill Fiat 600, but which can actually provide stunning performances. It is on show in its current condition, before planned thorough restoration by FCA Heritage.
Lancia Fulvia Coupé Montecarlo
With lines inspired by elegant Riva motor launches, the Fulvia Coupé set its seal on an era for Lancia, a period of daring design and countless victories. The 14 thousand units built at the Chivasso plant, which laid the foundations for Italian rallying predominance, sowed the seed for the many wins by the Stratos, the 037 and all the Delta versions in the subsequent decades. The Montecarlo version originated from the idea of creating a car to commemorate Munari and Mannucci’s famous victory in the 1972 Montecarlo Rally. The car was inspired by the livery of the splendid 1.6 HF “fanalone”, built on the basis of the production Fulvia Coupé series II, with 90 horsepower engine providing a top speed of 170 km/h. With no bumpers and matte black painted bonnet and boot, the Fulvia Montecarlo cars were a success within a success, to the point where production continued even after the restyling known as the “Fulvia 3”. The car exhibited at Automotoretrò by FCA Heritage is from second series, in the rare blue colour.
Spidereuropa Pininfarina
The 124 Sport Spider was one of the longest-lived of the Fiat cars built in the last century. Styled by Pininfarina in 1966, it enjoyed a dual career of unflagging success in Europe and America until 1985. Twenty years in which the curvy, compact Spider, created by shortening the chassis of the 124 sedan, was modified in response to the mechanical upgrading of various Fiat models, remaining in production for the States alone from 1975 onwards. In 1982, its ceaseless success and demand from the European market led Pininfarina to reintroduce the Spidereuropa, a reworking of the timeless convertible to suit European requirements, on this side of the Atlantic. The gem displayed by FCA Heritage on its Automotoretrò stand is one of the first Spidereuropa Pininfarina cars to be built, in perfect, as-new condition. It has only done 10,000 kilometres: for its 105 horsepower two litre engine, little more than the running-in distance!
Alfa Romeo Spider
The icon of “Italian style” convertibles, the Alfa Romeo Spider displayed on the stand belongs to the last version of this glorious model to be built, launched in 1966 as the final work of Battista Pininfarina in person. There were three series during the car’s thirty-year lifetime: “cuttlefish bone”, “Kamm tail” and “aerodynamic”, before the 1990 restyling, also by the Pininfarina design centre, which restored the original purity of line. Developed on the engineering base of the Giulietta/Giulia Spider cars, the Milanese convertible was fitted with the various evolutions of the Giulia engines: 1600, 1300, 1750 and 2000. In the final series, the magnificent two litre powerplant was modernised with the adoption of electronic ignition and injection. The car on display, which has always belonged to FCA, was used for technical tests such as the custom-colour test, which makes it a virtually unique Alfa Romeo.