Lot 236: 1959 Fiat-Abarth Zagato 750 Coupé
Coachwork by Carrozzeria Zagato

The fabulous multiple World Championship-winning family of small-capacity Abarth competition cars includes numerous variations upon the theme of the rear-engined, aerodynamic-bodied two-seat Berlinetta or Coupe.

The Fiat-Abarth 750 featured the single-cam four-cylinder Torinese engine while the bodywork of the Sestriere model such as this was built normally in steel and featured two prominent cool-air scoops on top of the tail to cool the hard-worked engine. Other variants of this same design used Fiat engines of up to 800cc upon occasion, fitted into the same basic Fiat floor-pan/Abarth-cum-Zagato body structure.

The basic 750cc engine had bore and stroke dimension of 61mm x 64mm and displaced a mighty 747cc. Abarth raised the compression ratio to 9.8:1, demanding good quality fuel which was not always easy to acquire even as late as 1959 in Italy and neighbouring countries. Power output was quoted as being 43.5bhp at 5,800rpm, but the unit breathed through a Weber 32 IMPE carburettor as standard and response was very good, matching the well-balanced little Coupe’s tenacious road-holding and stable handling.

These cars weighed-in at only 535Kg, barely 1100lbs, and when British racing driver Innes Ireland tried one for the first time on the demanding Lake Garda country road circuit he described the experience as having been “More fun than a barrow-load of monkeys!”. While we would point out that this Fiat-Abarth has been preserved in public exhibition for many years and we recommend expert inspection and preparation before any attempt is made to start or run it – here too, we are confident, is a tremendous amount of small-car fun on four wheels….

The Sestriere model was named after the Rallye Sestrieres which was one of Europe’s most punishing Alpine rally events on the annual calendar at that time, providing the Italian round of the contemporary rally drivers’ Championship. Above all the Fiat-Abarth 750 Sestriere was a tough and resilient little competition car and this example would be an unusually attractive proposition for event organisers, and ideal for the modern idiom of classic rallies now run in Europe, the USA and Australasia.