Abarth revived: how the Italian brand has reinvented itself

Appealing products have given Abarth momentum but, as Alvisi explains, there’s more: “The real change came in 2015, when sales doubled. It was 4000-5000 at the beginning and has now grown to over 18,000 [for Europe, Middle
 East and Africa] last year.” The big leap was achieved by increasing the number of FCA dealers holding the Abarth franchise, allowing more cars to find more owners. And it’s selling more tuning kits, too, with shipments of the wooden crates that Abarth sends parts in exceeding 10,000 units. 

Raising Abarth awareness has been a mission. “Where there’s passion, there’s a community across the brand,” says Alvisi of something he learned while working for Ducati. “Interest in Abarth was growing,
 so we opened The Scorpionship 16 months ago and gathered 100,000 people through social networks for events, track days and technology workshops. We want to put people in the cars and in touch with the history, and we need people to get on track with the cars. If you don’t drive an Abarth, you won’t understand.” 

You can join The Scorpionship as an owner or a dreamer. And collectors of older examples now have a register, as well as a factory restoration service, which has already completed more than 10 cars. These activities are as much about burnishing the desirability of Abarth as highlighting the romance of restoring old models. Alvisi points out that “the residual values of Abarths haven’t collapsed”, as a look online at older used examples confirms. “Strong used values are fundamental for success,” he adds. 

Is it success that might prompt Abarth to build something in the spirit of its coachbuilt beauties from the 1950s and 1960s? “You cannot come in here and see these old cars and not dream of those kind of cars,” says Alvisi. “But you have
 to be clear about what you need to 
do now. It’s got to be step by step. We cannot dream without stable roots. We need to be profitable for FCA and establish ourselves as a stable, global brand that can go in all countries. We’ve done a good job in Italy. We’re on the right lines in the UK, Germany and France. But there’s a lot of scope still. I see a lot of space to do this once we get the market share up in those countries,” he says. “Iconic brands need something that goes directly to your gut. It’s about heritage, but it’s also about the present.” 

Alvisi won’t be drawn further, other than to grin and wave Giolito’s Bialbero 750 sketch at us. No, we can’t photograph it, he says, but the existence of this sketch, and many others, should be cause for hope. 

Four stars from Abarth's back catalogue:

1956 Fiat Abarth 750 Zagato 


Derived from the rear-engined 600, it could be had with a mildly modified standard 600 shell or coachbuilt bodywork, as with this Zagato. 

1960 Fiat Abarth 850 TC 

The 600 became ever faster, famously sporting a heat-dissipating open engine lid and an extended front bumper containing an oil cooler. The 850 produced 51bhp to push 793kg. 

1975 Autobianchia 112 Abarth 


Not sold here, but the Lancia Ypsilon
 is its descendant. It did much to keep the Abarth name alive in the 1970s, its 70bhp and 700kg combo a big European hit.