The Autobianchi A112 Abarth

  The company Autobianchi, which was a part of the Fiat group, announced in 1969 the Autobianchi A112 on the market. The normal version was using the engine of the model Fiat 850 Sport, but with reduced power of 44 hp. Because of the light-weight body (only 685 kg) and the very good driving capability, the workshop of Karl Abarth put the engine of a TCR 1000 into a A112. The first prototype had about 100 HP or even more. But Fiat decided to decrease the power of the first A 112 to 58 HP; thats the reason for the official name A112 HP 58. In 1974 the A112 HP 70 was announced with (logically) 70 HP.

   There were several changes during the lifetime of the A112 to the body work and interieur of that car, but the power remains the same. The production of the Abarth version stopped in 1985. Esspecially in germany most of the A112 Abarths were modified to an "Abarth-Sport" version, which was developed by the German import company Walter Hagen. This modification was using Abarth wheels CD 30 (taken from 124 spider) together with a front spoiler and some widening plastic body parts; for this modification the wheel houses had to be cut out. Also suspension system was modified on most of the cars to get more "ground feeling" (even this was most of the times illegal - at least in germany).

   Most of the A112 Abarths were used from young people to start into motor racing (sometimes of course using just normal streets for their "races"); that caused the lifetime of these cars to be reduced dramatically. In some countries like Italy or Germany several "A112-cups" were announced, which were one of the cheapest possibilities to get motorsports experiences. Due to these facts and the tremendous corrosion problems of that car, todays there are only a few cars which has still survided.