Abarth 207A Boano Spider

Italian Carlo born Austrian Abarth was European champion of motor bike of five times in the Thirties before it began the production of the exhausts. Using its old vat Porsche of friend, Abarth was rented as a director at Cisitalia de Piero Dusio. After the company folded the continuous development by Abarth of the cars based by FIAT. The Cisitalia last was type 204 and first Abarth was the 205A.

Limited production started in 1950, but Abarth's main product remained tuning kits, using Carlo Abarth's exhausts. Together with the limited production 205A, Abarth modified various other Italian GTs, altering both the appearance and performance of the original cars. By 1954, Abarth employed 90 people and had become a household tuning name.

At the end of 1954 Carlo Abarth began designing a new two-seater roadster, again based on the Fiat 1100. The engine was uprated by increasing the compression ratio and fitting new intake and exhaust manifolds. Bolted on the intake manifold were two Weber carburetors. Power of the engine was uprated to 66 bhp from the original 36 bhp.

A completely new chassis was designed. It was quite unusual, being a steel platform chassis when at that time spaceframes were the norm for sport cars. The suspension used was directly derived from the Fiat 1100 and consisted of independent front trailing arms and a live rear axle. Continuing the Cisitalia/Abarth naming policy, the new car was dubbed 207A.

At its 1955 Turin Motorshow debut it was clothed in a Carozzeria Boano built and styled body. One of the car's most striking features of the 207A were two large stainless steel exhaust pipes on the right hand side of the body, underlining Abarth's core business. The stunning two-tone appearance of the 207A Roadster gave it plenty of press attention and an order for ten examples was secured, all of them US-bound.

Available in various two-tone colour schemes, the 207A was mainly intended for racing. Chassis 001 made its racing debut in the 12 Hours of Sebring race in 1955, where it was disqualified after illegal refueling while leading its class. This remained the sole memorable competition appearance of the 207A, which was let down by its heavy platform chassis.

The exact number of 207As constructed is uncertain, but ten seems to be the most accurate figure. Another two chassis were constructed and fitted with a two seater roadster and a coupe body, with a similar Boano design as the original sports roadster. These were known as the 208A and 209A respectively.

Let down by its high price and disapointing performance, the 207A was not a success. After the disapointing 207A project, Abarth returned to tuning cars and found in the new Fiat 600 the perfect base car. Abarth would get a legendary status with the 600 based racers.

General specifications
Record last updated Before 12 / 01 / 2004
Country of origin Italy
Produced in 1955
Numbers built 10
Body design Mario Felice Boano
Weight 522 kilo / 1150.8 lbs

Drivetrain
Engine Fiat Straight 4
Engine Location Front , longitudinally mounted
Displacement 1.089 liter / 66.5 cu in
Valvetrain 2 valves / cylinder, OHV
Fuel feed 2 Weber 36 DCO4 Carburetors
Aspiration Naturally Aspirated
Gearbox 4 speed Manual
Drive Rear wheel drive

Performance figures
Power 66 bhp / 49 KW @ 6000 rpm
Torque N/A
BHP/Liter 61 bhp / liter
Power to weight ratio 0.13 bhp / kg
Top Speed 165 km/h / 103 mph
0-60 mph Acceleration N/A