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Abarth's Artwork for Alfa Romeo

Name: Abarth 1000 derivazione Alfa Romeo 1958
Brand: Abarth

Created on April 23, 2026

Text:

Karl Ludvigsen

Photos:

Ludvigsen Partners

Bruno von Rotz

Ludvigsen Partners

Bruno von Rotz

Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - Presentation at the Turin Motor Show, photographed by Edward Eves

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - 1958 Turin Motor Show: even on the Bertone stand, the coupé stands out with its unusual shape

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - 1958 Turin Motor Show: strongly rounded rear end with recessed lights and huge panoramic windshield. Just a hint of the teardrop-shaped bulges above the rear wheels

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - From this perspective, it almost anticipates the Ferrari 250 GTO. The exhaust silencer lies freely in the airstream

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - 1958 Turin Motor Show: on the left with glasses Laurence Pomeroy Jr., technical editor at the English magazine "The Motor"

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - On its arrival in Turin, it is greeted by a light rain shower

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - Test drive with glued-on woolen threads for flow analysis: While everything flows evenly at the front, there is strong turbulence at the rear

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - Carlo Abarth leans skeptically over the car that has just been delivered. Unfounded: The workmanship of the body was so good that assembly could begin immediately

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - Ready to drive and unpainted: Back from Bertone and back at Abarth, ready for completion

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - The headroom of the Abarth mechanics is deceptive. The correct seats have not yet been fitted

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 chassis. The exhaust silencer in front of the radiator is clearly visible

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - Abarth broke new ground with the tubular frame. The five-speed gearbox was fully synchronized according to the Porsche system

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - The intricately braced rear section of the tubular frame to accommodate the fuel tank and suspension struts

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - drawing of the tubular frame with chassis and engine. Good to see: the unusual exhaust routing and the four coil springs

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - Illustration of the air ducting: in the direction of travel, exhaust cooling on the left, engine cooling in the middle and intake air on the right. The inlets for the interior ventilation are in front of the windshield

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - The four-cylinder engine downsized to 998 cm3. In the foreground the shielded exhaust manifold

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - The front-hinged hood makes the engine accessible up to the windshield. The circular, foam-covered air vents on the right and left serve to ventilate the interior

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - Two twin Weber 40 DCO 3 carburetors with common air manifold

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - More touring car than racing car: interior with two-tone upholstery, carpet trim, rich instrumentation and Nardi steering wheel

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Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 - After the accident on the Avus. Despite severe deformation, the changes at the rear are still clearly visible

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Alfa Romeo 1000 Abarth Colani (1958) - rebuilt by Colani on a crashed car according to his own ideas (Techno Classica 2018)

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Alfa Romeo 1000 Abarth Colani (1958) - rebuilt by Colani on a crashed car according to his own ideas (Rétromobile 2013)

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Alfa Romeo 1000 Abarth Colani (1958) - on the stand of "Les Galeries de Damiers" (Rétromobile 2013)

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Alfa Romeo 1000 Abarth Colani (1958) - Interior of the rare sports car, seen at "Les Galeries de Damiers" (Techno Classica 2013)

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Summary

In an alliance between Fiat's Abarth and Alfa Romeo, a brilliant sports-racing coupe was created in 1958. After wowing the crowds in the Turin show the Alfa Romeo Abarth 1000 disappeared – only to surface strangely in Germany.

This article contains the following chapters

From Porsche to Cisitalia
Downsizing
Bigger power, smaller capacity
Spaceframe
Fascinating shape
A second life in Germany

Estimated reading time: 12min

Preview (beginning of the article)

On the fifth of November 1958 Italy's president Giovanni Gronchi opened the 40th Italian Motor Show in the exposition buildings in Turin's Valentino Park. Showgoers were treated to a veritable festival of spectacular coachwork on the chassis of Ferrari, Maserati, Lancia, Alfa Romeo and Fiat. New was the prototype of the forthcoming Fiat 1500 Cabriolet, a sports car powered by a productionized version of Osca's famous twin-cam four. Vignale's Italia 2000 version of the Triumph TR3 was an attraction, as was Ghia's latest Dart II on a Chrysler chassis. For this visitor to the Turin Show, however, there was only a single car on display. This was a sublimely delectable GT coupe presented on the Bertone stand by Austrian showman and engineer Carlo Abarth.

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