At the beginning of April 1896, it is just a small entry in the Allgäu newspaper, barely a few centimetres high: "Johann Baptist Abt takes over the hoof and carriage smithy on Burgstraße in Kempten" it says. The forge of yesteryear has since become ABT Sportsline, the world's largest tuner of Volkswagen Group vehicles, one of the most successful international motorsport teams and an innovative pioneer of electromobility. The family-owned company is now celebrating its 125th birthday.
"A lot has changed since those early days - the world, people, the automobile, our view of things," says Hans-Jürgen Abt. "But we have always retained one thing: our passion for exciting new technologies, adventures and sometimes unusual paths." The Managing Partner is now the fourth generation to manage the company with its 200 employees, which is still based in the heart of the Allgäu. "An anniversary like this is always the perfect occasion for me to say thank you from the bottom of my heart. To my family, our colleagues all over the world, all our partners in day-to-day business and in motorsport, the fans at the racetracks and, of course, our customers, who constantly challenge and spur us on."
Always in tune with the times in its developments
Although sporty cars were not yet an issue in 1896, the "innovation forge" had no shortage of creative ideas even 125 years ago. For example, Johann Baptist Abt developed a skid construction with which horse-drawn vehicles could be optimally converted to "winter operation". Since then, exciting mobility topics have run like a red thread through the history of ABT and have also paved the way for the vehicle refinement division, which was founded in 1967 out of motorsport. Here, too, the family-owned company always has its finger on the pulse of the times: ABT launched the first electronic performance upgrade as early as 1980, followed by body attachments, rims, suspensions and elaborate customizations. The company has been trading as ABT Sportsline since 1991 and is based in Johann-Abt-Straße in Kempten-Leubas, which has since been named after Hans-Jürgen Abt's father.
"The challenges facing our engineers and designers have changed over the years. Eye-catching body conversions, bright colors - that was a long time ago. What followed was elegant understatement, superior performance and high-quality individualization," says Hans-Jürgen Abt, describing the changes of the past decades. The answer from Kempten: time and again bold and innovative concepts in terms of technology and appearance. These qualities also convince vehicle manufacturers: when the brands of the Volkswagen Group want to offer their customers something very special, they are happy to fall back on the expertise and worldwide reputation of ABT Sportsline. This applies to numerous and long-standing cooperations with Audi as well as joint activities with Škoda or the close partnership with the still young group brand CUPRA.
In 2021, ABT Sportsline is not only present from Kiel to Kempten, but together with partners also on the market in more than 60 countries around the world.
Pioneer of electromobility
The exciting field of electromobility has been part of ABT Sportsline's day-to-day business for more than a decade - with its involvement in Formula E on the race track as well as in road vehicles. "We have always seen change as an opportunity and not as a risk," says Hans-Jürgen Abt. The first pilot projects later gave rise to ABT e-Line GmbH, which today operates as a premium partner of Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, among others. The first major project in this constellation is the ABT e-Caddy. This is followed by the ABT e-Transporter, which is now officially commissioned on the basis of the VW T6.1. And the company is already looking to the future again: together with the university in Kempten, the specialists at ABT are currently exploring the possibilities of fuel cells.
Internationally successful motorsport athletes
The "Abbots'" passion for motor racing began in 1950, when Johann Abt, aged just 14, competed in a DKW "Master Class" with starting number 7 on the grass track in Kempten - and finished on the podium. The grandson of the company founder became a permanent winner with around 300 successes, laying the foundations for one of the most successful international motorsport teams to date: ABT Sportsline. Highlights include the STW title in 1999 with Christian Abt, the DTM title in 2002 with Laurent Aiello and the triumph in the 2017 Formula E electric racing series with Lucas di Grassi. In all three championships, ABT, together with strong partners, prevailed as a private team against the competition from major manufacturers. As the works team of the brand with the four rings, ABT Sportsline has a unique track record: In cooperation with Audi, the Kempten-based company has won a total of eight drivers' and seven teams' titles in motorsport since the mid-1990s. Two new motorsport projects will be launched for the 125th anniversary of the company: in 2021, the ABT CUPRA XE Team will compete in the brand-new Extreme E off-road electric series, and ABT will also send several Audi R8 LMS cars into the race for victories and titles in the 2021 DTM season on its own initiative.
Happy birthday
The traditional "birthday" of ABT is April 1, 1896: On this day, Johann Baptist Abt took over the forge in Kempten, according to an advertisement in the "Allgäuer Zeitung". 2021 is all about the anniversary. On the road, for example: the new ABT RSQ8-R with its striking aero package is strictly limited to 125 units. A still secret project is based on a model series that ABT Sportsline has been driving to new heights of performance for many years. In addition to ultimate performance, fans can look forward to an automotive time capsule. Or on the race track: In the Extreme E series, ABT will be driving with the starting number 125 as a tribute to the anniversary. And of course, the anniversary will be celebrated on all ABT Sportsline multimedia channels. Let's start with the anniversary video.
