1976 Fiat 131 Abarth Stradale

As a young 18 year old my first car was a Mazda 1300. I had the big dream that my next car would be a Ford Falcon XY GT 351. My brother told me I was mad, you will kill yourself and so the search of an alternative ended up with the purchase of an Italian Lancia Beta Coupe. This is where my love of Fiats and Lancia’s came from, sharing a common twin cam motor and very easy to work on while offering enough performance and driving enjoyment.

Fiat 131 Abarth Stradale

WORDS PAUL SCRAMBLER

IMAGES B -TEAM MEDIA

The next phase of my Italian love affair came after returning from the local pub one night, we sat down like most Fridays after drinks and started watching the 1977 Castrol Rally. The opening scene in night darkness as the next car is due to come through the stage and all you can hear is the sound of the motor and lights shining in the distance, over the hill came the Fiat 131 Abarth. Wow, what a glorious sound on full song the 16 valve Fiat Abarth motor made.

IT TOOK A GOOD 10 YEARS TO BUILD THE CARS PRE ADING THE BUILD OVER A DECADE FOR BUDGET REASONS AND FINDING EVERYTHING FROM GAUGES, DECALS TO PERIOD MIRRORS IN BETWEEN.

It was years later that the Australian Motor publication had an article of the Fiat 124 Spider creating a wave of imports for cheap summer motoring. Spotted in the photo background is a half uncovered Fiat 131 Abarth Stradale. I was quickly on the phone asking the owner if he would mind if I came up to look over the car. Quick trip to Sydney and I was in love with this car. Aggressive, competitive, rare and it ticked all my boxes.

THE CAR IS EVERYTHING I EXPECTED FROM A 1976 RACE CAR WHIC HIS HARD TO START, PHYSICALLY HARD TO DRIVE AND MENTALLY HARD TO PREPARE IN A LEAD UP TO AN EVENT

However like most things at 18 was well out of my reach financially. The alternative, a modified 4 door Fiat 131 with late model 16 valve motor. This car did me well for over 15 years but was nothing like an original and I subsequently sold the car. Having moved to New Zealand for two years I was lucky enough to obtain the ultra-rare original 16 valve Abarth cylinder head on a work trip to the UK. I stayed in contact with an owner of many Abarth’s after meeting him at a car show years prior and asked if he had a damaged cylinder head which could be repairable. Bingo, ‘yes I do’, he said, and after parting with a sum of pounds I purchased the cylinder head which turns out to be the best buy of the life. Without this cylinder head there is no Fiat 131 Abarth.

Having sourced the cylinder head it was then onto finding a 131 Sport for conversion. Being in NZ there were some around but when it came time to return to Australia I found a good example at the right price. Deal done and it was shipped back to Australia with the household goods. So now I had the two major items to start the conversion into a Fiat 131 Abarth.

Now, if I take you back 15 years the internet was a 10th of what we have today. Trying to obtain genuine parts took a bit of at a time and was proving a challenge. Luckily the same UK person sold me suspension arms, rear hubs and a few bits and pieces, another tick. Fiat was notorious for using parts from other Fiat models but it turns out the front hub was specific for the 131 Abarth. It took me countless hours of researching and six months later and I found a new set in Germany. Just after that it seems the internet took off. CAD and machine automation became the new normal and restoration suppliers emerged who made the missing motor parts I needed. Off the shelf I could purchase the Oil Pump, Oil Sump, Distributor and rare Slide Injection type manifold. Seems everything was coming together.

It took a good 10 years to build the car spreading the build over a decade for budget reasons and finding everything from gauges, decals to period mirrors in between. Without doing as much of the work as possible the car would have never happened. As they say, it is not the destination, it is the journey I took to achieve what I wanted which gives you the satisfaction.

There was times when I was going to sacrifice the build by using aftermarket items like my own dry sump or a Tilton pump and electronic injection. However to come so far in obtaining the parts it just made sense to keep the build as planned and source genuine re-made items taken from Abarth castings and keep the authenticity of the car. I am glad I made that right decision.

Today, the car is everything I expected from a 1976 race car which is hard to start, physically hard to drive and mentally hard to prepare in a lead up to an event. I imagine without the support of 50 Abarth mechanics behind me this is what it would have been like for a small privateer team on the shoestring budget.

Once the car is warmed up, put the foot down and there is the sound of the Kugelfischer injection which I distinctly remember and most of the drama in getting here is forgotten.

I started off calling it a replica and after someone viewed the car they said to me this is a tribute, it is too good to be a replica. It has genuine running gear, correct interior, correct wheels and even correct brakes from the 1976 FIA homologation.

Either way, when I enter my garage I still smile at the achievement of building my dream car.