Abarth 1000 SP is go!

Five examples of Abarth’s proto-Alfa 4C are to be built

EXCLUSIVE

Abarth Classiche is building a very limited number of a new mid-engined sports car called the 1000 SP. The project dates back to 2009, when Abarth was earmarked to launch a new sports car to line up alongside its Punto and 500 models. FCA decided instead to repurpose the project, redesign it and launch it as the Alfa Romeo 4C, which debuted in concept form in 2011.

A reproduction of the original, never before- seen 2009 Abarth 1000 SP prototype was unveiled in October 2021 at the Auto e Moto d’Epoca show in Padova, where it was shown on the Abarth Classiche stand. The company collected expressions of interest from potential customers at the show, and has now decided to go ahead with a production run.

The new 1000 SP is the first true Scorpion-badged sports model since the Abarth 124 Spider left production in 2020. The new-for-2022 1000 SP revives the style and spirit of the 1966 Abarth 1000 Sport Prototipo (SE0 4), designed by ex-Alfa Romeo engineer, Mario Colucci, with a tubular chassis and mid-mounted engine. Designed to compete in endurance races and hillclimbs, it enjoyed considerable success, for instance winning the Nürburgring 500km.

The new design was created by Roberto Giolito and his team at FCA Centro Stile. Like the original 1000 SP, the homage to the 1960s racer uses a mid-mounted engine and has open barchetta bodywork.

Dimensionally the new car is much larger but features many tributes to the original design, including cockpit glass with a very distinctive stepped shape and an exposed roll-over bar with central supports behind the seats. The rear end also reflects the original, with its distinctive air vents, centre-exit exhaust and sinuous lines. The lighting also recalls the historic 1000 SP, with very small headlamps and Alfa MiTo circular taillights. The 17-inch wheels are the same ‘flower’ design that featured on the Abarth 500. The whole rear body section opens up backwards and is located with clasps, as per the 1966 car.

The interior is essentially shared with the Alfa 4C. There’s a flat-bottomed steering wheel to ease entry and exit, while the finish has much more exposed carbon than the 4C and the rear bulkhead is in body colour. The new 1000 SP is based on the Alfa Romeo 4C, complete with its carbonfibre main tub, aluminium subframes and 240hp 1.75-litre turbocharged four-cylinder engine. All the bodywork is realised in carbonfibre, following the original plans of 2009. Along with the lack of a roof and the use of lightweight parts, this makes the 1000 SP notably lighter than the 4C. Abarth Classiche will supply the Alfa 4C donor parts itself.

The new 1000 SP is the first model to be badged as an Abarth Classiche. Only five road-legal examples will be manufactured during 2022 and 2023. This will take place at the heritage works in Turin, with the collaboration of approved outside partners. Since the UK is the world’s largest market for Abarth, it “would not be surprising”, an Abarth spokesman told DrivesToday, if “one or two” 1000 SP cars went to British customers. The price, DrivesToday has been told, is below 200,000 euros.

Roberto Giolito, Head of FCA Heritage on the Abarth 1000 SP

In an exclusive DrivesToday interview, the designer of the new car, Roberto Giolito, told us: “You can say I was ‘punctured’ by the Scorpion long ago, having owned an Autobianchi A112 Abarth and a Fiat-Abarth 131 Stradale. My real interest is in pre-Fiat Abarths, though. The 1000 SP project dates back to 2009, when we were launching the original Abarth 500. The operations chief at Abarth at the time, Antonino Labate, asked me to design a new sports car with the idea of building it for a one-make race series, like Maserati did with the Barchetta in the 1990s. The plan was to make 1000 units.

“A small team at Centro Stile worked on the project. I’ve always been fascinated by organic shapes and vintage cars, and for me the 1966 1000 SP was the ultimate Abarth design, especially the rear vents and louvres. The idea was to design something coherent to the original 1960s car but in a modern form. We decided to evaluate a carbonfibre chassis, which was created always with the idea of reflecting the shape of the 1966 car. We used the Lotus Elise as our benchmark for dynamics.

“Sergio Marchionne and Harald Wester decided to go ahead with the project but repurposed it as an Alfa Romeo, not a Fiat- Abarth. So after a redesign, it emerged as the Alfa 4C concept at the Geneva Show in 2011. We prepared an Abarth version of the 4C as an alternative but this idea was shelved. “But the original Abarth concept remained in my heart. During the 2020 lockdown, I looked back at the project and recreated a styling model from our original 3D data, suitably altered and resized to suit the production 4C chassis.

“It’s a slim barchetta, of course much bigger than the 1966 car, which was so small, but it is in correct proportion to the current Abarth 595, as the original was to the 1960s Abarth 500. There are many differences over the 4C, including the exposed rollover bar, no soft-top, polycarbonate side repeaters and Hella-sourced front lights. The aerodynamics are also better than the 4C, thanks to the very long tail and wing shape.

“The 1000 SP is my ‘letter’ to Abarth enthusiasts. It is a ‘lost’ car that collectors will truly appreciate. A key part of the concept is that this car represents the start point of what became the Alfa 4C. It is not an after-the-event conversion, not a restomod, but the original project.

“We will also make one unique car for our collection with manual transmission, rather than the robotised 4C gearbox. In the future we would like the Classiche department to build another limited production model that goes direct to the heart of enthusiasts.”

Roberto Giolito