1961 Abarth 1000 GT Bialbero Coupe

This Fiat-Abarth Bialbero 'Twin Camshaft' was driven by the legendary New Zealand racing driver, Bruce McLaren, to a victory at the 1961 Sebring 3-Hours race for up-to-1-liter Grand Touring cars. The car had been prepared and entered for the race by Briggs Cunningham's iconic American racing team. It is one of three sister Fiat-Abarth Bialberos delivered to the Cunningham Team in early 1962. The other cars were entrusted to Alfred Momo's Momo Corporation workshops for preparation prior to entry in the Sebring 3-Hours race on March 23, 1962. The three cars were driven by Bruce McLaren, Walt Hansgen, and Roger Penske. Bruce won in this car bearing race number '8'. Hansgen's Cunningham team Bialbero race number '7' finished second, while Penske's number '9' retired from the race around half distance.

After Sebring, this car was entered for the Bridgehampton 400 km race on Long Island, NY, in September of that year. Hansgen drove it to a fourth-place finish and second in class behind class winner Bob Grossman in an ex-works Fiat-Abarth 1000. The race-winning car was a Porsche-Abarth 356B Carrera GTL driven by Bob Holbert.

This car has been given a restoration by specialist Nino Epifani and won its class at Pebble Beach in 2002. It remains in concours condition today.

In 2010, this Fiat-Abarth was offered for sale at the Exceptional Motorcars and Automobilia auction presented by Bonhams. As bidding came to a close, the car had been sold for the sum of $337,000 inclusive of the buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Oct 2010