1968 Abarth 695 SS

Sold for $18,700 at 2007 Monterey Sports and Classic Car Auction.
Karl Abarth, later known as Carlo Abarth, was born in Austria and later created a small manufacturing dynasty in Italy during the 1950s building performance parts for Fiats and other European makes. He used his birth sign, the Scorpio, as the company's logo. Soon he was building cars using mostly Fiat body shells with Abarth modifications. Many of his cars would capture class victories in racing, benefiting both Fiat and Abarth.

Carlo Abarth introduced the 595 in 1963 which was based on the Fiat 500 D. It was meant as a sportscar that everyone could afford and enjoy. The Fiat 500 D was equipped with a vertical twin-cylinder engine that produced 18 horsepower. Abarth's version raised that figure up to 28. The next in the series was the 695 which increased horsepower even further, to 32. The 695 SS was the pinnacle of the series with its 38 horsepower engine in normal guise. A little extra fine-tuning raised that figure to over 50 horsepower.

The 695 came equipped with special cylinder castings. The exhaust ports and manifold pipes were polished. The new valve springs and revised camshaft allowed for the higher engine speeds. An Abarth double outlet silencer was used in place of the original carburetor. Modifications continued throughout the engine, suspension, brakes, and most of the other mechanical components.

It was brought to the 2007 Monterey Sports & Classic Car Auction presented by RM Auctions, where it had an estimated value of $30,000 - $40,000. It was offered without reserve and sold for $18,700 including buyer's premium.

By Daniel Vaughan | Dec 2007

Beneath the classic graphics is a 1968 Fiat 500 rear-engine sedan. Abarth, in 1968, was still an independent tuning shop when it modified this 500 bought from Fiat. (Carlo Abarth's brand was taken over by Fiat in 1971 to become much like AMG is for Mercedes-Benz today). 695 is the model number signifying the rounded-up capacity of the Abarth's (re) built in-line, water-cooled, 2-cylinder motor (actually 689.5cc) rated at 37 horsepower. Assetto, strictly, means trim, perhaps lightweight is more specific. Corse, relaxed translation, means racing. Thus, this is an Abarth lightweight racing sedan and true to form was a club racer in Italy in period.