1963 Abarth 1300 GT

While Carlos Abarth is known primarily for his work with the Italian Fiats, his modifications did grace other marques, including Simca. Fiat introduced its 500 models in 1937, so named for its metric engine displacement and quickly given the nickname 'Topolino' (little mouse in Italian), for its exposed headlights that resembled mouse ears. At the time, it was one of the smallest cars in the world. Its design was courtesy of engineer Dante Giacosa and was introduced with advanced features, which included independent front suspension via a transverse leaf spring and quarter-elliptic leaf springs with torque arms in the rear, hydraulically actuated drum brakes on all four wheels, and 12-volt electrical system. Its thirteen horsepower engine was capable of giving the Topolino a top speed of 53 mph, and a fuel economy of 40 mpg. The engine was a two-main-bearing, four-cylinder unit that was fed by gravity from a tank of the firewall. Power was transmitted to the rear wheels via a four-speed transmission. At a price of approximately $100, it was very popular.

The French quickly took notice of the Topolino's success, including Henri-Théodore Pigozzi, the Fiat distributor in France. He had formed Société Industrielle de Méchanique et Carrosserie Automobile, abbreviated to Simca, at Nanterre, a western suburb of Paris, in 1934. Initially, the company built Fiat Billillas, badged as Simca-Fiat 6 CV (with 'CV' standing for chevaux, the French formula for horsepower), and a few 11 CV cars. With the arrival of the Topolino, Pigozzi created his own variant known as the Simca Cinq (for 5 CV, its horsepower rating). Like the Topolino, the was available as both a two-passenger coupe and a cabriolet with a slide-back roof.

Among the list of Simca's employees was Amédée Gordini, who fostered a reputation for tuning humble production-based engines into race-winning powerhouses. Particularly in the post-World War II era, Gordini would carry the Simca banner with his potent small-displacement single-seaters for the new Formula B (later called Formula 2).

Simca marketed cars under its own name from 1938 onwards. The Simca 8 was based on the 1,100cc Fiat 508C Balilla which would be built in both the pre- and post-war era. The Sport Version of the '8' was introduced in 1949 and was offered in both coupe or drophead coupe body styles designed by Pinin Farina and crafted in aluminum by Facel Metallon. The engine was tuned for 50 horsepower, a rather significant increase over the saloon's 32 bhp. The Simca 8 Sport enjoyed outstanding success in competition, particularly so with Gordini's team which dominated the 1,100cc class in classic events in the late 1940s.

Displacement in the Simca 8 saloon increased to 1,200cc for 1950, and the Simca 8 Sport followed suit, gaining an extra 2bhp in the process. This new model provided an excellent basis for modifications, and like Carlo Abarth had done with Fiat, and Gordini with Renault later on, Roger Deho was renowned for his association with Simca. In fact, the Simca platform was attractive to many engineers for its tunability potential. During the early 1960s, Simca hired Abarth to help transform their Simca 1000, which had tremendous commercial success, into a competition variant.

Abarth selected the Bialbero 1,288cc twin-cam four-cylinder engine and paired it with the Simca 1000 four-speed gearbox and the Simca 1000 floor pan, suspension, and steering. Abarth's Mario Coluccio was tasked with the styling and Odoardo Beccari constructed the bodies. Thus, the Abarth-Simca 1300 GT was born and launched in 1962. It would stun the racing world by capturing nine major victories in its debut year, as well as being granted FIA Homologation within the Gran Turismo class.

by Daniel Vaughan | Sep 2022