Sorry for the mis-spelling. (They don't let you re-edit the title) I am searching for a good barn find to write a profile of but I am dubious that any of the 20 (or is it 21?) Abarth Carreras ever got to a sorry state where they were sold cheap,unrecognized for their pedigree. Maybe this one --chassis 1008 is a good candidate?
In one place I read it went new to Sweden but another source says the original owner was Swiss owner and won every race he entered with the car. It has been shown with only 13,000 kilometers in recent times so is considered original except for a single repaint in the early (approximately) 1980s.
. It was apparently a Werks racer, used by the Porsche factory and their Swedish agent Scania-Bilar, to promote the marque in Scandinavia. Carl-Gunnar Hammarlund also known as 'CeGe,' won two Swedish championships in this car. CeGe was well known for his Swedish Public Radio program .
Chassis number 1008 is believed to be the most original Abarth surviving with only 6,000 original miles. The aluminum body was repainted in 1998; otherwise, every detail on the car is original and as raced in 1961.
I don't know who owns the car now or if it is in America now but would like to know if this car was "discovered" in Sweden while it was still bargain priced in comparison to today's values. I kind of doubt it had a rough period since it sounds so low mileage.. Still the driving season is short in Scandanavia so maybe it only got out a few times in 50 plus years. Any opinions on whether this is the best example of a GTL that was once forlorn and almost forgotten?
Also seeking general opinions from those familiar with these hand wrought coupes--was Porsche disappointed in the GTLs? Why did they stop at 20 when you had to make 100 to get it homologated? Was it that they realized "Abarth's magic" was not much better than they could do themselves?
Edited by HistoryBuff, 17 November 2013 - 21:03.