Best known for the company's tuning kits and modified Fiats, one of Abarth's best creations was a two-litre competition engine, which was introduced in 1963. In its original guise, it powered the Abarth Simca 2000 GT, which was built around a Simca 1000 platform and featured a bespoke Abarth body and the new two-litre engine. Equipped with twin-spark ignition, dry-sump lubrication and the largest carburettors ever made by Weber, the superb engine produced just over 200 bhp in competition trim. Although very light and equipped with a particularly powerful engine, the Abarth Simca 2000 GT was not one of Abarth's most successful racing cars as it faced strong competition from the likes of the Porsche 904. Today we have three fabulous examples of this rare racer, one of which was on display for many years in the Maranello Rosso museum.
While Abarth's contract with Simca expired at the end of 1964, the two-litre engine developed for the Abarth Simcas would go on to be used for many seasons to come. Now equipped with fuel-injection and further refined, it powered Abarth's last prototype racer to the 1972 European Two-Litre Championship. The following year, it returned in the back of the Abarth-Osella PA1, which was but a subtle evolution of the championship-winning SE021 used in 1972. By this time, the four-valve, twin-cam engine produced around 270 bhp, which greatly contributed to its success on the tracks. Although not as successful as its predecessor, the PA1 did manage to win two of the eight rounds. Ten examples were eventually built and three are featured in our updated article.

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1963 - 1965 Abarth Simca 2000 GT - Images, Specifications and Information

1973 Abarth-Osella PA1 - Images, Specifications and Information