For the 1966 motoring season, Abarth chief engineer Mario Colucci designed this neat little mid-engined barchetta.
"1000 Sport Prototipo" became a very successful model, its lightweight multi-tubular chassis frame proving rigid and practical and its all-independent coil-sprung suspension providing good and nimble handling. Notable design features included the nose-mounted oil cooler in its top-hatch mounting, while engine cooling was achieved by twin radiator cores in a hip mounting on each side just aft the cockpit.
Power was provided by Abarth's familiar and very well-proven twin-overhead camshaft 4-cylinder power unit based upon the Fiat 600D cylinder block but with its capacity taken out to 982cc. With a compression ratio of 10.5:1 and breathing through two twin-choke Weber carburettors, this engine poffered some 105bhp at a lusty 8,000rpm.
Around 105bhp in a sports-prototype weighing only some 480kg gave a power-to-weight ratio of just on 4,6 kg per horsepower, and these sleekly-styled, well detailed and really very nicely built little sports-prototype cars were capable of some 220km/h dependent upon gearing.
from "Abarth. The man, the machines" by Luciano Greggio