Abarth 750 Spider Zagato

The Abarth 750 Spider Zagato was unveiled at the 1957 Salone Internazionale dell’Auto di Torino by Abarth. It is somehow a one-off car, since is the only one of the three similar cars existing, with a peculiar feature: a combination of aerodynamic fins extending from the cockpit to the tail, joined to the so called “castelletto”, a bulge on the rear bonnet, useful for making space and for cooling the engine. Zagato built also a Spider version of the Abarth 750, only between two and four examples are believed to have been built. This model was first shown at the 1957 Turin Auto Show, and it was then shown again the next year. The design has the usual sleek Zagato front end, with distinct fins at the rear. The bump on the engine lid came in for some period critique for disfiguring the overall design. Max power from Abarth’s 747 cc engine is 44 CV (32 kW; 43 hp), enough for a top speed of 153 km/h (95 mph) in a period road test or 145 km/h (90 mph) according to Abarth themselves. The Abarth 750 Spider Zagato ‘s list price in Italy was the same as for the berlinetta Zagato, 1,535,000 Lira in 1958. The 1958 Turin Show car had the twin cam engine, with similar performance to the berlinetta, although the “little castle” disfiguring the engine lid was even larger on this model.