What Is A Fiat Abarth 1300/124?

May 5, 2022 By Mike Gulett 44 Comments

by Don Meluzio –

I was in the Army and stationed with my wife Diane in Germany from June of 1969 until November of 1970. We bought a brand new Fiat 850 Sport Coupe in 1969 and had a wonderful time driving that car all over Germany and Switzerland.

It was a fun car to drive, and revved like crazy. Of course I bought an Abarth exhaust almost immediately. I really felt that little car was my Ferrari. I learned everything I could about all things Abarth, and very quickly realized that if you ever wanted a REALLY “cool” car, you needed an Abarth 1300. Although there were more radical models available, such as the 1000 OTR.

I knew that they required more maintenance and could be a little more difficult to keep in tune. I decided that the 1300 had more torque and was simple to tune and maintain. I guess I better explain what the 1300 model consists of.

Fiat Abarth 1300/124

The Fiat 1300/124 or the 1324 as it was known in Europe was the result of the Genius of Mario Colucci, one of Carlo Abarth’s chief Engineers. It was basically a Fiat 850, with the engine out of a Fiat 124, which was a front engine car, mounted in the rear engine compartment!

It really looks like it belongs there. Colucci designed a tubular bracket that bolts where the original engine mounts were. The conversion is a little more than what meets the eye. The 850 has a rear engine compartment mounted radiator. The 1324 has a grill opening, and a front mounted radiator with long cooling tubes running from front to rear. Abarth bored out the engine to 1280 CCs, and installed special 10.5 to 1 Abarth pistons. The reason is that the engine remains almost 100% Fiat!

Colucci also put his special touch to the suspension. He installed lower, stiffer springs front and rear, and stiffer shocks . He used 5 1/2″ wheels with a deep offset to widen the track, and make it look “bad”. They installed a special leather wrapped steering wheel, and some cars were equipped with special oil temperature, and pressure gauges.

The obvious visual changes were the Abarth Grille, the 1300 stripes, and chrome Abarth 1300 letters on the rear. There are a few more minor modifications that you can’t see like a modified bell housing, and more powerful starter, and a modified front trunk floor.

I installed the optional deep oil pan, and the rally windshield wipers. As Byron LaMotte said in his recent article about his Corvair Sprint the 1324 was also referred to as the Poor Mans Porsche. The 1324 was actually a very important model in Abarth history. It was the final car he built with someone else’s engine, all subsequent Abarths were equipped with an in house Abarth engine.

My car still sports its AB204 stamped original engine. 1324s are extremely rare in the USA, I would take a wild guess that there aren’t more than 15, and I can probably name most of the owners, but who knows!

It only took me 45 years to finally buy one. I knew of this car in 2007, as fate would have it I didn’t pull the trigger fast enough, and someone else bought it. I followed the car, and found that it was to be sold again, and this time I bought it. The fellow who restored it did a marvelous job, and we are now internet friends and at times talk about our car.

It reminds me so much of that little pocket rocket back in Germany in 1969.

Let us know what you think in the Comments.

Don Meluzio is the president of the Iso & Bizzarrini Owner’s Club and lives in Pennsylvania USA.

New photos by Wolfgang Blaube.

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