1964 Abarth 850 TC

Abarth & C. S.p.A. is a racing car and road car maker founded by Carlo Abarth in 1949. Its logo is a shield with a stylized scorpion on a red and yellow background.Abarth & C. S.p.a. is a fully owned subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A. (formerly Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A.), the subsidiary of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (formerly of Fiat S.p.A.) controlling its European automotive production activities.

Carlo Abarth had been sporting director of the Cisitalia factory racing team since 1947.In 1948 begun the financial downfall of Cisitalia, spurred by the investments needed to put the 202 coupé into production; the following year the manufacturer went under, and founder Piero Dusio flew to Argentina. Carlo Abarth, funded by Armando Scagliarini, took over Cisitalia's assets and on 31 March 1949 Abarth & C. was founded in Bologna. Carlo's astrological sign, Scorpio, was chosen as the company logo. From the Cisitalia liquidation Abarth obtained five 204 sports cars (two complete Spiders and three unfinished), a D46 single seater and various spares. The 204s were immediately rechristened Abarth 204 A. Abarth built and raced sports cars developed from the last Cisitalia cars. In addition to Guido Scagliarini, the «Squadra Abarth» racing team lined up celebrated drivers such as Tazio Nuvolari, Franco Cortese and Piero Taruffi. Notably Tazio Nuvolari made his last appearance in racing at the wheel of an Abarth 204 A, winning is class in the Palermo–Monte pellegrino hillclimb on 10 April 1950. Alongside racing, the company main activity was producing and selling accessories and performance parts for Fiat, Lancia, Cisitalia and Simca cars, like inlet manifolds and silencers.

On April 9, 1951 the company's headquarters were moved to Turin;Abarth began his well-known association with Fiat in 1952, when it built the Abarth 1500 Biposto on Fiat mechanicals.In the 1960s, Abarth was successful in hillclimbing and sports car racing, mainly in classes from 850cc to 2000cc, competing with Porsche 904 and Ferrari Dino. Hans Herrmann was a factory driver from 1962 until 1965, winning the 500 km Nürburgring in 1963 with Teddy Pilette. Abarth promised Johann Abt that he could race a factory car for free if he won all the races he entered. Abt almost succeeded: Of the 30 races he entered, Abt won 29 and finished second once in an Abarth 595, derived from Fiat 500.

Abarth produced high-performance exhaust pipes, diversifying into tuning kits for road vehicles, mainly for Fiat. A racing exhaust was produced for the 1950s Lambretta models "D" and "LD". Original Abarth LD exhausts are now valuable collectors items. Reproductions are available which carry the Abarth name, how Fiat feels about this is not known. Lambretta even held several 125cc Motorcycle land speed records during the 1950s thanks partly to the exhaust that Abarth developed for them. Abarth also helped build sports or racing cars with Porsche and Simca.

This very rare 850 TC was delivered to England and raced extensively there- the car is accompanied by a Log Book and MOT. The car was imported and has been used sparingly in various vintage racing events. The car is In excellent running and driving condition, with all service up to date.

The car has been part of one of the leading Stateside collections of Abarths for the past 10 years and is available for the first time since being imported. With a known history from new, the car is sold on Bill of Sale with all Italian Registration and Importation Documents.