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Chassis:
First shown at the 1953 Turin Motor Show, this one-off is built on an 205-style chassis, equipped with mechanicals sourced from the newly announced Fiat 1100. Mainly to promote the latest Fiat, which was previewed at Turin, the car was referred to as the 1100 Sport. It was fitted with a striking bodied that was crafted by Ghia and most likely styled by Giovanni Michelotti, perhaps drawing inspiration from the designs of Virgil Exner and Giovanni Savonuzzi. Certainly the most impressive feature was the broad radiator intake, which housed a cross-bar with a bullet-shaped centre section as well as the headlights. A similarly styled Simca was also created but this featured a different grille treatment.
Following its motor show duties, the unique Ghia-bodied Abarth 1100 Sport was sold to American entrepreneur Bill Vaughn. He was greatly impressed by Italian sports cars and had hatched a plan to create fibreglass bodied replicas under his own name. For this purpose, the 1100 Sport was shown at the 1954 New York Auto Show as Vaughn SS Wildcat. Vaughn's plans never came to fruition, and the one-off Abarth disappeared from sight. It eventually resurfaced, in a rather derelict condition, in the collection of California-based sports car enthusiast Norbert McNamara.
Still in a poor condition and with many of its original parts missing, the 1100 Sport was offered for sale during the late 2000s. A Calgary-based, Canadian enthusiast was brave enough to take on the challenge and acquired the car. Every bit a one-off, the most difficult task at hand was to collect and/or recreate all the missing bits. Impressively, most of the work was done by the owner himself, in his own garage. Over 60 years after it was last seen in public, the Ghia-bodied Abarth made its post-restoration debut at the 2015 Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance. The owner's labour of love was awarded with a 'Best in Class', and the car was also among the four nominations for the prestigious 'Best of Show' award.
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Canadian Private Collection |
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1100 Sport Ghia Coupe
