Guide: Corsa Speciale - a Historical & Technical Appraisal of the Abarth Smontabile Spyder
Background
Born from the ashes of Piero Dusio’s failed Cisitalia project, Abarth & C. was established in March 1949 for the production of automobiles and performance accessories.
Carlo Abarth purchased several cars from Dusio which he successfully modified, raced and hillclimbed over the next couple of years. The Cisitalia-derived 204A was followed by the first ‘true’ Abarth, the 205A, in 1951. Just a handful were produced.
Although Carlo Abarth was primarily focused on building his accessory business during the early 1950s, a small number of show cars were commissioned to generate publicity for his fledgling business.
One was the unique Abarth 1500 Biposto, a Fiat-based styling concept that had been displayed at the Turin Motor Show in April 1952. This futuristic machine was the work of freelance designer, Franco Scaglione, who had been subcontracted by Nuccio Bertone for the job.
The Commission for an Abarth-bodied Ferrari
In early 1953, well-connected Milanese car dealer and racer, Franco Cornacchia, took the unusual step of commissioning Abarth to create a lightweight Spyder body for a Ferrari 166 Mille Miglia.
Cornacchia was also the patron of Scuderia Guastalla and one of Ferrari’s best customers. Cornacchia’s client was amateur racing driver, Giulio Musitelli of Bergamo.
A brand new 166 Mille Miglia Series 2 rolling chassis (0262 M) was dispatched to Abarth’s Turin factory shortly after completion on February 2nd 1953.
Ferrari had released the second series 166 Mille Miglia for customers that wanted to participate in the ever-popular under two-litre motor sport class. These cars were offered alongside the three-litre 250 Mille Miglia and the 4.1-litre 340 Mille Miglia which came with a big-block Lampredi engine.
Chassis
Built on a conventional tubular steel chassis with short 2250mm wheelbase, the second generation 166 Mille Miglia featured a number of enhancements over the original. These upgrades most notably included the damping and brakes from the 212 Export and a beefed up rear axle from the 340 America.
Front suspension was by double wishbones with transverse leaf springs. At the back was a rigid axle with longitudinal leaf springs and double trailing links. Lever-type Houdaille shock absorbers were fitted all round along with drum brakes.
Centre-lock 15-inch Borrani wire wheels of between 5.9 and 6.4-inches wide were normally shod with Pirelli tyres.
Engine & Gearbox
The all-alloy Tipo 117 engine was a single overhead camshaft 60° V12 with two valves per cylinder, a single magneto and twin distributors. It displaced 1995cc thanks to a bore and stroke of 60mm and 59mm respectively. With a 9.0:1 compression ratio and three Weber 36 IF4C carburettors, peak output was 160bhp at 7000rpm. Like the 250 Mille Miglia, roller cam followers normally reserved for the Lampredi motors were used.
The five-speed gearbox came with synchromesh on third and fourth gears.
Bodywork
Although not renowned as a coachbuilder, Carlo Abarth accepted Cornacchia’s commission and went direct to Franco Scaglione from whom he requested a super-lightweight racing Spyder.
Like his Abarth 1500 Biposto show car, Scaglione’s Ferrari body featured a distinctive triple headlight arrangement with one lens at the leading edge of each front fender and the other mounted centrally. Around twice the size of the outer lights, the centre light was located between a pair of split intakes with six-bar grilles.
To save weight, the bodywork was dramatically cut away behind each of the four wheels (another styling trick used on the 1952 Biposto). Brake cooling was improved by adding vertical cooling ducts ahead of the bulbous rear wings. The bobbed tail was home to a streamlined headrest and neatly integrated quick fuel filler cap. There was also a hinged lid that gave access to the rear quarters.
Despite its striking appearance, arguably the body’s most significant attribute was that it could easily be removed if damaged. Scaglione designed the shell in 18 different sections that were attached to the chassis with snap fasteners and wire. Each panel took a couple of minutes to fit or remove.
The complete body weighed just 90kg which was around 55kg less than a comparable Vignale Spyder of the period.
Chassis 0262 M became known as the Abarth Smontabile (removable) Spyder.
Completion
Once Abarth were done, the car returned to Maranello where the Certificate of Origin was issued on March 14th 1953. Finishing touches were applied over the next few weeks and testing occurred in early May.
Giulio Musitelli took delivery shortly afterwards. Chassis 0262M was registered on the Bergamo plate BG 29262.
Competition History
Musitelli’s first outing was at the Targa Florio on May 14th. He drove the eight lap 576km event single handedly. Despite a brief off-road excursion, Musitelli finished 21st overall and seventh in the under two-litre class.
Two weeks later, Musitelli failed to finish the Coppa della Toscana, a 633km Tuscan street race that started and finished in Livorno.
After going 39th quickest up the Varese–Campo di Fiori Hillclimb on June 14th, Musitelli went on to put a string of fine results together.
On June 21st he placed third at the Coppa Pasquale Amato, a 50 lap race for two-litre cars around the triangular Caserta road circuit in Campania. A week later, Edoardo Drago joined Musitelli for the epic Giro dell’Umbria (June 28th). The event comprised two 191km laps; Musitelli and Drago’s time of three hours and twelve minutes was good enough for fifth overall and third in the under two-litre class.
0262 M was not raced during July, but on the 26th of that month, Musitelli partnered Eugenio Castelotti to win the Messina 10 Hour night race in Castelotti’s Ferrari 250 Mille Miglia.
The Smontabile Spyder was then recalled for duty on August 2nd. Musitelli attended the Giro dell Calabrie, road race which took place over a single 723km lap of the deep south region. He finished fifth overall and second in the two-litre class.
A brace of seventh place finishes at two major road races followed over the next four weeks. Musitelli claimed second in the two-litre class at the Circuito di Senigallia (August 8th) and third in class at the 15 lap Merano Supercortemaggiore (September 6th). By the time of its appearance at Merano, the colour of 0262 M had been changed from its original silver to red.
Musitelli’s final outing with the Abarth Spyder in 1953 came at the Bologna–Raticosa Hillclimb on September 27th (result unknown).
0262 M was then taken to South America for two races in early 1954. Musitelli finished second overall in the Rio Grand Prix at Gavea (January 4th) but failed to finish the Sao Paolo Grand Prix at Interlagos (January 11th).
When the car returned to Italy, it was sent to Ferrari where a three-litre 250 Mille Miglia engine was installed. At this point, Scaglione’s original coachwork was switched to a more conventional Scaglietti body. The unique Abarth Smontabile Spyder was no more.
Text copyright: Supercar Nostalgia
Photo copyright: Abarth - http://www.abarth.com/
