Abarth 209A Coupe Boano

The design of this car, with its high wheel arches, retractable headlights, sporty looking stainless steel exhaust pipe on the right side and panoramic windows, looks exotic.

Still, underneath this there is an ordinary Fiat 1100. It was specially built by Abarth in a series of around ten cars, intended for export to the United States to race there in events including the 12 Hours of Sebring. Nine of the ten cars are roadsters. This 209 A is the only car in the series that was built as a coupe and is therefore unique. The 1.1 liter Fiat engines are tuned by Abarth to 66 hp, almost double the original output of 36 hp. Body designer Mario Boano is responsible for the elegant design of the cars, which are presented in 1955 in Turin and Paris. The name Carlo Abarth, an Italian born in Austria, is inextricably linked with tuned Fiats and special exhaust systems. Abarth started doing this as early as the late 1940s, but he also created many car models under his own name and built his own engines, including a V8 with 350 hp. In 1971 he sold his company to Fiat and retired to Austria, where he died in 1979.