Chesterfield motor dealer captures exclusive Abarth franchise

UK (SANEPR.com) October 15, 2008 -- A North Derbyshire family -owned motor group are privileged to be announced as exclusive regional dealers of the Abarth range, as Fiat Group Automobiles re-launches the cult brand into the United Kingdom. Autoworld of Chesterfield is one of just 12 approved dealers across UK and Eire of the much coveted cars from Fiat. The re-launch of Abarth as a stand alone brand, a triumphant brand name with a rich heritage in motor sport, shows Fiat Group’s commitment to producing safe, exciting, high performance cars.

The Grande Punto, the popular ‘supermini’, is the first of the Fiat range to get the ‘Abarth’ performance engineering treatment. The Abarth Grande Punto hit Autoworld’s showrooms in July and its arrival inevitably created an exciting new chapter in the history of Abarth, the victorious brand name associated with tough, spirited cars and founded by Austrian born Carlo Abarth in 1949 before being taken over by Fiat in 1971. The Grande Punto Abarth 1.4 turbo with 155 horse break power is available on the road at £13,500. Two upgrades, available as an addition are the boxed Assetto and Esseesse tuning kits which improve performance on many different levels. These can be fitted at Autoworld’s Service Centre. The dealer’s ability to fit the kits is one of the reasons that Autoworld has been chosen as an excusive dealer along with its excellent track record for sales.

Jonathan Sage, of the Fiat franchise at Autoworld in Chesterfield, says: “It is obviously a great honour for Autoworld to be appointed as one of only 12 approved Abarth dealers in the UK and Ireland. It is testament to Autoworld’s commitment to training and customer service that Abarth have invested in us, and we are starting to repay that investment with strong sales of the Grande Punto Abarth.

”I have been through ‘Abarth’s’ rigorous technology training course and have also spent a great deal of time driving and getting to know the Grande Punto Abarth, with and without its various tuning kits fitted. It really is a fantastically exciting and exhilarating vehicle. Its appeal to motoring fans will undoubtedly be that it is a brilliant compromise between an everyday car and one that is capable of vastly increased performance. The ‘Sport’ button transforms the car dramatically, enabling the driver to take full advantage of the additional Abarth performance”.

Motoring enthusiasts will be pleased to know that the traditional scorpion logo associated with the Abarth brand maintains its core elements from the past, but has also evolved to become more modern in appeal. The brand also boasts a range of exclusive merchandise as well as the Abarth Driving School - encouraging the continuation of the tradition of responsible driving of high performance cars. Early 2009 will see the launch of the Fiat 500 Abarth into the UK.
ENDS

Notes to editors

About Carlo Abarth
Karl (Carlo) Abarth (November 15, 1908 - October 24, 1979) was an Italian-Austrian automobile designer.

Abarth was born in Vienna, Austrian Empire. As a teenager, he worked for Castagna in Italy
(1925-27), designing motorbike and bicycle chassises. Back in Austria, he worked for Motor Thun and Joseph Opawsky (1927-34), and raced motorbikes, winning his first race in a James cycle in Salzburg on July 29, 1928). He later was European champion five times, along continuing the engineering. After a serious accident in Linz he abandoned motorbike racing, and designed a sidecar (1933) with which he managed to beat the Orient Express railway on the 1300 kilometer stretch Wien-Oostende (1934).
He moved permanently to Italy (1934) where he got to know Ferdinand Porsche's son-in-law Anton Piëch, and married his secretary. Abarth was long hospitalised and had his racing career ended, due to a racing accident in Jugoslavia (1938). Following this, he moved to Merano, where his family originated. Abarth got to know both Tazio Nuvolari and the family-friend Ferry Porsche, and with engineer Rudolf Hruska and Piero Dusio, he established the Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia (CIS Italia, later becoming Cisitalia), having the Italian Porsche Konstruktionen agency
(1943-48).
Carlo Abarth then founded the Abarth & C. company with Armando Scagliarini (father of Cisitalia racing driver Guido Scagliarini) in Torino (March 31 1949), using his Scorpion as the company logo. The company made racing cars, and became a major supplier of high-performance exhaust pipes, that still are in production as Abarth. Carlo Abarth personally set various speed records on the Autodromo Nazionale Monza (October 20, 1965). He sold the company on July 31 1971 to FIAT.

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REF: AW002 – Grande Punto Abarth