Abarth 205A Berlinetta

The Abarth 205A Berlinetta, also called the 205A Monza, was a coupé sports car that Carlo Abarth built in 1950 as a development of the Abarth Cisitalia 204A. It had a new platform chassis but kept the engine and other parts of the Fiat 1100 B/E, in a pushrod 1.1-litre form. The first three cars, bodied in aluminium to a design by Michelotti, were finished in 1950, and a fourth was built in 1953 with a bullet-nosed Ghia body that was later shown in New York as the Vaughn SS Wildcat. The first car won its category in the Inter-Europe Cup at Monza in March 1950 and also started the Mille Miglia. Sales were slow, partly because the Ferrari 166 Inter was very similar, performed better and sold at about the same price, so Abarth turned to tuning and exhausts until the 207A Spyder followed in 1955.