Story by Pete Vack
From the Archives, February, 2018
Despite a good working relationship with Enzo Ferrari, Carlo Abarth constructed just one Ferrari-based race car. Serial Number 0262M wore its Abarth bodywork for barely a season before shedding it for a Scaglietti suit. But exactly how the first body came to be is a moot point: Was it or was it not a Scaglione design?
As Abarth and Ferrari succeeded in their respective racing classes, the two men grew to respect each other’s accomplishments. In a 2003 interview with this author, Lorenzo “Renzo” Avidano, who was Carlo Abarth’s director of motor sports and right-hand man for the entire life of the company, says that Enzo Ferrari and Carlo Abarth “enjoyed a very good business relationship, and in fact did meet on several occasions.” In his very personal Una Vita Per L’Automobile, Ferrari describes Carlo Abarth as “a diligent and capable German.”