This rare 1959 Fiat Abarth 750 Spider displays Campagnolo wheels, the hard to replace original trim and an eye catching color combination of dark blue over black leather. Find it for sale here on eBay in Santa Barbara, California.
Carlo Abarth and his eponymous car company knew how to win races with deceptively small, Fiat-based race cars like the celebrated Fiat Abarth 750 GT Zagato “Double Bubble.” Trouble was, racing cost money, and rare is the car company that keeps the doors open selling only competition cars. To bolster company coffers Abarth took a page from the Porsche Speedster and Ferrari roadsters selling in large numbers in America and commissioned new, open bodywork for the 750 GT. Zagato designed the first car but, after its tepid reception, Abarth tapped Carrozzeria Allemano to design what would become the production car.
The result of Allemano’s work can be seen here in this blue Spider’s taught lines and surprisingly well-balanced design. Small cars often suffer from strange proportions but the Allemano Spider looks good from nearly every angle. All hard to find and expensive original trim is present including the Abarth World Champion badges and the interior is complete and upgraded with the addition of leather interior and square weave carpeting. Out back, the Spider retains its original engine and the photos of the engine compartment show all of the visible Abarth items in place and in good order.
We admired this car in person at Gooding’s Amelia Island auction in March and marveled at its small size and pleasing lines. We also wondered how Double Bubbles sell for $100,000+ while this Spider crossed the block for a little over half as much at $57,200. In either case, these are huge prices for cars that are, at heart, Fiat 500s. Nevertheless, with the all the performance of the Double Bubble, the promise of open-air motoring and nearly $43,000 in change, the Allemano Spider would be our first choice.
Follow SCD Motors