The very Italian brand Abarth was founded by... an Austrian: Karl Albert Abarth, bornin Vienna in 1908. It will stand out in motorcycle racing in the 1920s and 30, before being forced to quit following a serious accident. He moved to Italy in 1934 and co-founded the CIS Italia, which became Cisitalia a few years later. It was not until March1949 Karl Abarth, which will eventually take Italian citizenship and changing his namein Carlo, founded his company in Bologna. The Abarth company will use theastrological sign of its founder (scorpion) emblem. Carlo Abarth designs lines exhaust,then preparation kits, especially for Fiat, devoting himself to the competition.
The firm was bought by Fiat in 1971, and became the Department of Alpine giantracing. The sporty models of Fiat, Lancia and Autobianchi are baptized «Abarth»:A112, Fiat 124 and 131, Fiat Ritmo Abarth... But the name is dropped in the 1990s.Need to wait until 2007 to see reappear brand, which again means the sporting Fiatmodels.