ON A SOFTER NOTE
Classic & Sports Car|May 2022
The 2200 Spider represented the ambitions of Abarth and patron Fiat to strike at the higher order of Italian motoring, but it was destined to remain a rarity
RICHARD HESELTINE
ON A SOFTER NOTE

We appear to be driving at the pace of a funeral cortège, but then we don’t want to scare the locals, do we? The New Forest offers a seemingly never-ending but ever-changing backdrop, not forgetting the requisite ponies that roam where they please with unhurried intent. It is hauntingly beautiful, the landscape teasing us, perhaps even goading. It’s late winter and near-deserted save the hoofed herbivores, and we are in an Abarth with all that entails. This day will end with wide eyes, even broader smiles, and tested reflexes. Or a stampede. One of the two.

But no. This is not your usual classic Abarth, should such a thing exist. Forget shrill sports racers or Fiats pop-pop-popping and banging their way to valve bounce, the 2200 Spider is that bit more… refined. It is nothing like what you might picture an Abarth to be in your mind’s eye, not least because it is powered by a straight-six rather than a peaky four-banger. What’s more, it’s mounted in the front. As such, this handsome convertible has a certain enigmatic air that only heightens its obvious attraction.

Posterity pays scant attention to this subspecies of Abarth, but it should. The 2200 and its siblings represented a period when the marque of the scorpion attempted to take on the exotic elite. This move was quite the leap, but then company founder Carlo Abarth ( Karl) always was a big-picture man and a defiantly self-directed one at that. He had already succeeded in so many other spheres, and in relatively short order, so making ‘big’ cars should have presented just another stepping stone in his well-crafted and carefully nurtured narrative.

Esta historia es de la edición May 2022 de Classic & Sports Car.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición May 2022 de Classic & Sports Car.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE CLASSIC & SPORTS CARVer todo
Mick WALSH
Classic & Sports Car

Mick WALSH

'Had someone said that this worn-looking titan would win the most famous old-car event, we would have laughed'

time-read
3 minutos  |
November 2024
ALFA ROMEO STELVIO QF
Classic & Sports Car

ALFA ROMEO STELVIO QF

Rewriting the rulebook on what an SUV can do, and how it can make you feel

time-read
2 minutos  |
November 2024
FLOATING INTO THE FUTURE
Classic & Sports Car

FLOATING INTO THE FUTURE

Citroën's DS-replacing CX was at a cutting edge so sharp it still looks fresh today, and it had the drive to match - as five superb survivors reveal

time-read
8 minutos  |
November 2024
"It's a car for posing in really"
Classic & Sports Car

"It's a car for posing in really"

Broadcaster Michael Buerk reflects on more than three decades with his beloved Jaguar E-type S1 3.8 fixed-head coupé

time-read
8 minutos  |
November 2024
HONDAS DECK THE HALL
Classic & Sports Car

HONDAS DECK THE HALL

The Japanese firm's Los Angeles collection is now on public display for the first time in two decades

time-read
4 minutos  |
November 2024
ABSOLUTELY buzzing
Classic & Sports Car

ABSOLUTELY buzzing

Honda's Si Civics brought agile, cheap fun to motorists long before the Type R name got anywhere near a hatchback

time-read
7 minutos  |
November 2024
THE FEMININE TOUCH
Classic & Sports Car

THE FEMININE TOUCH

In 1955, General Motors styling guru Harley Earl brought 11 talented women into the male-dominated world of automotive design. What was their lasting impact?

time-read
7 minutos  |
November 2024
Out on a limb
Classic & Sports Car

Out on a limb

Panther's innovative Solo 2 was something completely different, both for its maker and the sports car market

time-read
7 minutos  |
November 2024
Restyles with substance
Classic & Sports Car

Restyles with substance

Panther Westwinds blended a passion for pre-war designs with modern-era mechanical usability and remarkably fine coachbuilding

time-read
10 minutos  |
November 2024
Dead ringers
Classic & Sports Car

Dead ringers

The Maserati Kyalami and De Tomaso Longchamp share much, having emerged from the same stable, but are poles apart at heart

time-read
8 minutos  |
November 2024