The Fiat Abarth 124 Rally actually represents the typical rally vehicle. It is comparatively lightweight, handy and, with its front engine and rear-wheel drive, has the typical configuration that guaranteed rally victories in the 1960s. But it also marked the end of an era because, as a compromise product, it could not compete with competitors like the Lancia Stratos or the Fiat 131 Abarth in marketing or sports. However, that doesn’t make him less attractive.
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The basis for the Fiat Abarth 124 Rally was laid in 1966 with the 124 Spider. The adorable body line came from designer Tom Tjaarda at Pininfarina. Together with sporty double camshaft engines with a displacement of 1.4, later 1.6 and 1.8 liters, a convincing alternative to the popular Alfa Romeo Spider was created. As a basis for racing, the Cabriolet in the presented form with rigid axle was only of limited use.
Support from Abarth
Fiat had taken over the company from Carlo Abarth in 1971 and the 124 Rally was created in the shared rally department. The car was first shown at the Geneva Motor Show in 1972. The starting point for the development was the latest Group 4 rules, according to which the World Rally Championship was also organized.
From 1971, Group 4 had to produce 500 copies in one year for a special touring car to be homologated. These could then be modified further, but should remain closely related to the street version.
So Abarth optimized the series spider in collaboration with Pininfarina and slimmed it down by 57 kg net. The finished 124 Rally finally weighed 938 kg and the extra weight for the complex rear axle with independent wheel suspensions was already included. For the engine, the 1.8-liter standard engine with 1756 cm3 was used, but modified in some points, so that 128 instead of 118 hp resulted.
A lot of accessories
A strong roll bar was on board as well as lightweight aluminum doors and GRP hoods at the front and rear. The steering wheel was smaller in diameter, the carpets were thinner.
Various accessories were available for racing, from bucket seats, to reinforced chassis parts, limited slip differential and oil cooler, to the tuning kit. Thanks to modified camshafts, special pistons and larger valves as well as a modified exhaust system, the latter easily brought the engine up to 160 hp.
For free country roads
You can feel that the Fiat Abarth 124 Rally was designed with the sport in mind, as soon as you step into the “rosso arancio” street-equipped cars with bucket seats. Thanks to minimal noise insulation, every misfire can be heard from the starting engine; the steering wheel is designed less for parking maneuvers and for quick countersteering.
In city traffic the clutch and the gearbox with a short gear ratio would make life difficult, but all this is forgotten on the country road. Then the compact car panting from curve to curve, can be braked in a controlled manner and reaches remarkable curve speeds. Thanks to the good clarity, the targeting of the vertices is a pure pleasure and the concert from the exhaust completes the sporty driving experience.
More information, lots of pictures and a sound sample are available at www. Zwischengas.com.
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