This is the 1969 Abarth 2000 Sport Spider / 4 Fari - The ICE 2025

During The ICE at St. Moritz I filmed this 1969 Abarth 2000 Sport Spider / 4 Fari.

This example was raced in 1969 and 1970 by Arturo Merzario and Johannes Ortner and is the winning car of the 1970 European Hill Climb Championship (Johannes Ortner).
Built around a lightweight tubular frame with a fiberglass body featuring sleek lines, the Fiat Abarth 2000 Sport Tipo SE010 is instantly recognizable by its low nose and two large front fenders, each housing a pair of headlights. This distinctive feature earned it the nickname "Quattro Fari" (Four Headlights).

In the 1960s, even major car manufacturers began producing small, sporty cars to compete with the successful lightweight vehicles that had made the Scorpion-branded cars famous. Carlo Abarth decided to expand the company's production by focusing on competition cars, targeting a niche less interesting to large manufacturers but perfectly suited to Abarth's racing expertise.
Alongside derivatives of production models, Abarth built its reputation by producing cars dedicated exclusively to racing. This includes the so-called Sport models: lightweight and powerful two-seat spiders with covered wheels, produced in limited numbers. These cars were designed for both grueling endurance races on circuits and short but intense hill climbs.
The first examples were immediately raced by the official Abarth team, which enlisted international-level drivers. The excellent results in prestigious competitions became the best advertising for promoting these cars to private clients. Among the champions of that era was the Fiat Abarth 1000 SP (where 1000 refers to the engine capacity and SP stands for Sport Prototipo), which won the challenging 500 km of Nürburgring in 1966 with driver Hans Hermann.

Clients interested in the Sport models were no longer novice drivers purchasing cars derived from Fiat 600 and 500 bases but rather seasoned and demanding gentleman drivers who immediately appreciated the exceptional performance of the competitive Scorpion-badged cars: lightweight, agile, powerful, fast, yet robust and reliable.
In the mid-1960s, Abarth developed two distinct types of Sport cars: one with stamped sheet metal bodies and rear engines mounted beyond the rear axle-an approach favored by Carlo Abarth-and another with tubular space-frame chassis and mid-mounted engines, a solution proposed largely by chief designer Mario Colucci.
The Fiat Abarth 2000 Sport Tipo SE010 debuted in 1967, blending both approaches: a rear-mounted engine on a tubular chassis. Some fiberglass body panels were used to increase the rigidity of the lightweight frame, which weighs only 47 kg. The sleek two-seat spider, with its low, wraparound windscreen, boasted highly efficient aerodynamics.
The twin headlight clusters integrated into the front fenders highlighted the car's versatility, allowing it to be used in various competitions. Depending on race requirements, the high beams were sometimes covered with adhesive strips. The fuel tanks, with a capacity of around 100 liters, demonstrated Abarth's intent to use the SEO10 in endurance racing.

The car's heart is a powerful racing engine: a 2.0-liter twin-cam, equipped with dual Weber carburetors and dry-sump lubrication, producing 250 horsepower-a remarkable output for a naturally aspirated engine in 1968. Weighing just 575 kg, the car could reach a top speed of 270 km/h.
The Abarth 2000 SP SE010 made its debut on April 7, 1968, at the Ampus hill climb in France. It won the event and set a new course record, beating the previous record by an impressive 14 seconds. Two weeks later, the car triumphed again at the Stallavena-Boscochiesanuova, a historic race in Veneto, and continued winning at major European hill climbs throughout the season.
A notable highlight was the 1-2-3 finish at the 12th
Bologna-Passo della Raticosa, with Johannes Ortner taking victory, followed by Peter Schetty and Arturo Merzario.
Following its hill climb success, the SE010 proved its endurance capabilities. On September 4, 1968, the Abarth team entered three Sport models in the 500 km of Nürburgring, this time with 1.6-liter engines.
Abarth secured a historic 1-2-3 finish: 1st place went to Peter Schetty (who covered 502.37 km at an average speed of 143.8 km/h), followed by Johannes Ortner and Arturo Merzario.

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Michael - Automotive Mike

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