Rare Rides: The 1959 Abarth 2200 Coupe Allemano

by Corey Lewis

Published: November 26th, 2019

rare rides the 1959 abarth 2200 coupe allemano

Fiat’s tuning company Abarth has appeared on Rare Rides once before, when we featured the very boxy Ritmo from 1987. Today’s Abarth is from a time when the company was independent of Fiat, and it happens to be the opposite of an Eighties econobox.

Presenting an Abarth 2200 Coupe Allemano from 1959.

The coupe you see before you has its basis in a much more ordinary Fiat sedan: the 1800. At the end of the Fifties, Fiat needed to replace its small executive sedan (the 1400/1900), which was the company’s first new model after World War II. The very rounded body of the 1400 gave way to the crisp, upright shape and formal lines of the 1800. Moving upmarket for the brand, the new executive Fiat sedan had six-cylinder engines of an inline configuration. Debuting in early 1959, the 1.8-liter model produced 75 horsepower, but a 1962 upgrade brought output to 86 horses.

Shortly after the 1800’s debut, the range-topping 2100 joined its sibling in dealerships. With a 2.1-liter engine of 82 horsepower, the 2100 also morphed into a Speciale trim, which had a longer wheelbase and an upscale front end treatment. The 2100 was short-lived, however, as in 1961 it was succeeded by the larger 2300. At the same time the pinnacle 2100 went away and a new base model 1500L joined the line. Combined, the three 1800 variants sold over 150,000 examples. The 1500, 1800, and 2300 all disappeared between 1968 and 1969, as the larger and more luxurious 130 took their place. Let’s head back to the Fifties.

From its inception in 1950 through 1971, Abarth was an independent manufacturer of racing and road cars. While the company did favor alteration of Fiat models, it also made performance parts and accessories for a number of European marques. But at the fancy sedan’s debut, Abarth’s founder Carlo Abarth had his eyes on the new 2100. While Abarth would handle the mechanical changes in house, the coupe body was shopped out to Carrozzeria Allemano. The well-known coachbuilder formed in 1928, making car bodies for all the big Italian names.

Allemano sculpted a sleek coupe shape to replace the upright angles of the 2100 sedan, then trimmed a luxurious interior of fine leather and metals. Meanwhile, Abarth hired Ferrari V12 engine master Aurelio Lampredi to massage the 2.1-liter engine of the 2100. Displacement increased by around 100 cc, and the new 2200 engine was fitted with three carburetors instead of one. Power output increased to 135 horses.

Delivered to very discerning customers in Europe, Allemano created around 28 of its 2200 coupes. This one’s for sale in the Netherlands, in spectacular condition after a full restoration. Yours for $201,000.

[Images: seller]

#1800 #Abarth2200 #Coupes #Fiat #Fiat1800 #Fiat2100 #Fiat2200 #FiatAbarth #LuxuryCars #NewsBlog #UsedCars #RareRides

Corey Lewis

Interested in lots of cars and their various historical contexts. Started writing articles for TTAC in late 2016, when my first posts were QOTDs. From there I started a few new series like Rare Rides, Buy/Drive/Burn, Abandoned History, and most recently Rare Rides Icons. Operating from a home base in Cincinnati, Ohio, a relative auto journalist dead zone. Many of my articles are prompted by something I'll see on social media that sparks my interest and causes me to research. Finding articles and information from the early days of the internet and beyond that covers the little details lost to time: trim packages, color and wheel choices, interior fabrics. Beyond those, I'm fascinated by automotive industry experiments, both failures and successes. Lately I've taken an interest in AI, and generating "what if" type images for car models long dead. Reincarnating a modern Toyota Paseo, Lincoln Mark IX, or Isuzu Trooper through a text prompt is fun. Fun to post them on Twitter too, and watch people overreact. To that end, the social media I use most is Twitter, @CoreyLewis86. I also contribute pieces for Forbes Wheels and Forbes Home.

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2 of 10 comments

HotPotato on Nov 27, 2019

That's got to be the prettiest thing I've seen in years. Apologies to my wife.

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-Nate on Nov 28, 2019

Wowie - Zowie ! . I love this from any angle of view . I bet it's a hoot to drive too . -Nate

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Amwhalbi My 1972 Mercury Capri was my first stick shift car. God, I miss that thing. It was a blast to drive.
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Jam169859557 More regulation is needed for ALL vehicle lighting systems. [list=1][*]The lighting that is most blinding are the rapidly flashing red, blue and amber lights on emergency vehicles. The lights themselves are blinding, flashing so rapidly that it's impossible for even the sharpest eyes to adjust. What's worse, is the nature of the emergency requires a careful view of the area surrounding the emergency vehicle. There is something going on that needs to be seen. More flashing lights is not the solution.[/*][*]Brighter headlights need to be regulated. The tall riding vehicles do not need headlights positioned so high that they blind drivers in lower riding vehicles. And those heasdlights need to be aimed properly. When I first started driving my 2020 Subaru Outback, many drivers would flash their lights, hoping I would dim my lights. This stopped after I performed am easy adjustment that tilted the beam lower. Late model Subaru headlamps are designed with a sharp cutoff that project less glare above the hood line. When the headlights are properly aimed, other drivers are not blinded by the beam.[/*][*]Customized light assemblies make it more difficult to see the marker lights (tail lamps, turn signals and side marker lamps) that have been tinted. There are many municiple codes that prohibit this tinting, but these laws are seldom enforced.[/*][/list=1]Solutions: Tight controls on emergency vehicle lighting. In trying to make these vehicles more visible, a dangerous side effect is reducing the ability of drivers to see the surrounding perils.Headlight design regulations that reduce the height of the headlight assemblies. Just because a pickup truck has a hood that sits 4 feet abouve the pavement, it does not mean the headlights need to be so high. Owneres should maintain proper adjustments to their vehicle headlights.Establish and enforce regulation requiring a illumination standard be followed.
Stl170698708 as someone who hates big government, and their interference;but you can add me to the list of people that are blinded by the lights.unfortunately "the poop is out of the horse and no way is it going back in"They have had 5 years to make lights bigger, badder and brighter because in the vehicle work it is go big or go home!Trucks are the worst because so many people use them to express their dominance and that is big, big, big $$ both at the Original Purchase and in the Aftermarket world.If, we are so lucky to get some good government regulation on this it will also take some very good Court enforcement to get the aftermarket people with fines and lawsuits.Much like the EPA did with the Diesel Tuner Industry that felt emission regulations didn't apply to them.This is from someone that owns said pickup truck with the same bright headlights,but i only use the truck when I have too and always turn off the Fog lights when driving in traffic.
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