A superb and rare photo of the magnificent founder of the Abarth car factory, Carlo Abarth , photographed in his personal office at Abarth & C. S.r.l. in the city of Turin in Northern Italy.

Carlo Abarth (15 November 1908 – 24 October 1979), born Karl Albert Abarth, was an automobile designer. Abarth was born in Austria, but later was naturalized as an Italian citizen; and at this time his first name Karl was changed to its Italian equivalent of Carlo. Abarth was born in Vienna, during the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. As a teenager, he worked for Castagna in Italy (1925–27), designing motorbike and bicycle chassis. Back in Austria, he worked for Motor Thun and Joseph Opawsky (1927–34), and raced motorbikes, winning his first race on a James Cycle in Salzburg on 29 July 1928. He later was European champion five times, along continuing the engineering. After a serious accident in Linz he abandoned motorbike racing, and designed a sidecar (1933) with which he managed to beat the Orient Express railway on the 1,300-kilometre (810 mi) stretch from Vienna to Ostend (1934). He moved permanently to Italy in 1934, where he met Ferdinand Porsche's son-in-law Anton Piëch, and married his secretary. Abarth was long hospitalized and had his racing career end, due to a racing accident in Yugoslavia (1938). He stayed in Yugoslavia (with some visits in Austria and Italy though) until the war was over. Following this, he moved to Merano, where his ancestors originated from. Abarth got to know both Tazio Nuvolari and the family-friend Ferry Porsche, and with engineer Rudolf Hruska and Piero Dusio, he established the Compagnia Industriale Sportiva Italia (CIS Italia, later becoming Cisitalia), having the Italian Porsche Konstruktionen agency (1943–48). The first automobile outcome of this cooperation was the rather unsuccessful Tipo 360 F1 prototype (see also Porsche 360). The CIS Italia project ended when Dusio moved to Argentina (1949).  Carlo Abarth then founded the Abarth & C. company with Cisitalia racing driver Guido Scagliarini in Bologna (31 March 1949), using his astrological sign, the Scorpio, as the company logo. Same year Abarth & Co moved to Turin. Financed by Guido Scagliarini's father Armando Scagliarini, the company made racing cars, and became a major supplier of high-performance exhaust pipes, that still are in production as Abarth. Carlo Abarth personally set various speed records at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza (20 October 1965). He sold the company on 31 July 1971 to Fiat and continued a while as a CEO and then moved back to Vienna, Austria. Carlo Abarth was married three times. His first wife was secretary of Anton Piech in Vienna. His second wife, Nadina Abarth-Zerjav, he married on 28.11.1949. After cohabitating with her until 1966 the couple divorced in 1979. The same year, about six weeks before his death, Abarth married his third wife, Anneliese Abarth, (born 1939); she continues to head the Carlo Abarth Foundation and wrote one of his biographies in 2010.

Abarth is an Italian racing car maker founded by Austrian-Italian Carlo Abarth in Turin in 1949. Its logo depicts a stylized scorpion on a red and yellow background. Carlo Abarth began his well-known association with Fiat in 1952, building the Abarth 1500 Biposto upon Fiat mechanicals. In the 1960s, Abarth& C. S.r.l was quite successful in hillclimbing and sports car racing, mainly in classes from 850cc up to 2000cc, competing with Porsche 904 and Ferrari Dino. Later, Johann Abt, who would later go on to found Abt Sportsline, was promised by Carlo Abarth that he could drive a factory car for free if he won all the races he entered—which Abt nearly did, winning 29 of 30, the 30th being in second. Along with its racing cars, Abarth produced high-performance exhaust pipes. Later, Abarth diversified in producing various tuning kits for road vehicles, mainly for Fiat. While there were many competitors in this segment, such as Giannini, Abarth has largely dominated the Italian tuning market since the sixties. Abarth was also associated in producing sports or racing cars with Porsche and Simca. Abarth was sold to Fiat on July 31, 1971, and the racing team sold to Enzo Osella. Abarth became the racing department of Fiat, managed by famed engine designer Aurelio Lampredi. Some models built by Fiat or its subsidiaries Lancia and Autobianchi were co-branded Abarth, the most famous being the Autobianchi A112 Abarth, probably the most popular "boy racer" vehicle of its time on account of its lightness and low price. Abarth also prepared Fiat Group's rally cars like Fiat 124 Abarth and 131 Abarth. In the 80s Abarth name was mainly used to mark performance Fiats like Fiat Ritmo Abarth 130 TC. The name was almost forgotten in 1990s and in 2000s it was used like a trim/model level on FIAT cars, like the FIAT Stilo Abarth. In 2007 Fiat Automobiles SpA relaunched the brand with the Grande Punto Abarth and the Grande Punto Abarth S2000. The brand is to be seen as a separate division to the main Fiat brand in a similar way that the Renault Sport brand is to the mainstream Renault. It is based in the Officine 83, part of the old Mirafiori engineering plant. The company CEO is Harald Wester. After years of sports competing on the continent, competition organisers announced the launch of a new Abarth 500 GB series for 2010. The competition was to represent a new high profile sponsored race series, which was staged at Oulton Park, Cheshire, on 3–5 April 2010. Building on the success of its namesake Italian and European series, the GB competition brought together a plethora of driver-talent from across the UK. The GB series was developed by the competitors for the competitors; by the sponsors for the sponsors, and by the fans for the fans. All Abarth Assetto Corse (limited edition) cars are built in Turin, Italy, and are checked to the highest standards. They are also subject to a shakedown and test at the Fiat Group proving ground in Balocco.

Fiat is an Italian automobile manufacturer which was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli, the company name FIAT is an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino (Italian Automobile Factory of Turin), and it also means "let there be" in Latin. Fiat was also an aircraft manufacturer at one time. Fiat branded cars are constructed all around the world besides Italy, the biggest industry of the company outside Italy is in Brazil, also has factories in Poland and Argentina. Joint Venture productions in France, Turkey, Egypt (with the state owned Nasr car company), South Africa, India and China. Giovanni Agnelli founded Fiat in 1899 with several investors and led the company until his death in 1945, while Vittorio Valletta administered the day-to-day activities of the company. In 1903, Fiat produced its first truck. In 1908, the first Fiat was exported to the US. That same year, the first Fiat aircraft engine was produced. Also around the same time, Fiat taxis became somewhat popular in Europe. By 1910, Fiat was the largest automotive company in Italy — a position it has retained since. That same year, a plant licensed to produce Fiats in Poughkeepsie, NY, made its first car. This was before the introduction of Ford's assembly line in 1913. Owning a Fiat at that time was a sign of distinction. A Fiat sold in the U.S. cost between $3,600 and $8,600, compared to US$825 the Model T in 1908. However, upon the entry of the US into World War I in 1917, the factory was shut down as US regulations became too burdensome. At the same time, Fiat had to devote all of its factories to supplying the Allies with aircraft, engines, machine guns, trucks, and ambulances. After the war, Fiat introduced its first tractor. By the early 1920s, Fiat had a market share in Italy of 80%. In 1921, workers seized Fiat's plants and hoisted the red flag of communism over them. Agnelli responded by quitting the company, retiring to private life, and letting the workers try to run the company. Shortly afterward, 3,000 of them walked to his office and asked him to return to the helm — a request to which he reluctantly agreed. In 1922, Fiat began to build the famous Lingotto car factory — the largest in Europe up to that time — which opened in 1923. It was the first Fiat factory to use assembly lines; by 1925, Fiat controlled 87% of the Italian car market. Fiat made military machinery and vehicles during World War II for the Army and Regia Aeronautica and later for the Germans. Fiat made obsolete fighter aircraft like the biplane CR.42, which was one of the most common Italian aircraft, along with Savoia-Marchettis, as well as light tanks (obsolete compared to their German and Soviet counterparts) and armored vehicles. The best Fiat aircraft was the G.55 fighter, which arrived too late and in too limited numbers. In 1945 — the year Mussolini was overthrown - the Italian Committee of National Liberation removed the Agnelli family from leadership roles in Fiat because of its ties to Mussolini's government. These were not returned until 1963, when Giovanni's grandson, Gianni, took over as general manager until 1966, as chairman until 1996.

This is a very nice and very rare non period photo that reflects a wonderful era of Abarth in a wonderful way.  It is a superb and rare photo, and this is your rare chance to own it. The size is perfectly suited for framing as it is large: ca. 8 x 12” (ca. 20 cm x 30 cm).