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Sun Nov 28, 2004 5:14 pm

I found these pictures

http://www.chez.com/gnawa/images/tdf2001/Lundi/trocaderoct0904/abarth1x1.jpg

http://www.chez.com/gnawa/images/tdf2001/Lundi/trocaderoct0904/abarth%20arr1x1.jpg

http://www.chez.com/gnawa/images/tdf2001/Lundi/trocaderoct0904/abarth%20nez1x1.jpg

what is it? I want one

Sun Nov 28, 2004 5:17 pm

Abarth Carrera circa 1960-1962

Can you cay "4 Cam" ?

http://www.allsportauto.com/english/porsche_356_carrera_abarth_gtl.php

Wed Dec 01, 2004 12:11 pm

There are a handful of these left and about three to my knowledge live in northern Nevada. This one actually belongs to a friend of mine. These are some of the most beautiful cars, they are all alluminum and sport a 4 cam engine. If you make it to some of the races on the west coast you can see this one race(sears point, laguna seca, thunder hill, coronado,...). It's a blast to watch. :wink:

Fri Dec 03, 2004 10:30 am

those links dont work anymore, damm you internet!
i still want one, maybe i can sell my lungs.

Fri Dec 03, 2004 11:36 am

If you can get $700,000 + for your lungs all the power to ya(makes me sick just thinking of that much money :-& ). They are definitely not reasonably priced if and when the go up for sale. The engines aren't really for the typical mechanic. The 4 cam engines need special tools to do it properly and those are a fortune in themselves. Good luck with the organ selling though. :lol:

Fri Dec 03, 2004 1:55 pm

Here is that same abarth along with another one in the same pit.

Sun Dec 05, 2004 8:36 pm

I attended the Monterey Historic races this year and last and saw those two Abarth Carreras in action and up close in the paddock. Beautiful cars, for sure. But values of those Carreras are exceptionally steep, and the Abarth-bodied version has to be one of the rarest 4-cam carreras (ergo, most $$$ today).

As I recall, these italian-bodied Porsches also had a few drawbacks. The idea behind them was to take the best of the Abarth virtues (Abarth had been making aluminum-bodied lightweight specials with super streamlining, based on tuned 500-2,000-cc FIAT-based engines, since the 1950's; very fast and efficient small-bore racing cars) and apply Porsche power and reliability (which was lacking on the full-Italian Abarths) to the recipe. This worked well, but the 4-cams were very -er- "maintenance-intensive" (full rebuilds every 20-30 hours of racing, according to my old mentor, who was one of the first Porsche factory training mechanics on the West coast and trained factory wrenches on the Fuhrmann engines) and the Italian-made bodies were quite fragile, leaked water like a sieve, and had ventilation problems (cooking drivers). I think Porsche was grabbing at straws, desperate to keep the 4-cam competitive in the 2-liter FIA racing class. And when they introduced the 904 (and the 6-cylinder cars), the pretty Abarth Carrera became obsolete.

In retrospect, one of the most interesting of the racing Porsches, but too many corners cut to make a good street machine.

Thu Dec 09, 2004 6:04 am

yeah i might give it a miss then. i don't smoke though i reckon my lungs are in quite good nick.

Thu Dec 09, 2004 9:13 am

Try and find a DEVON Carrera, much rarer then an Abarth, but I don't think as valuable. I have only seen 1 DEVON Carrera in my life

Thu Dec 09, 2004 10:28 am

There is i little white porsche devon that shows up to a couple of the races. Looks like a 356, just a little off. I thought I had a picture of it somewhere, but i can't seem to find it. It's fun to watch it race!

Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:27 pm

splitpile wrote: Try and find a DEVON Carrera, much rarer then an Abarth, but I don't think as valuable. I have only seen 1 DEVON Carrera in my life

Bill Devon only raced in push rod motors. Who raced the 4 cam?

Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:30 pm

VVWCA former president, Steve Herron, owned Bill Devan's car for years---he recently just sold it. I saw it at Dunkel Brothers last February.

Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:39 pm

It's Devin, bob.... but i'm sure you would have gotten to that spelling eventually. :lol:

speaking of which, if anyone knows of a devin c body anywhere, i'm looking for one.

Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:49 pm

Damn----Just call me Ryan Price. :roll:

Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:52 pm

bljones wrote: It's Devin, bob.... but i'm sure you would have gotten to that spelling eventually. :lol:

speaking of which, if anyone knows of a devin c body anywhere, i'm looking for one.

Even if I did I wouldn't tell you. :D

Wed Dec 22, 2004 11:55 pm

Anybody know where a Denzel is? I want to kick Brian's ass. :D

Fri Jan 14, 2005 2:00 pm

I'm taking Automotive technology courses for training for my career, and yet I can't wrap my brain around how a car with 4 cams would work. Anyone care to elaborate?

Fri Jan 14, 2005 2:25 pm

The Type 547 was a dual overhead cam. It's a flat "Boxer" engine with 2 heads... like a VW. So 2 cams and 2 heads equal 4 cams.

Fri Jan 14, 2005 2:49 pm

Oh. Duh.

*slaps forehead*