30 kilos might not seem like a lot but in old money its 66lbs, that’s nearly 5 stone. Why is that significant? well it’s the amount of weight Carlo Abarth at the age of 57 had to lose, in order to break the world acceleration record in his Fiat Abarth “1000 monoposto record. How did he do it? well on a diet of mainly apples, and not content with that record, he broke another record the following day also for acceleration, this time in a Class E Single seater.

I still have 10 years to go before I am the same age as Carlo was when he broke the records, but I cannot see me a) eating a diet of just apples, and b) losing 5 stone as I like chocolate too much. However in honour of the great man I do have a quite special Abarth in my garage.

The 695 Biposto Record edition became my weekend toy during lockdown and was bought to replace a Lotus 7 style kit car called a GBS Zero that I had owned for 2 + 2 years. Why 2 + 2 ? well for the first 2 years it was in bits as I collected it as a kit and took my time putting it together with the following 2 years being spent enjoying it. Towards the end of my ownership I found myself using the car less and less as it was certainly the epitome of stripped out. No roof, no windscreen and no frills, however it was amazing fun.

I had actually seen the Abarth come up for sale in mid 2020, at that time I was still really enjoying the GBS so didn’t really pay too much attention to it but as the dealer didn’t sell it over the following months it would crop up from time to time on social media due to me following the dealer’s page. I had always thought it would be a great car to own ever since I parked next to one in the car park at Goodwood Festival of Speed in 2018 and promised myself one day I would have a closer look at one.

Lockdown saw me fall out of love with the GBS. I was not using it and when I did the British weather usually dampened my enthusiasm (sometimes literally) and believe me once you have built a car yourself from a kit, driving it is a whole different experience. Every little noise worries you and you are almost waiting for the next bit to come loose or fall off. It’s a bit like a clown car at the circus and on one journey the steering wheel did almost come off in my hand.