Abarth, one of the world’s most exciting motorsport brands, today officially opens its new premises at the Fiat Group’s Mirafiori complex in Turin.
The motorsport, design and manufacturing company, which is also home to Fiat’s revered Abarth Racing Team, has just moved into a purpose-built 23,000m2 building, which took a mere eight months to construct – living up to the brand’s enviable reputation for high performance. It will house more than 100 employees.
Located in the former Mirafiori engineering plant – known as Officine 83 – the Abarth building is perfectly placed to interact directly with the Fiat Group’s Style Centre (Centro Stile), experimental construction centre and the Engineering and Design departments.
Inside, the new HQ has been divided into several different areas: competition cars, prototype development, cars derived from standard production, and the Racing Department. Technical and design offices are located right next to the workshops, while marketing, sales, finance and other units are housed on the floor above.
The new workshop, which is equipped with eight vehicle lifts, features an area set aside as a future assembly line for specialist cars in small production runs.
The building’s entrance hall houses the company’s characteristic ‘Wall of Fame’ showing famous Abarth victories, while next to the entrance is a 560m2 showroom displaying models and artefacts from Abarth’s rich history.
The opening ceremony, performed by Abarth CEO Luca De Meo, also presented an opportunity to disclose Abarth Racing Team’s 2008 plans, starting with the Intercontinental Rally Challenge using two factory prepared and entered Grande Punto Abarth S2000 cars. The team will also contest the Italian Rally Championship.
Italian Rally Championship calendar
6-8/03 Il Ciocco Rally 28-30/03 San Marino Rally 17-19/04 Mille Miglia Rally 23-25/05 Targa Florio Rally 13-15/06 Salento Rally 18-20/07 San Crispino Rally 29-31/08 Alpi Orientali Rally 12-14/09 Costa Smeralda Rally 25-27/09 San Remo Rally 24-26/10 Como Rally
Intercontinental Rally Challenge calendar
4-6/04 TR Istanbul Rally 9-10/05 P Rally of Portugal 27-28/06 B Ypres 24 Hours 11-12/07 RUS Rally of Russia 1-2/08 P Rallye Vinho da Madeira 22-23/08 CZ Barum Rally 12-13/09 SPA Principe de Asturias Rally 25-27/09 I San Remo Rally 24-25/10 CH Rally du Valais 7-9/11 PRC China Rally
