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As the owner of the site mentioned above, I feel obliged to add a few things about the Abarth 1000.
Abarth history in general is a complicated matter; but the touring cars however, are probably the easiest part.
Let's start with the fact that Abarth cars, with a few exceptions like Porsche or Simca, are mostly based on Fiat cars.
The other way round: if a Fiat-based touring car was raced in the 60's and very early 70's (until the 128's debut), Abarth probably had something to do with it.
Which Fiats were raced?
The 500: small, 2-cylinder cars, tuned by Abarth (595/695) or, with a boxer engine, Steyr-Puch. Used for international racing, hillclimbs - but at the back of the field, in the very small class up to 700 cc.
The beautiful 2300 coupé was raced in the early 60's, though with limited success.
But the cars you looked at were probably the 850TC and 1000TC. Both cars were based on the Fiat 600. The modified roadcars were sold under the Abarth name - compare to Alpina nowadays.
But Abarth didn't only make roadcars - they made racecars as well. Although Abarth entered factory cars for most of the ETC races from 1963-1970, they sold competition cars as well. That's why you see cars of SRT (Stichts Racing Team, Netherlands), Radio Veronica (Netherlands), etcetera. The reason for the 850 and 1000 versions were of course the class limits. If you check the "car" section of each year, you get an idea of the development of this little car, ultimately over 100 HP. Discbrakes, 5-speed gearbox, front radiator - great cars.
To finish the Abarth story , a little anecdote.
I'm unsure if bumping into the rear of an Abarth leads to overheating. The large front radiator might see after that. The prime reason for the open bootlid was aerodynamics, though Abarth wouldn't tell this to anyone (it would have been illegal). They discovered that the topspeed benefitted considerably. This was even used on the forthcoming Fiat 850, which had a disappointing top speed at first, while the 850 cc engine had promised more. The lessons of the Abarth were remembered, so the 850 got a raised rear deck - and a topspeed of 125 kmh.
So perhaps no overheating? But, some Abarths had their exhaust running through the open rear cover...
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