Every car is an argument about what matters, and the Abarth Simca 2000 makes its case with gasoline engine and 185-204 hp-metric. Abarth built from 1963 to 1965 — in the decade that gave the world the pony car and the mid-engined supercar.
The story
The Abarth Simca 2000 was an Italian high-performance automobile produced in small numbers in the 1960s as a collaborative project of the Simca and Abarth companies in Turin, Italy. It was mainly intended for competition.
What is underneath
Under the skin sits gasoline engine; it is rated at 185-204 hp-metric. Kerb weight is 689 kg. Power-to-weight lands near 269 horsepower per tonne, which is genuine supercar pace. The layout matters: the engine hangs behind the rear axle, a layout that gives ferocious traction out of a corner and a reputation to match on the way in. The wheelbase is 2090 mm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Its place in the line
Where it sits in Abarth's history is not in doubt: it was built at Turin, Italy. On a showroom list of its day it stood against the Aston Martin DB5, the Ferrari 250 GTO, the McLaren M1. Nearby in the Abarth catalogue sit the Abarth 1000 GT Coupé and the Abarth 124 Rally.
The money
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Abarth Simca 2000 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.