1971 Abarth O.T.A.S Grand Prix 1000
Giuseppe Rinaldi’s design for Carrozzeria Francis Lombardi created a miniature sports car that distilled contemporary Italian supercar aesthetics into a Fiat 850-based package.
The Grand Prix debuted in 1968, built with rear-engined architecture, mostly steel bodywork with an alloy rear engine lid, and dramatic styling including pop-up headlights, a Kammback-style tail, and an aggressively low nose.
OTAS (Officina Trasformazioni Automobili Sportive), founded in 1969 as a collaboration between Francis Lombardi and engine specialist Franco Giannini, marketed export-focused versions alongside Giannini’s home-market cars.
The OTAS Grand Prix 1000 used Giannini’s 982 cc twin-cam “Tigre” four-cylinder, while other Grand Prix variants carried Fiat pushrod 843/903 cc units, a down-sleeved 817 cc engine for North American OTAS 820 models, and separate Abarth-developed Scorpione derivatives rather than generic “various Abarth-tuned units.”
Four-speed manual transmissions sent power through Fiat 850-based rear transaxles to the road across the range.
Production numbers remained small across Lombardi, OTAS, Giannini, and Abarth-badged versions from 1968 into the early 1970s, with most sources agreeing only that total output was low and that perhaps 65 to 100 OTAS-badged cars reached North America before emissions and homologation issues curtailed sales and helped end the project.
The compact coupe represented an ambitious attempt to deliver accessible Italian sporting character in miniature dimensions, wrapped in styling and mechanical experimentation that far outstripped its modest Fiat 850 origins.
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