Steve Hole – författare

Simca (Société Industrielle de Mécanique et Carrosserie Automobile) was founded by Italian entrepreneur Enrico ‘Henri’ Pigozzi in November 1934 and became very successful assembling Fiat 508 Balillas for the French market, followed by other models from the Italian giant’s range. In 1936, the Simca Cinq, which was a re-badged ‘replica’ of the Fiat 500, was launched in France.Pigozzi was an amazing automotive character and an ambitious chap. He developed his own range of cars, using Fiat mechanicals, with the most successful being the Simca 1000 of 1961, which would regularly sell 160,000 units per year, thus rivalling big-hitters such as Renault and competing head-on with the Dauphine in France. Pigozzi was good friends with Fiat owner Gianni Agnelli which opened many doors for him including those of the Fiat Development Department led by Dante Giacosa. Access was almost unheard of to outsiders, although Carlo Abarth was another of the few that were granted entry and with him Pigozzi devised the brilliant SIMCA-ABARTH 1300.Respected automotive journalist Steve Hole charts the fortunes of the Simca marque as it grew to develop a strong foothold in the French market.

Dutton Cars are the best-known UK kit-car maker and have an international reputation. Tim Dutton began producing cars in 1967 having learnt his skills from his father, who specialised in restoring Bentleys and Rolls-Royces. Tim supplemented this with an apprenticeship in toolmaking after leaving school. Dutton Cars went on to create thirty-five different models, at its height employing eighty people across four sites and producing twenty-two cars a week. In 1989, after supplying in excess of 10,000 kit cars, Tim switched to making amphibious ‘floating cars’ until 2024. Now he has gone back to his roots and is preparing to launch a new kit car.Steve Hole details Dutton Cars and the colourful character that is Tim Dutton through a wealth of rare and previously unpublished images.

Abarth & C was founded by Carlo Abarth in 1949, initially offering exhausts for cars and then tuning kits. Abarth began creating cars and formed a close alliance with FIAT. This resulted in a whole string of cars badged as Fiat-Abarths, usually reworked Fiat models. Abarth was incredibly successful in motorsport with ten world records, 133 international records and over 10,000 race wins.On Carlo’s retirement FIAT bought Abarth in July 1971, although gradually ceased operations apart from a few special models offering an Abarth trim level. However, within FIAT there was a desire to reintroduce the Abarth name and in 2005 Abarth was relaunched as a standalone brand once more, while paying tribute to its heritage and considerable legacy. From 2007, Abarth-badged versions of the Nuovo 500 began appearing as either Abarth 595s or Abarth 695s and since then the company has unveiled at least one ultra special limited edition model per year until 2024. Collaborations with the likes of Ferrari, Maserati and Yamaha were produced often in very small numbers and these have become highly sought after and extremely desirable.Respected automotive journalist Steve Hole documents the myriad modern-day Abarths with a fascinating selection of images and valuable insights.