During the 1950’s and 1960’s, Carlo Abarth’s “Abarth & Co.” was building highly developed and very potent small-bore racing specials and GT cars which were intended primarily to be “magnets” to his lucrative business selling speed equipment and appearance accessories for otherwise rather normal cars from major Italian car manufacturers such as Alfa Romeo, Fiat and Lancia, along with Ferrari, Maserati and others.
The 1000 Biabero first publicly appeared at the 1961 Turin Motor Show. It was built alongside the 700 Biabero which shared the same chassis and engine design. The main difference between the two, aside from engine size, was the use of disc brakes on the 1000.
1961 was a successful season for the 700/1000 coupes, with the latter doing particularly well in the 1000cc class which it won almost every time out. In 1962, 1000 Biabero production continued alongside a new Simca-powered model called the 1300 GT. One of the highlight victories that year came at the 500 kms of the Nurburgring where 14 Abarths were entered and won the event outright. This gave Abarth the 1962 Manufacturers Championship title for Division 1 (up to 1000cc cars). For the rest of the year, Biaberos often won sub-class victories and dominated the Italian Championship sub-classes.
The success of the Biabero in 1962 motivated Abarth to improve the model for 1963. Most of the changes were made to the shape of the body which was extended at the engine hood to improve stability, and along with a new Collotti five speed transaxle, top speed was now 210 kph. These improvements helped Abarth again secure the Division 1 Championship.