Abarth and Breil mark 50 years of the Fiat 131 Abarth Rally with a 400-piece chronograph
Abarth and Breil have launched a €399 limited-edition chronograph, capped at 400 individually numbered pieces, to celebrate 50 years since the Fiat 131 Abarth Rally debuted.
- 400
- €399
- 50 years
- 18
What Happened
Abarth and Breil have unveiled the Breil Fiat 131 Abarth Rally Chronograph | Limited Edition, a new timepiece from their longstanding collaboration. Production is limited to 400 individually numbered pieces, matching the number of road cars built for Group 4 homologation. The watch celebrates 50 years since the Fiat 131 Abarth Rally made its debut at the 1976 Geneva Motor Show. Priced at €399, it pairs Abarth racing heritage with Breil's bold Italian design.
The Fiat 131 Abarth Rally makes its debut at the Geneva Motor Show.
The car claims three World Manufacturers' Championship titles.
Markku Alén secures the FIA Cup for Drivers with the car.
Walter Röhrl takes the World Drivers' title.
Abarth and Breil launch the 400-piece limited-edition chronograph in Turin at €399.
The Fiat 131 Abarth Rally began as an everyday Italian saloon that Abarth transformed into a formidable Group 4 machine. It claimed three World Manufacturers' Championship titles, in 1977, 1978 and 1980, and took 18 overall victories in World Championship rallies. Walter Röhrl won the World Drivers' title with it in 1980, while Markku Alén secured the FIA Cup for Drivers in 1978. Abarth says the car's ingenuity and unmistakable Italian racing character remain as compelling as ever fifty years on.
400
Matching the number of road cars built for Group 4 homologation; each watch is individually numbered.
- Movement: VK67 quartz
- Case: 43 mm steel with brushed finish
- Bezel: knurled steel with a black anodised aluminium insert and tachymeter scale
- Dial: black, two-level dial with the iconic Abarth chequered pattern
- Glass: mineral
- Bracelet: brushed steel with deployment clasp, push-buttons and safety bar
The screw-down case back carries the logos and the individual limited-edition number, and the chronograph is water resistant to 10 atmospheres. Priced at €399, it is presented as bringing one of rallying's great legends from the special stage to the wrist. Abarth and Breil describe the piece as combining Abarth racing heritage with Breil's bold Italian design.
Why this matters
The watch ties Abarth's rally history to a €399 product made with Italian watchmaker Breil, and the 400-piece run deliberately matches the number of road cars Abarth built for Group 4 homologation. It is aimed at rally fans and followers of both brands, showing how Abarth keeps its competition past in front of customers through co-branded merchandise.
Terms in This Story
- Group 4 homologation
- A motorsport rule requiring a manufacturer to build a minimum number of road-going cars before a model is approved to compete in the Group 4 racing category.
- Chronograph
- A watch with a built-in stopwatch function for measuring elapsed time.
- Tachymeter
- A scale, often on a watch bezel, used to calculate speed over a measured distance.
- Quartz movement
- A watch mechanism driven by a battery-powered quartz oscillator rather than a mechanical spring.
Summarised from the linked release; details can be imperfect — always verify against the original source.