1978 Fiat 131 Abarth Works Rally (Ex–Michèle Mouton)

Bring a Trailer is full of tidy Italian saloons. This is not one of them. Lot #266206 frames a 1978 Fiat 131 Abarth Works Rally — a Bertone-built Group 4 Corsa car from the short works run (public materials cite roughly forty-seven Corsa examples against a homologation pool near four hundred Stradale/homologation cars). Path C does not need a street production table when the object is factory competition iron with a documented World Rally Championship trail.

Public identity includes chassis 131AR2045727, engine #299, and the period Torino registration thread TO R92450. Fiat France campaigned the car through 1980. Michèle Mouton — the only woman to win a WRC round — finished fifth overall at the 1979 and 1980 Tour de Corse and seventh at the 1980 Monte Carlo Rally in this chassis per the listing’s historic record. That is not celebrity adjacency; it is a published results stack attached to a named works car. Later privateer Vittorio Carlino took an overall win at the 1983 Rally di Roccaruja; collector-driver Fabrizio Violati held the car into the mid-2010s before the current ownership chain.

The mid-2010s Rallysport Development bare-metal refurb returned Fiat France white with red/blue stripes matching Mouton’s final WRC appearance look, rebuilt the Lampredi Tipo 131 AR.000 with Kugelfischer mechanical injection, and overhauled the five-speed and ZF self-locking differential. We do not certify horsepower, matching numbers beyond public stamps, or title status — the car is offered on a bill of sale for off-road use only. Diligence stays with the buyer and the venue.

Score 91 — Ultra-rare. Production/survival is works Corsa scarcity with an honesty haircut versus single-digit factory one-offs; specification is correct Group 4 lightweight/injection package; provenance hits hard on documented Mouton WRC finishes without inventing a championship this chassis did not win; documentation is strong for a public BaT package plus prior Bonhams catalog identity on the same chassis, with a light haircut until papers meet the car; market scarcity is real for intact works 131s; condition points credit a known specialist refurb rather than an unrestored stage veteran.

Status: Ended — BaT Lot #266206 closed 1 October 2026, bid to $160,000, reserve not met. Live Pick closed; archive window only.

Watcher’s checklist

1. Confirm chassis 131AR2045727 / engine #299 against delivery notes and historic registration cards.
2. Separate Stradale homologation cars (~400) from this Corsa works specification.
3. Read Mouton’s 1979–80 Fiat France results from period tables — do not inflate into wins this car did not take.
4. Bill of sale / off-road only — plan transport and registration diligence before you bid.
5. Inventory historic photos and prior Bonhams catalog paperwork presented with the car.
6. Re-check BaT Lot #266206 status before you act — end time 1 Oct ~10:40 AM PT.