Emblems 101: How Abarth got its sting

Of all the many automotive crests in the world today, Abarth's is probably one of the most distinctive as it forgoes the usual four-legged land mammal motif (yawn) used by so many manufacturers for that an eight-legged arachnid.

And why not - a scorpion is always going to be cooler than some prancing pony or over-sexed stallion.

So how did it come to be?

Well, the story goes that the company's Italo-Austrian founder, Carlo Abarth, chose to go the scorpion route when he opened shop in 1949 for two reasons: a) he thought it would be harder for other firms to imitate; and b) it corresponded to his birth sign. Seems fair.

In 1954 he decided to jazz things up a bit and gave his scorpion a yellow and red shield to sit on - a nod to the traditional colours of Merano, the city where Carlo's father was born. He also snuck in an Italian flag (look for it just below the letters spelling 'Abarth'), which helped to clear up any doubts as to where this tuner's national allegiances lay. 

Bought by Fiat in 1971, Abarth would become the Italian marque's official racing division: a high-speed skunk works of sorts that developed a successful string of rally cars such as the Fiat 124 Abarth Rally and 131 Abarth.

Since 2007 the scorpion badge has been used to differentiate the brand's sportiest road cars, starting with the Abarth Grande Punto and now more recently the Abarth 595.

In short, it is to Fiat what AMG is to Mercedes-Benz. 

Got it? Good.