Back in the 60s, touring car racing was multi-class. The Abarth dominated its class but its not true that V-8s didn't stand a chance - they weren't racing against it - but they were quicker.
Mr Wright is correct - The Abarth 1000 TC was very successful in the under 1 litre class, winning Division 1 of the ETCC in 1965, 66, 67 and 69. In 1965 Division 3 was won by Jacky Icx - Ford Mustang and Division 2 by Sir John Whitmore - Ford Lotus Cortina. In following years Division 3 was generally dominated by BMW with Alfa Romeo taking Division 2.
The Abarth wasn't successful in the BSCC (BTCC) partly because of frequent rule / capacity changes, but when the lower capacity limit for Class A was 1 litre it was generally the Mini or occasionally the Ford Anglia which won the class.
The Abarth was a great car and deserves to be in any game with classic content ideally with Minis, Anglias and Hillman Imps.
There is a great section in the book by 1960's F1 driver Innes Ireland "All Arms and Elbows" in which he describes the immense pleasure he had from driving an Abarth 1000 TC in a three hour race at Lake Garda in Italy - he says 7,000 revs in top equated with 130mph, but the rev limit was 6,400 and Snr. Abarth was a fierce man who had rules for everything. "It was really quite a lot of fun, the circuit wound through the town, by the lake, up a mountain and was generally most interesting."
Sounds like we need the car and the track!