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The Club Story

The Beginning...

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The club was founded in 2015 by Stephen Piper, with few organised meets over the next two years. In early 2017 new life was injected as Andy Taylor came on board, accelerating the club's online presence and growing the member base, the club was known as Abarth Owners Club South East during this time. Activity was on the rise and structure was established, Michael "Designer Boy" Newham & John Barrett played a part too as Admins of our Facebook group.

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The club organised it's first merchandise run of hoodies and stickers, with members still rocking the originals to this day! The membership scheme was launched, allowing members access to exclusive discounts with club sponsors too.

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New Blood & Growth...

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The club had a variety of Admins and Moderators supporting Andy throughout the year, Carly Bridger came on board providing knowledge and experience of the Abarth brand, whilst assisting in organising our ongoing partnership with Lipscomb. JB step aside as an Admin, focusing on his awesome 595 Yamaha Factory Racing build.

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Summer 2018 saw Michael pass the reigns on to new arrivals Kitty Vee & Ollie Crittenden, bringing with them an injection of enthusiasm for Abarth & the club. Road Trip number one took a group of members from Kent to Turin via. the Alps, where the team met our friends from Abarth Club Torino.

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Autumn of the same year saw our first "Big" event, co-hosted with Abarth Club East Midlands at Imperial War Museum Duxford, whilst the club also took part in other events including Festival Italia (Brands Hatch), Poppy Power (Tonbridge) and many more, whilst being re-named Abarth South East. 

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2018 also saw the launch of this website, enabling the club to grow even more. 

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2019 - 2020...

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2019 was another year packed with events, another road trip and the return of IWM Duxford for a joint meet with East Mids. Road trip number two saw the group take in Château Savigny-lès-Beaune's amazing collection of race winning Abarth's from yesteryear, the dizzying heights of the Alps, Turin & another meet up with our Turin friends, Milan and the Swiss Alps & passes. 

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Official status was announced as the club became part of the Scorpionship family which saw the club begin use of the Abarth Club name.

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The club returned to Festival Italia, experienced new venues and events such as BHP at Lydden Hill and Auto Italia at Brooklands, whilst still hosting one evening and one breakfast meet every month.

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Will P came on board late in the year to help behind the scenes, along with Michael Southcott & Michael Douglas, providing a wealth of modification and mechanical knowledge.

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Andy moved on to pastures new with his new car and new passion for Sim Racing, whilst remaining a close friend of the club. 

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The beginning of 2020 seemed like the year had lots to come, with another road trip planned and events a plenty on the calendar, that was until the COVID-19 pandemic put a halt to most of that.

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Connie & Harry joined the team to help bring the club's Instagram presence up to date.

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The Present..

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With 2020 being a write off, 2021 begun slowly, as restrictions on gatherings eased mini-meets began organised by club members. The first meet of the year in mid-June at Mickey's was a hit, with plenty in attendance and a great vibe. 

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Kitty, Will & Michael D stepped down, having sold their Abarth's, they still plan to be around at meets to see old friends and catch up with the gossip!

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The club attended Abarth Festival 2021 hosted by our friends at Abarth Owners Club - something new and different that was enjoyed by all - 520 cars in total! 

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The Future...

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All going well, Festival Italia at Brands Hatch will be our next National event, - plenty of meets and drive outs are planned - head over to our Facebook community to check out where we are next!

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