General 500 Abarth spotted in Wales!

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General 500 Abarth spotted in Wales!

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Sep 3, 2008
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County Gwynedd, mid Wales
Yes it's true. I can't believe it, thought i had died and gone to heaven! My local petrol station forecourt was full of mouth watering sports cars, from a Caterham to a sporty megane to a new VW sirocco, Alfa's, etc all brand new not even in the UK yet, they were all there including a few rangeys and BMW's for transport not forgetting a FIAT 500 ABARTH!:slayer: It looked so sweet, Italian reg plate.

I asked a bloke, the conversation went like this:
me: "excuse me, are you with a magazine?"
bloke: "yes we are"
me: "which one?"
bloke: "er...EVO magazine"
me: "when's it out?"
bloke: "er...in a month or two i think."
me: "Ah right, what you doing over here then, a comparison road test thing?"
bloke: "yea that's right"
me: "i was interested in that Abarth, i really want one"
bloke: steps back, looks over my car "if i were you, I'd stick with the Panda"

:eek:WOW. Typically i forgot to ask were they were headed, probably a good thing or i'd be following them all night. Annoyingly i had a puncture on my Panda at the weekend and can only do 50 MPH on the stupid spare. Why does God hate me?! This was a once in a lifetime oppurtunity, chances of happeneing again are probably 1 in a million. I'm so p**sed off.:cry:
 
True, but he was a journo:) He might prefer the look of the Panda over the Abarth. Anyway, I shall see them next Thursday in Paris so I can decide if I like the styling which at the moment Im not sure about... but you have to see a real one first.
 
True, but he was a journo:) He might prefer the look of the Panda over the Abarth. Anyway, I shall see them next Thursday in Paris so I can decide if I like the styling which at the moment Im not sure about... but you have to see a real one first.

Already seen the Abarth at Geneva. Prefer the Front of the "Standard" 500 but the rear of the Abarth looks alright. The interior especially the leather seats, handbrake, gear stick and steering wheel look particularly good.(y)
 
What colour was the 500 Abarth you saw?,

Evos initial review was pretty positive, be interesting to see if their opinion has changed.
 
Certainly seems worth checking out the magazine when it comes out.

Hopefully the Alfa on test was the MiTo.:)
 
Certainly seems worth checking out the magazine when it comes out.

Hopefully the Alfa on test was the MiTo.:)
the Alfa i saw was not the Mito, i don't think it was anyway, I've also seen a Competitzone a month or two ago, again LHD in bright red, looked and sounded awesome! A lot of professionals bring cars here to Wales to test and review etc as there are a lot of awesome challenging roads locally. Guess I'm lucky to live here, even i have fun in my Panda!
 
the Alfa i saw was not the Mito, i don't think it was anyway, I've also seen a Competitzone a month or two ago, again LHD in bright red, looked and sounded awesome! A lot of professionals bring cars here to Wales to test and review etc as there are a lot of awesome challenging roads locally. Guess I'm lucky to live here, even i have fun in my Panda!

How do you fancy a lodger, the view sounds great.;)
 
How do you fancy a lodger, the view sounds great.;)
Well we do B&B and self catering if you want to come and stay for a holiday? Only 15 minutes from a Dolphin filled sea and golden beaches, not to mention overlooks the 3000ft Cadair Idris and only 10 minutes from the huge Coed y Brenin mountain biking centre? Talking of views, did you see this thread with some of my pictures? Scroll down the thread, there's a few more!

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-new/163525-panda-view.html
 
Well we do B&B and self catering if you want to come and stay for a holiday? Only 15 minutes from a Dolphin filled sea and golden beaches, not to mention overlooks the 3000ft Cadair Idris and only 10 minutes from the huge Coed y Brenin mountain biking centre? Talking of views, did you see this thread with some of my pictures? Scroll down the thread, there's a few more!

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda-new/163525-panda-view.html

Great shots, bit worried the Panda was about to drift out to se in the last one though. Off topic but what camera are you using?
 
Great shots, bit worried the Panda was about to drift out to se in the last one though. Off topic but what camera are you using?
The camera is a simple digital Kodak one. Nothing special, isn't a big SLR one with the big lens or anything, 10 mega pixels and built in enhances etc. Once you know how to use it, it's fantastic, you can get some great shots. Chuffed to bits with it, had it 1 year this xmas!
 
What colour was the 500 Abarth you saw?,

Evos initial review was pretty positive, be interesting to see if their opinion has changed.

Evo often change their opinions when they bring their cars to North Wales. A smooth road in Italy is a far cry from the roads we have here in North Wales.
 
North Wales does indeed have some great roads. I used to go over every weekend on my motorbike back in the mid 90's before the police were everywhere. The roads around Bala are great.

I remember one Saturday, left the East Mids at 6am, did North Wales, South Wales and home for tea, 603 miles and a sore bum for a week....
 
North Wales does indeed have some great roads. I used to go over every weekend on my motorbike back in the mid 90's before the police were everywhere. The roads around Bala are great.

I remember one Saturday, left the East Mids at 6am, did North Wales, South Wales and home for tea, 603 miles and a sore bum for a week....

Too much info dude! :p

My favourite drive in North Wales :) A543 is very technical in parts and you really have to drive hard to keep anything slowish (like my 406 turbo diesel) on the boil with all the corners and uphill bits but it's well worth it.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&saddr=A5&daddr=53.119581,-3.55854+to:A5&hl=en&geocode=Ff51KQMd8ubH_w%3B%3BFeIXKQMdtp7J_w&mra=dpe&mrcr=0&mrsp=1&sz=12&via=1&sll=53.068039,-3.542061&sspn=0.149561,0.307617&ie=UTF8&z=12

Horseshoe pass is also nice but too many bikers around to be honest.
 
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Yep, biking got too popular and too many idiots, they spoil it now...

Sadly true. Thankfully most of the bikers head for the horseshoe pass :) Last Sunday however a couple of retards on bikes tried to have a head-on with me on the A543. Thankfully the wife was with me so I had a witness if the Police had to scoop them off the tarmac. I say that as someone who first of all doesn't want to see anyone die and secondly has lost a young friend on a bike.......
 
You are absolutely right, still have my bike and have not used it all year. It used to be an unwritten sort of code of conduct that you obeyed 30/40 limits and anything else went provided you don't endanger anybody other than yourself.

The whole thing has gone out of the window, its a shame, there are still a lot of decent people out there riding bikes.
 
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