Thought this may be of interest to some of you, taken from the Abarthisti website and forum. The source was the National Abarth dealer conference at Gaydon manor on the 2nd of December:

A brief overview for the members to let you know what is in the pipeline from Abarth for 2010.

There are two new products for 2010.

The much anticipated Abarth 500C will reach our shores in June of 2010. Although details are still a little scarce, it will run the same power plant as the Abarth 500 but will be aimed a little more towards the ladies. That doesn’t mean that the girls can't still have fun as the esseesse kit will still be available.

The Abarth 500C will come with Xenon headlights and rear parking sensors on top of the standard spec. Price is still to be confirmed.

At this moment there will be no MultiAir engine for Abarth 500 in 2010.

The 500C will be joined by the face-lifted Abarth Grande Punto in July of 2010.

It will be the first Abarth to carry the new MultiAir engine producing 170 bhp for the Normal Production unit. It will also have the Start&Stop function as standard but that can be disabled from the dashboard when you are not in traffic.

Face-lifted Grande Punto will also be the first Abarth to offer the option of the new (C635 MTA) automated manual 6-speed gearbox but it will not be available at launch.

Assetto Kits will be available from launch with the esseesse kit being finalised later.

Price for the car and gearbox are to be announced.

As you are already aware, Abarth are running a race series for the Assetto Corse cars next year and Abarthisti will be sponsoring one of the vehicles. The order books for the dealer cars are now closed (8 dealers have bought vehicles) and the rest of the field will be sold to privateers.

The race calendar is still going through its final stages of confirmation and will be updated soon.

Abarth will be attending a series of hill climbs again for the 2010 season. The events were well attended last year and all involved enjoyed the experience. The events will be open to all Abarthisti members providing they have the relevant race licence. Dates and venues are TBC.

The much maligned AbarthCars.co.uk website is going through an overhaul at the moment. The new site will be up and running soon.

Finally for everyone that has ever sat in an Abarth showroom you will soon be able to buy the red leather Abarth showroom chairs from your dealer. The will be available through the parts department but prices are to be confirmed.

not interested in the abarth c at all, think it will look crap...and i wouldnt wanna be driving round like a prat with the roof down either!

however...might be interested if/when the a500 comes out with the multiair at 170bhp standard - 2011 by the looks of it? although i guess it will be a 135bhp ish one for the 500.

also good news if they relaunch the abarth website - i mean, how crap is it?!

Now who was it that said this about the Abarth 500C...

I'll eat my hat if this thing ever gets made and if it does it'll either be horrible to drive or heavy with craptastic performance.

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That would be cool! Never the less it´s just an improvement because of mini cabrio. It´s all about competition.

I kind have a question though!

When you talked about the face lift... i know that´s going to come out a new punto (the same but a little diferent). My question is.

The new 500 is going to suffer a face lift too in 2010? The car was realeased in midle of 2008, right?

S3T3 said:

That would be cool! Never the less it´s just an improvement because of mini cabrio. It´s all about competition.

I kind have a question though!

When you talked about the face lift... i know that´s going to come out a new punto (the same but a little diferent). My question is.

The new 500 is going to suffer a face lift too in 2010? The car was realeased in midle of 2008, right?

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no facelift scheduled for the 500 yet as its still new- if any would expect it late 2011-12- but as such a clean design your more likely to get different alloys/cosmetic options to keep it fresh...

there are suspension revisions already under way...

keeforelli said:

no facelift scheduled for the 500 yet as its still new- if any would expect it late 2011-12- but as such a clean design your more likely to get different alloys/cosmetic options to keep it fresh...

there are suspension revisions already under way...

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Great!
I was thinking about buying a 500 in the next year!

Never the less, it would be very disapointing to buy a deactualizated model.

But, i think (just an opinion) that 500 is going to take a bit longer to have a big face lift. It´s a retro model! It just can´t change that much...The point on having a 500 would be lost! It would be just another car on the lot!

My thought goes along with examples like mini cooper and the VW Beetle! They didn´t change much since they were realeased. Despite being away a new Mini cooper the car didn´t change much for about 5 or 6 years.

By the way! Diesel engines for the 500 are going to change also! Suspension is also going to be new and made by Abarth! I spent some time cheking about new realeases of 500! And i discuvered that the 1.3 Diesel Engine is going to have 95 Hp, new suspension and new turbo, all thanks to the new generation of Multijet Engines II.

Note: If you are not in Europe depending on witch coutry you live in, it might be some changes. For example, the 500 in Brasil is going to have a 900cm3 (0.9 liter) engine with 105 hp. ( A big mistake in my opinion) - A change specially motivated by the people of green and taxes.

DraigFlag87 said:

Now who was it that said this about the Abarth 500C...

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Me? I stand by my comments. The 500c Abarth will be a turd of a thing. Neither the retro charm of a 500c or the slightly more brutish looks of an Abarth coupled with the extra performance and poise.

if they make this then they really have lost the true ethos of the Abarth brand

Just found this on t'interweb. The website claims its the first spyshot of the 500c abarth.

Yea I've seen those before. Think it looks more like a full convertible with those black pillars, especially from a distance. Trying to wonder how a red roof would look and whether it would have red/white pillars etc. A white car with red stripes and mirrors but a black roof and pillars would be just too much to handle! I prefer my mock up pics i made!

I don't see what the fuss is about. Abarth was about souped up small Fiats; that's all. The 500c is rigid enough to benefit from a performance hike, and it will look as good as the hard top. What's the problem with a really nippy small car with a folding roof - great idea?

Ulpian said:

I don't see what the fuss is about. Abarth was about souped up small Fiats; that's all. The 500c is rigid enough to benefit from a performance hike, and it will look as good as the hard top. What's the problem with a really nippy small car with a folding roof - great idea?

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The 500c isn't that rigid. The one I drove did feel a little floppy and I wasn't exactly thrashing it.

I really don't think removing a small section of thin roof can alter a cars rigidness as much as some suggest. I know it removes the strut across the front/rear windscreen too, but it's not going to fold in half if you hit a speed bump is it? It's a very light car so i would be very surprised if the A500C would be any different to drive than a standard A500. Maybe it is a little girly for a 22 year old bloke (straight bloke) but i can't help but think that on a hot sunny day, no roof is better than roof! We'll see...

DraigFlag87 said:

I really don't think removing a small section of thin roof can alter a cars rigidness as much as some suggest. I know it removes the strut across the front/rear windscreen too, but it's not going to fold in half if you hit a speed bump is it? It's a very light car so i would be very surprised if the A500C would be any different to drive than a standard A500. Maybe it is a little girly for a 22 year old bloke (straight bloke) but i can't help but think that on a hot sunny day, no roof is better than roof! We'll see...

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Dude, I've driven a 500c and you could certainly feel scuttle shake through the wheel. It's not just the fact that you lose one strut..... the whole roof acts like a big strut and resists torsion. Pop into Slaters one day and testdrive the 500c they've got there and you'll feel exactly what I mean.

306maxi said:

Dude, I've driven a 500c and you could certainly feel scuttle shake through the wheel. It's not just the fact that you lose one strut..... the whole roof acts like a big strut and resists torsion. Pop into Slaters one day and testdrive the 500c they've got there and you'll feel exactly what I mean.

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I think i'll wait until the A500C comes out, maybe they've adjusted for that, what with extra power, stiffer suspension etc. I know it's not going to be as quick either.....ok maybe i'll stick with my tin top Abarth then!

DraigFlag87 said:

I think i'll wait until the A500C comes out, maybe they've adjusted for that, what with extra power, stiffer suspension etc. I know it's not going to be as quick either.....ok maybe i'll stick with my tin top Abarth then!

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Which brings me back to the point you brought up from my old post

it'll either be horrible to drive or heavy with craptastic performance.

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You don't chop the roof out of a car without loosing a lot of stiffness and if they do stiffen it up they'll have to add weight to it and it'll be slower......

306maxi said:

Which brings me back to the point you brought up from my old post



You don't chop the roof out of a car without loosing a lot of stiffness and if they do stiffen it up they'll have to add weight to it and it'll be slower......

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Hmmm we'll see. I hope we're both pleasantly surprised! Surely most car manufactures have overcome this rigidness issue by now, the car in general has been in development for what like 100 - 150 years or so!

At least it still has the B and C pillars to help stiffen things up a little, can't be as bad as some.

DraigFlag87 said:

Hmmm we'll see. I hope we're both pleasantly surprised! Surely most car manufactures have overcome this rigidness issue by now, the car in general has been in development for what like 100 - 150 years or so!

At least it still has the B and C pillars to help stiffen things up a little, can't be as bad as some.

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It will mean that the car won't bend like a banana but that's only part of the whole story but the B and C pillars will only give the car limited resistance to torsional forces.