131 Abarth

This one can surely only be going one way.... Don't let me down people

mmmmmmm porn!!!!!

I'm not sure we have a powerful enough freezer to put this into!

*heavy breathing*

Very cool!

so much want... then again only fiats i seem to be keen on are old ones (this, the original 500, 850 spider) not too keen on the modern pish they churn out.

Somewhere I have a copy of Car Magazine from the late '70s where they test the Escort RS2000 against the 131 Sport (not quite the same thing I know) but probably the closest we'll get to the Abarth.

On a wall behind the cars was spray painted the words: "Jesus saves, Giovanni invests".

Some friends we have near Sienna had an Abarth "lookalike". Alberto had bought a 131 1.3 litre 2 door and stuck it in his garage. Over the next few years he managed to get hold of some lightweight competition wings, bucket seats, the engine and gearbox from a 132 2-litre and various other odds and sods, such as a competition inlet manifold plus a pair of Weber 40DCOEs and had a steel exhaust manifold and pipes made up.

They actually live off a looped dirt track on a hillside between Siena and Colle di val d'Elsa so this became his development circuit. I'm sure the cogniscenti would find a lot to moan about, but it looked great and sounded even better.

Everything Abarth from back in the day is seriously cool, definately including this one!

A comment in a UK car magazine, possibly Auto Express (come to think of it, that publication is pretty much sold throughout Europe under different titles) was discussing the soon to be released "124" Spider and an Abarth spokesman was saying that they had to be careful what models they "Abarthise" and that the Punto was a step too far. I must admit that puzzled me somewhat as with the exception of their own sports car and racing models, pretty much all their classics were based on run of the mill cars. Particularly the 600 (595), 131 and the original 124 Spider.

And if the Punto Abarth was a step too far, then what does that make the 500? I would have thought that almost all their cars were either "cooking" models heated up for the track or homologation specials derived from competition cars.

I do think they have to be careful though, because you can't really make a silk purse from a sow's ear. If you haven't got the right base, all you end up with is a normal car with hard springs, a re-map and some stripes. If you think about how successful the Focus ST/RS models and the Golf GTI were, you have some cars that were already pretty good in the handling stakes even with a 1.4 litre engine.

Some of the really great sporting cars were the ones with a small engine, light weight and the right suspension. Lotus Elan, Triumph Spitfire, Spridget and perhaps most pertinently, the Mazda MX5. Recently there have been the Toyota and Subaru twins. I think I'm right in saying that even the new MX5 only has about 170 bhp but excellent handling.

For me, the new Spider should have three versions of the 1.4. A N/A Multiair of about 105 bhp and a 135 bhp turbo version. Those figures are about the same as those found in the Mito and 500X with the top model being a 170bhp version. The lightest unit would be the NA Multiair which would be lighter than the turbo versions as well as cheaper and that would mean, perhaps, no DNA system, narrower wheels and tyres and lighter more basic springs and dampers. It could also do without A/C.

A 135/140 bhp version could be the main seller with the top of the range having a 170 horse version. That would then leave the field clear for any Abarth models to have the 1750 engine in various states of tune.

One of the main criticisms of the 500 Abarth is that it's not appreciably better, if at all than most of its competitors and some versions are ludicrously expensive. The smaller engined 500s can get away with just being cute, but at over £33,000 for some models it will take more than that, some models of the Polo GTI are about 40% cheaper than the 500 and (current news stories notwithstanding) are seen to be among the best quality small cars in the world.

I've never driven either of those cars so perhaps I should just shut up, but they do have to be really careful to be seen as just a branch of Halfords.