Abarth Badges on None Abarths'

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Abarth Badges on None Abarths'

Should Abarth badges be seen on any other models


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Koa

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I know this may be a little bit controversial but I want to see what the majorty opinion is on this subject.

IMO the Abarth badge should be where it belongs, on Abarths' only.

This is not because i'm an Abarth owner, as, if I owned any other model I would still think the same way. Please don't turn this thread into a slanging match, keep it real guys, it's just an opinion, and i'm very curious to see what other peoples are.
 
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I know that we have an Abarth, but my opinion has nothing to do with that. If we had a 1.2 Stilo for instance, badged up with Abarth images, and pulled up next to a Abarth, I would feel well silly knowing that that car could leave me for dead. Its not even the fact of the Abarth being faster, If you have a Abarth badge and someone not so clued up leaves you for dead, its just brings the name down. Anyone can do up a standard car and make it look like an Abarth, But its whats under the bonnet. and the abarth name needs to be respected. IMO.
 
custard boy said:
not too bothered personally.though that may be due to the fact i look mainly at cinq/sei's and they are not true abarth. just bodykits and add on's :(
could see the point if i was in your position,doesnt it make you happy you have a 'true' abarth?
Yeah in some ways it makes owning a proper Abarth all the more satisfying.

When I first had my car, I took it in to Kwikfit to get my new alloys fitted and the guy doing the job was totally gobsmacked by the car. He was a little bit lacking in knowledge and was asking lots of questions about it.
Then his mate came along and said nothing. He just pointed at the Abarth badge as if to say that explains it all.

If my car was not an Abarth that would have made me feel really doubtful about putting an Abarth badge on it.

To me, there's nothing to gain from it, and the ones that are losing are the owners of Abarths because it's causing confusion to the people not clued up.
 
I don't see the problem in adding Abarth badges if a car is identically upgraded to the Abarth spec, but otherwise, I think it should be avoided. No option for that vote is there. hehe
 
Koa, I didn't say that was my opinion, if I didn't voice it, somebody else would :)


In terms of the badging, I feel it's the same as people adding M badges to BMW, which I think gives my opinion without even needing to say it :)
 
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There's a lot of heritage and prestige behind the Abarth badge and the honorable person inside me says that this should be respected.

In my case, not many people even know what a Stilo is, never mind the Abarth badge so I guess it only really comes down to what 'people in the know' think. And for those of us in the know, you can spot certain Abarth details that you don't find on normal Stilos (although some are Selespeed only).

For example:
1. Rubber Abarth badges instead of thick metal
2. Non-standard positioning of Abarth badges
3. Black scuff plates on the doors and bumpers (instead of colour coded)
4. Parking sensors on rear bumper
5. Interior/Dash of Selespeed model

I think most people bagde their cars tastefully and respectfully so I'm not too bothered. It's actually quite good fun for us genuine Abarth owners spotting a wanna-be anyway! :p
 
Let's not be snooty here.

We've all seen people in Man U shirts who could hardly kick a ball.

What about Burberry caps (we love you CustardBoy).

By displaying the badge (& I haven't yet), we show our admiration & enthusiasm.

If I can manage to hide a few thou away from Mrs. Disgusted's eyes this year, my 500L might become a 695 Abarth replica.

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (I think it goes like that anyhow).

Disgusted of Tunbridge Wells.
 
I'm not too bothered either.

I know mine has them on the sideskirts but personally i wouldnt go all the way and put an abarth badge on the back and remove the 16v badge, etc.
I think even with them on the skirts mines quite obvious its not an abarth, but just a stilo with the after market side skirts added from fiat.

I can see where your coming from with trying to get the badges in the exact same place, so if it was parked next to a non selespeed abarth they'd be identical apart from under the bonnet ;) but I dont think you can get the standard abarth sideskirts unless you order them on a new car, so theyre always a bit of a give away with the other ones :rolleyes:
 
I had two tiny little Abarth badges on the sideskirts of my Punto Active. I wasnt trying to make out that it was a Punto Abarth, I just liked the look of those skirts and they happened to have the Abarth name.

But the Abarth name is related to Fiat so I think people should use it how they want.
 
Bit of a difficult one this. Yes, Abarth have some prestigious history of turning average cars into little rockets, but in all respects how many Abarth badged cars these days are TRUE Abarth models? I'm talking about the cars that you can buy brand new from Fiat that come this way.

Abarth used to take a car and work over every inch of it. This included the engine, suspension, brakes and all manner of different parts that were improved/ modified and upgraded to make the standard car something special.

However, Abarth was bought out by Fiat way back in the 70's when they went (I think so anyway) bankrupt.

Since then a lot of Fiats were sold as Abarths, but they were little more than hotted up standard cars (much like the XR range of Fords). In fact I read that the last true Abarth car, as in having been worked over by Abarth engineers themselves, was the Strada/ Ritmo Abarth.

With all respects, since then the Abarth name has been used more for body/ interior styling than anything else. Just look at the accessory brochures from Fiat to see this. You can buy all kinds of Abarth accessories, but virtually none of them actually offer any performance increase.

Therefore I tend to look at Abarth as more of a styling exercise these days, and don't mind so much that people add badges onto their cars as long as it's done tastefully (and put on tastefully modified cars).

Perhaps Fiat should have been more exclusive and used the name for very high performance models only. Much like Ford did with Cosworth and Vauxhall did with Lotus.

So I guess I'll have to sit on the fence with this one....
 
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