Was in oxford st earlier and saw marylebone fiat around the corner, popped in and saw the Abarth properly for the first time, what a car!! reminds me of the 205GTI i used to have. Have you seen the Peugeots now, all look like bubbles in the wind.
Styling Abarth
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Styling Abarth
Ummm......
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Sounds like what my 7 year old son does in the bath.
Doesn't everyone do that? My wife did a great one this morning! Very trumpety and with good endurance but not in the bath I should add. It's a fantastic feeling to be able to look at your wife disapprovingly and shake your head, doesn't happen often to me
FRA
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1.3mph, 250s, f5.6 - sorry Rui could not resist, its friday
Noooooo - Rui has 4 carbon fibre poles with Oompla Loompas as the end each of them blowing the bubbles - he then Photoshops them out.
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Who would expect a TT to be doing 2 mph. Good picture Arorat ( sorry - was that Maxi !) - at least we know that the bubbles wouldn't be breaking the sound barrier.
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Temptation is pointless. It's one thing for a 'to be' TA owner to look at an Abarth and wonder. It's a different matter if an Abarth driver looks at a TA or even drives it and then marvels at getting 51.? mpg over the welsh hills...I think the bubbles are apt - we know what's going to happen next...
Seriously...... what are you on about?
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I'm amazed that I have to explain Maxi. 500 owners looking seriously at Abarths end up buying them. Abarth owners who test drive Twin airs often end up buying them because it gives them the kicks without the bills. And I thought you had a 'soft side to you' with all those bubbles !
Trust me to be different, I always knew I was special, lol.
FRA
Ha! Not taking any chances then.
I could say that unless it is in red it doesn't apply, ... but I'm not petty.
If it's me you're on about, you do realise i dreamt it yes?
(would still like a go in a Twin air anyway, just to see if it sounds like my 2 cylinder Fiat 126
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If it's me you're on about, you do realise i dreamt it yes?
(would still like a go in a Twin air anyway, just to see if it sounds like my 2 cylinder Fiat 126
Whatever you do - don't arrive at the dealer for a test drive in the Abarth - the dealer wouldn't let you out on your own get to give the TA a proper test. When I pressed the mpg average consumption on the Volare blue TA it gave a figure of 26.8mpg - so it appears to have had a lot of test pilots !
I went to Fiat dealer a few months back. Within seconds various salesman had swarmed around the Abarth asking all kinds of questions. One of them was so keen he wanted to drive it! So i asked if i could drive a Twin air in exchange. He said that was fine, but then he had to go and do a hand over and i had to leave too
Maybe another time. When they asked why the hell would i want to swap the Abarth for a Twin air, i just made out that i do a lot of miles and i needed to downsize to save fuel. Think they chuckled. It was a lie of course
I think one of the mistakes Fiat have made, is how they have chosen to market the Abarth. Not including it in the Fiat website and having it seperate from the standard dealer network perhaps adds to the alure of the brand, but in reality must impact the overall sales. For a lot of potential buyers the comparison is just added noise. Maybe Fiat want it that way, but the success of the Mini Cooper S should be a good pointer.
A controversial view perhaps but allowing the buyer to see the merits of the Abarth in the same context as the other cars would do both brands a considerable amount of good.
A controversial view perhaps but allowing the buyer to see the merits of the Abarth in the same context as the other cars would do both brands a considerable amount of good.
It was a silly move. Some of the early Abarth adopters seemed to really get sucked in by the "exclusive" dealership network but most seem to agree that it just gives less options now.
I agree. Having Abarth as a separate brand is a pain, especially when it comes to warranty, parts, servicing and of course insurance. Fiat own Abarth anyway so why choose to market it differently.
When people ask what make is it, i just tell them Fiat 500 Abarth, it saves me from the demented ape look, which is what i get if i say "Abarth"
On the + side, it does make them more rare, i only know of 2 in the whole of North Wales due to lack of dealers
When people ask what make is it, i just tell them Fiat 500 Abarth, it saves me from the demented ape look, which is what i get if i say "Abarth"
On the + side, it does make them more rare, i only know of 2 in the whole of North Wales due to lack of dealers
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I agree. Having Abarth as a separate brand is a pain, especially when it comes to warranty, parts, servicing and of course insurance. Fiat own Abarth anyway so why choose to market it differently.
When people ask what make is it, i just tell them Fiat 500 Abarth, it saves me from the demented ape look, which is what i get if i say "Abarth"
On the + side, it does make them more rare, i only know of 2 in the whole of North Wales due to lack of dealers
I reckon that they are only 6 standard Abarths in Ireland along with 3 others of which 2 are for 'Press' drivers. Of the intial 6 one independant guy imported them. When I pressed Fiat Ireland about why don't they import Abarths in the country they said that they would have to select an garage that would be able to service them (not too sure why this was a problem) and under the Abarth terms a garage would have to house 6 of them in the one garage so that the customer had a choice. Well I don't understand why having just one in the corner along with other 500s doesn't cut it. It's a bit like a Garage having to be a certain size to sell fuel. Look at the main street in Barcelona now - they have one just fuel pump to refill motorbikes because they have practically banned cars in the city centre. A big garage is no longer economic and plus it does fit in the middle of the main street
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imo, Fiat did the right thing in making Abarth a separate brand again.
