Fiat 500

Ferrari heart for hot 500

This very special Fiat 500 might only be small, but it has the heart of a Ferrari, Auto Express can reveal!

Auto Express Car Reviews

By Dan Strong

11th July 2007

Powered by an engine designed by Paulo Martinelli, who previously built V10 units for the Prancing Horse’s F1 team, it’s set to offer up to 200bhp and a top speed of nearly 150mph.

The car will help to relaunch the Abarth brand when it’s revealed at the Tokyo Motor Show in October. With unique scorpion-style badging and special alloys, it’s being designed to evoke memories of the famous racing Abarth 500s of the Sixties.

And we can reveal that the newcomer, spied testing at the Nürburgring in Germany, will be powered by a highly tuned turbo engine. Three versions are being developed: a 135bhp variant for the 500 Abarth, a 150bhp unit for a 500 S Abarth and a storming 200bhp powerplant for the performance flagship, to be badged 595SS. Each motor is loosely based on the normally aspirated 100bhp 1.4 from the standard car, on sale in January.

However, Fiat promises the spectacular engines will be only one part of the package offered by the exciting newcomers. To match its capable powerplant, each car will feature a sports chassis, plus wider wheels and track.

Designed to make the most of their Fiat Panda underpinnings, the driver-oriented machines should be incredibly involving on the road – if our experience of the new 500 is anything to go by (see Page 34). Prices have still to be confirmed, but with mid-spec versions of the 500 expected to cost around £12,500, it’s likely the Abarth range will start from £15,000. That’s set to make the racy new Fiats direct rivals for larger and more practical hot hatches such as the Vauxhall Corsa VXR and even the MINI Cooper S.