I had a 2010 Abarth, spent a fortune on it. Circa 200bhp in the end with the magneti marelli exhaust. Man I miss that car so much. It was so much fun, and everyone used to talk to me about it. Great great car. If I had the money I would buy a 695 Biposto without a doubt. Its a real future classic, buy it, keep it, drive it. In 10+ years time it will draw huge attention. More fun and more lovable than a Ferrari.
ive worked on a bipisto 695, you have to tip your hat to Abarth for offering great unusual extras, plexi glass windows, straight cut racing gearbox, akrapovic exhaust, this is an enthusiast car, a future collectors classic, Fiat is an amazing brand
imo Henry's videos are the closest we'll get now to a Harry's Diary without Harry actually making another one. when he talks to camera he makes you feel part of his conversation, very natural, easy to listen to and not robotic in delivery. more please :)
For 55 grand? Can't think of a single other car I'd rather have to be honest. The standard Abarth is special enough - it puts a cayman to shame for sense of occasion - but this, with that gearbox and seats and harnesses and... I think it's absolutely fantastic. If you can buy a 20 grand 3 series and 60 grand 3 series, why not an equivalent hatchback? What's up with the worlds prejudice towards hatches?
Because 1) you cant get a 20 grand 3 series. 2) The M3 has got over 200hp more for its price, not ~30hp. Not even sure if this Abarth is as fast as the Fiesta ST that the standard version is supposed to compete with. For 55k, I can't think of a single car that would be worse than this. Most cars in this price range handle just as good and have over double the power.
Malc180s Maybe you don't understand earning your own money. Besides I have a Fiesta ST...its everything this car tries to be...apparently for 1/3rd the price.
I have an Abarth and absolutely love it, but as cool as I think this is I just can't fathom that much money for any Fiat 500-based car unless it had Ferrari 458 Italia V8 in place of the rear seats driving the rear wheels. However, it's not any sillier than a 50% mark up on a Bentley Conti GTC to celebrate some championship or a million and a half for a Pagani Huyara when the C7 Z06 Corvette exists and does 85% of what that car does for less than a tenth of the price. There's a market for it I'm sure. We can disagree on whether it's worth the price but it's hard to argue that it's not cool.
8000 pounds for a GEARBOX?!?! Wtf?! Have they gone mad? You don't pay that much money for a gearbox in a supercar. A Ferrari 458 gearbox probably doesn't cost that much to make. So for the price of one 695 you can buy a Megane RS to have the best track hot hatch (and far better than 695 in every imaginable way) and a Golf GTI to have the best road hot hatch (also far better than 695 in every imaginable way). Also, I bet you if you buy the regular 500 Abarth, for the money you saved by not buying the 695, you can pretty much turn in into a road legal race car that will far outperform the 695. Abarth, gone mad?
That's about right for a dogbox with a artistic shift linkage of that sort. Many new manual transmission gearboxes are in the 5k range, but the artistic aspect and dogbox adds to the value.
***** with a ferrari, you pay 8K just to have the mechanic take a look. plus, the 458 458 has the same trans as the SLS AMG, a transaxle DCT, one of the most expensive on the consumer market
It might be a cool car, but it's overpriced. Also they are known for being unreliable, I would preffer something like 235i. Another great video Henry, please keep uploading them! Cheers
Are you typing from the 80s? Ever since the Grande Punto, Fiat has been reliable, much more than the french. Apart from the horrible Stilo, Fiat has been reliable since the 90s.
LB No problems with mine after two years, unlike the Audi S4 I had for a year and returned to the dealer for a full refund under the US Lemon Law. Also, my Abarth cost $23k, the S4 cost me $56k
I talked to a guy from Fiat on the Vienna Autoshow and asked him about the price for a fully equipped 695 Biposto. He said 73.000 € (56.100 GBP). A STANDARD Cayman with the 6-speed gearbox starts at about 61.000 €. Of course it's exclusive but if I wanted a new car for regular track days I wouldn't go for the Abarth.
people need to stop thinking its too expensive. ofc it is. it is a rich boys toy, it is not for everyday use, it is not meant to be practical or economical.
I think for those who want something special, not a Porsche, there is a great variant - Alfa Romeo 4C! It is more technological, much faster and cheaper + rear wheel drive. It's a pity that it does not have such manual gearbox... Cheers!
Love your videos but struggle to watch them when you guys insist on using the pants audio from those go pro cameras. Please even invest in a little external mic for the go pros so you don't hear that stupid lense stabiliser rattling about constantly. PLEEEEEEEEEEEAASE
TheAegisClaw If you're too concerned about your sexuality to buy a car... Obviously every time I notice a golf I think "that's some man". Oh wait. I never notice a golf.
Henry is a great presenter for sure and it was a great video but I still haven't figured out why cars like Fiat 500 exist and why should a race version ( Abarth ) be made ? The car is taller than it's wide and looks like a shopping cart. I don't understand "cute" but I know one thing for certain, it earns no points in motor racing !
***** I didn't mean to devalorize Abarth and their proud history. only that In in my humble opinion Fiat 500 is not the right platform for a race car unless you can defeat laws of physics.
Nader Kavandi Roads in Europe are small, especially in cities. Therefore the cars are smaller and Minis (original), 500s and the like were very popular (and the larger successor models are still very popular too).
I have actually found that the 500 Abarth has sold pretty good even here in the states. I see quite a few of them around. I think people were missing the Italian cars mostly. It is for the most part though a pointless car for the American market. The majority of roads just aren't small enough and technical enough to get the full experience of this car. Not to mention its basically a deathtrap here on the highways with all the other cars rolling around that are 3 times bigger.
Nice video and great little car, but I think you should considerado to improve sound quality of the videos, it's always a frustrating to listen this muffled sound
Sorry but £53k for any Fiat is a lot, but for this is madness. I could buy so much car for that money, think about it, a Ferrari 355, BMW M5, Porsche 911, even a used Lamborghini Gallardo....yes it's no doubt great fun but so is a Civic EP3 and I can get one for £5k with low mileage and it's almost as quick, has a great gearbox and handles well. That leaves me £48k change!
There is something about this car I love, I agree that it is very much overpriced, but I do want one, probably as my sixth or seventh car... not that I even own a car hahaha
its funny to read al those comments about oh fiat sucks or i rather buy this or that but those people dont see what a fun little car this is yes its a bit expensive but it is not the cute little 500 this is a proper racecar and it has beaten a golfR manytimes and some of you may hate but i dont care i like this car more than a dirty volkswagen or a stupid porche
Hopefully for £53k FIAT can at last make a car that actually handles well, though looking at the extremely thin track width, high centre of gravity and short wheelbase of the 500/595 I very much doubt it. For this kind of money I would buy a used Lancia Delta Integrale and keep the extra £20k for maintenance or buy a Phase 2 Clio V6.
33k base price is too much for that car! 53k? What the hell were they thinking!? When Honda came up with the mugen type r fn2 and put a price tag of 38k,I thought that was ridiculous, fiat is out of their mind with this car!
We should praise Abarth for having the bollocks to do it! Car manufacturers are generally boring, its great to see a car like this. The money is almost irrelevant, once it goes over like 30 grand, the people who buy it will buy it regardless. For some of them its a purely collectable, will fit in the garage alongside Ferrari's etc.
Josh Charlie I guess you could look at it that way! But 53k is an unbelievable amount of money for a fwd hatchback! I'm fairly confident that a 17k Ford fiesta st will be faster than this on a track! But I guess as a collectible automotive item, 53k isn't that much at all considering that collectible Ferraris are worth tens of millions! And collectors don't care! So I guess it kind of makes sense!
I totally get it, but I really think that this is one of those cars where the price becomes irrelevant to those who will be buying it. At circa 15k the standard Abarth offers infinitely better value. But this is quite a special little car. That gearbox, the exhaust, the details such as the windows, suspension, seating, the carbon fibre. My Abarth had a real unrivalled sense of occasion to it, it was noisy, used to backfire, it was so far from perfection that it was overwhelmingly charming. I really think Abarth are a great company doing great things, I love their sense of playfulness. Any other company would choke on even the absurdity of the idea of a 50 grand supermini. We used to rely on the French for mad hat concepts like the v6 clio, but even they have succumb to the realities of the financial pressure. Long live Abarth! :)
When Honda, Renault, Ford, Audi or whoever make an extreme car like this, they sell it at a loss and limit the production run to 200-500 cars so they don't lose too much money. If Fiat doesn't limit the production run for this, it probably means they're selling it for profit or at least for what it costs them to make it.
I'm not sure what stance you are taking (do you think that's a good thing or a bad one?). I wish them every success with it. I love it, and I love the lunacy of it.
Possible that in every video there are always a lot of stupid comments? This car is a track-toy for people who have money, it's useless to make a list of better and affordable cars (there are?.Wow..surprise). Which person (without mental issues) would buy this as first or single car?..Not one. Who buy this toy it does to have a go-kart for play on track, and surely not think at how much better and convenient are a Golf (has something better probably). If "you" want a car (nice and with good performance) obvious that you look to other. It does not seem so hard to understand.
At this price its going to have such a small market. Its really only going to sell to people who love Abarth, and people who can afford something like this. That gearbox seems to be the only upside to the cost.
I own a 2014 Fiat Abarth and all I did was get it tuned with a tuner from Remus and I'm pulling almost the same power as this for a lot less. That price is to much I'll admit great looking car though.
The notion that Fiat expects this to sell well in England and Germany points out the lunacy to Europe's opinions on cars and money. So many Europeans (or at least Euro fanboys) were making fun of Chevy for charging $75k for "a Camaro" when the Z/28 came out, and yet it is as fast on track as the Porsche 911 Turbo, and Ferrari F12 (both of which cost well over twice as much). Fiat wants to charge 80k for a car that's probably about as fast a Focus ST or WRX which are both less than 30k. The options alone on this thing cost as much as a Z51 Corvette which would run circles around this thing.
The Camaro is a horse of a car and has no panache or soul Pick a nice montain road and test them against each other . We know what car will win and what driver will have had the most fun and it wont be the camaro driver . Fiat
fredrich99 Sorry but you are dead wrong. The Camaro Z/28 was MT's best drivers car because it really is fantastic to drive. The Fiesta ST was 5th and most people say that's a more fun and connected car than the 500.
You gotta love the Cinquino, but this biposto is really overpriced, even considering the cool materials and all the gizmos. It's like a GT3 version of the 500, but comparatively even more expensive!
Cool no doubt! I would rather have a new M3 for the money. Or better, an E92 V8 M3 + regular 500 abarth as a city car and I would still have an awful lot of change on my pocket! It's honestly I car that makes no sense to the ordinary people. As a second car to your brand new F458... Ok in that instance, makes sense!
Don't think of it as an Abarth 695, rather a Ferrari Cygnet (albeit the Cygnet ceased production due to poor sales but lets gloss over that fact for now). If you think the car is too expensive then you're almost certainly not the target market for this car, its the kind of car a supercar owner buys because they struggle to park their Enzo in whatever overcrowded urban metropolis they chose to live in and they like to pick their milk and newspaper up with some charming yet cute lift off oversteer.
Case of diplomatic Henry i think. If i was the journo I don't think I could hold back my opinion that none of these will sell as a result of the ludicrous pricing and utter pointlessness. C'mon Henry say what you're thinking. Better buying an Abarth off ebay and tarting it up a bit yourself.
+stoppsi Funny thing is they will sell. And they are selling. Its a toy for the wealthier individuals as a friendlier addition to their garage, something that can zip around in traffic and around the city.
Spend your money how you like if you can get one get one if you can't Yo bad! GOT AN 2013 ABARTH AND I SMOKE GOLF'S AND GTI'S ! .... Oh yes mine is MODIFIED!
68K for a hopped up front wheel drive purse on wheels. No thanks. The only upside i can see to this is the gearbox. Let's hope many of these things crash so i can get a cheap dogbox.
You might be right but then again I would rather buy something else instead. Just the simple fact that this thing is fwd it already makes it less fun than all the rwd cars out there at least in my own personal opinion.
Fwd cars are fun in their respective category of fwd cars. I like them but I will never own one. Nothing against them I driven plenty of fwds, just not my choice for fun.
SpyderRios I got a Fiesta ST as a daily, and it is extremely fun just day to day and especially on back roads. I'll probably always have a RWD fun/race car, but there is no denying how good the FiST is. As for cars that are cheaper than this special 500 yet faster...I'd say just about anything north of $30k. Things like a base Mustang/Camaro, WRX, most other hot hatches, a shopping cart, etc.
Fiat touts this car as worlds smallest supercar. Unfortunately even the local hyundai dealer sells 3 faster cars 0-60, and they also list higher top speeds. As for race day, look at laying additional megabucks to make it worthy and sufficiently safe for impound/inspection day at the track. At best, its a very very over priced under-performing street car, with race-looking stuff on it. It's sad, they could have done so much more with this car. If you really want to do something fun with an Abarth, swap the ECU, fix the suspension, and replace brakes, air induction, fuel handling, and clutch, you'll be about $6,000 into your stock US Abarth, and at around 245HP, then you'll have a way more competent and fun car than this. Not to mention less than 1/2 the money.
I had a 2010 Abarth, spent a fortune on it. Circa 200bhp in the end with the magneti marelli exhaust. Man I miss that car so much. It was so much fun, and everyone used to talk to me about it. Great great car. If I had the money I would buy a 695 Biposto without a doubt. Its a real future classic, buy it, keep it, drive it. In 10+ years time it will draw huge attention. More fun and more lovable than a Ferrari.
ive worked on a bipisto 695, you have to tip your hat to Abarth for offering great unusual extras, plexi glass windows, straight cut racing gearbox, akrapovic exhaust, this is an enthusiast car, a future collectors classic, Fiat is an amazing brand
Objectively, the car makes zero sense. But oh my word, I really want one! I'm happy that the Italians are make cars with soul again.
this is mad car for mad people, I love it, it doesn't need to be justified, you guys already have the regular Abarth anyway which is still stupid fun.
imo Henry's videos are the closest we'll get now to a Harry's Diary without Harry actually making another one. when he talks to camera he makes you feel part of his conversation, very natural, easy to listen to and not robotic in delivery. more please :)
For 55 grand? Can't think of a single other car I'd rather have to be honest. The standard Abarth is special enough - it puts a cayman to shame for sense of occasion - but this, with that gearbox and seats and harnesses and... I think it's absolutely fantastic.
If you can buy a 20 grand 3 series and 60 grand 3 series, why not an equivalent hatchback? What's up with the worlds prejudice towards hatches?
Because 1) you cant get a 20 grand 3 series. 2) The M3 has got over 200hp more for its price, not ~30hp.
Not even sure if this Abarth is as fast as the Fiesta ST that the standard version is supposed to compete with.
For 55k, I can't think of a single car that would be worse than this. Most cars in this price range handle just as good and have over double the power.
Adam S That's because you don't understand cars. And that's fine.
Malc180s Maybe you don't understand earning your own money.
Besides I have a Fiesta ST...its everything this car tries to be...apparently for 1/3rd the price.
Love the side windows, only street car I can remember using them was Ferrari F40 (early gen)
I have an Abarth and absolutely love it, but as cool as I think this is I just can't fathom that much money for any Fiat 500-based car unless it had Ferrari 458 Italia V8 in place of the rear seats driving the rear wheels. However, it's not any sillier than a 50% mark up on a Bentley Conti GTC to celebrate some championship or a million and a half for a Pagani Huyara when the C7 Z06 Corvette exists and does 85% of what that car does for less than a tenth of the price. There's a market for it I'm sure. We can disagree on whether it's worth the price but it's hard to argue that it's not cool.
So, do you always start your videos with 'So..'?
Miki Biasion, hero of the golden age. 695 Biposto, hero among underdogs and hustlers. 👍
8000 pounds for a GEARBOX?!?! Wtf?! Have they gone mad? You don't pay that much money for a gearbox in a supercar. A Ferrari 458 gearbox probably doesn't cost that much to make.
So for the price of one 695 you can buy a Megane RS to have the best track hot hatch (and far better than 695 in every imaginable way) and a Golf GTI to have the best road hot hatch (also far better than 695 in every imaginable way).
Also, I bet you if you buy the regular 500 Abarth, for the money you saved by not buying the 695, you can pretty much turn in into a road legal race car that will far outperform the 695.
Abarth, gone mad?
Fiat sucks anyway...
Sure, this is a dogbox gearbox. Clearly it's not a car for someone that wants performance, but a fashion object. Price is totally irrelevant
Get a 458 Italia, break the gearbox and you'll be happy to pay only 8k pounds to get a new one.
That's about right for a dogbox with a artistic shift linkage of that sort. Many new manual transmission gearboxes are in the 5k range, but the artistic aspect and dogbox adds to the value.
*****
with a ferrari, you pay 8K just to have the mechanic take a look. plus, the 458 458 has the same trans as the SLS AMG, a transaxle DCT, one of the most expensive on the consumer market
Varano de Melegari is near my hometown! Glad to see also EVO there reviewing the 695 there :D
Price aside, what a great car.
It might be a cool car, but it's overpriced. Also they are known for being unreliable, I would preffer something like 235i.
Another great video Henry, please keep uploading them! Cheers
Are you typing from the 80s? Ever since the Grande Punto, Fiat has been reliable, much more than the french. Apart from the horrible Stilo, Fiat has been reliable since the 90s.
www.autobild.de/artikel/dauertest-fiat-500-1.4-2332624.html If you don't understand german look at the last spreadsheet.
LB
What are you trying to say?
Well Fiat 500 came 73th on the list of 80 most reliable cars, tested on long period by Autobuild.
LB
No problems with mine after two years, unlike the Audi S4 I had for a year and returned to the dealer for a full refund under the US Lemon Law. Also, my Abarth cost $23k, the S4 cost me $56k
I talked to a guy from Fiat on the Vienna Autoshow and asked him about the price for a fully equipped 695 Biposto. He said 73.000 € (56.100 GBP). A STANDARD Cayman with the 6-speed gearbox starts at about 61.000 €. Of course it's exclusive but if I wanted a new car for regular track days I wouldn't go for the Abarth.
people need to stop thinking its too expensive. ofc it is.
it is a rich boys toy, it is not for everyday use, it is not meant to be practical or economical.
For everyday use there's the 595... 😏
And a 500 for comfy long journeys
I think for those who want something special, not a Porsche, there is a great variant - Alfa Romeo 4C! It is more technological, much faster and cheaper + rear wheel drive. It's a pity that it does not have such manual gearbox...
Cheers!
Love your videos but struggle to watch them when you guys insist on using the pants audio from those go pro cameras. Please even invest in a little external mic for the go pros so you don't hear that stupid lense stabiliser rattling about constantly. PLEEEEEEEEEEEAASE
A well known RUclips person just bought one. Video up tomorrow
seen through glass?
Gennaro3115 Yup that's why I clicked on this video.
i've been waiting for a vid of this car!!!!!! Awesome!
Hmm, no, I don't want the Golf R, what I need is something slower, smaller, more expensive and less reliable...
Loool
Well I do. Why would I want a Golf R? It's boring. This is special. As special as anything under 100 grand.
Malc180s can you come round on Thursday to do my girlfriend's hair please? Sorry about the short notice.
TheAegisClaw If you're too concerned about your sexuality to buy a car...
Obviously every time I notice a golf I think "that's some man". Oh wait. I never notice a golf.
I didnt know you were getting a golf r for its storage capacity and price...
Henry is a great presenter for sure and it was a great video but I still haven't figured out why cars like Fiat 500 exist and why should a race version ( Abarth ) be made ? The car is taller than it's wide and looks like a shopping cart. I don't understand "cute" but I know one thing for certain, it earns no points in motor racing !
***** This has as much to do with the abarth of old than mayo has to do with dieting.
***** I didn't mean to devalorize Abarth and their proud history. only that In in my humble opinion Fiat 500 is not the right platform for a race car unless you can defeat laws of physics.
Nader Kavandi Roads in Europe are small, especially in cities. Therefore the cars are smaller and Minis (original), 500s and the like were very popular (and the larger successor models are still very popular too).
I have actually found that the 500 Abarth has sold pretty good even here in the states. I see quite a few of them around. I think people were missing the Italian cars mostly. It is for the most part though a pointless car for the American market. The majority of roads just aren't small enough and technical enough to get the full experience of this car. Not to mention its basically a deathtrap here on the highways with all the other cars rolling around that are 3 times bigger.
MrGovenator1 No doubts we are missing the iItalians and sadly there is no sign of Giulietta or 4C in the fiat-chrysler showrooms.
I've yet to see someone flat shift that thing. Did Fiat tell you to use the clutch for upshifts?
One:1!!!!! Where is it!?
Compared to a clio 3RS Cup.. is it better? Because i think they made it with 24h endurance races in mind
Nice video and great little car, but I think you should considerado to improve sound quality of the videos, it's always a frustrating to listen this muffled sound
Can some one confirm he scratched the rim with the socket at 5:53 . there were some bits flying...
I don't understand how the gearbox works: full sequential like rally car?
superb little thing for the ring !
Sorry but £53k for any Fiat is a lot, but for this is madness. I could buy so much car for that money, think about it, a Ferrari 355, BMW M5, Porsche 911, even a used Lamborghini Gallardo....yes it's no doubt great fun but so is a Civic EP3 and I can get one for £5k with low mileage and it's almost as quick, has a great gearbox and handles well. That leaves me £48k change!
There is something about this car I love, I agree that it is very much overpriced, but I do want one, probably as my sixth or seventh car... not that I even own a car hahaha
its funny to read al those comments about oh fiat sucks or i rather buy this or that but those people dont see what a fun little car this is yes its a bit expensive but it is not the cute little 500 this is a proper racecar and it has beaten a golfR manytimes and some of you may hate but i dont care i like this car more than a dirty volkswagen or a stupid porche
Why would you buy on of these over a megane trophy r????
Hopefully for £53k FIAT can at last make a car that actually handles well, though looking at the extremely thin track width, high centre of gravity and short wheelbase of the 500/595 I very much doubt it. For this kind of money I would buy a used Lancia Delta Integrale and keep the extra £20k for maintenance or buy a Phase 2 Clio V6.
33k base price is too much for that car! 53k? What the hell were they thinking!? When Honda came up with the mugen type r fn2 and put a price tag of 38k,I thought that was ridiculous, fiat is out of their mind with this car!
We should praise Abarth for having the bollocks to do it! Car manufacturers are generally boring, its great to see a car like this. The money is almost irrelevant, once it goes over like 30 grand, the people who buy it will buy it regardless. For some of them its a purely collectable, will fit in the garage alongside Ferrari's etc.
Josh Charlie I guess you could look at it that way! But 53k is an unbelievable amount of money for a fwd hatchback! I'm fairly confident that a 17k Ford fiesta st will be faster than this on a track! But I guess as a collectible automotive item, 53k isn't that much at all considering that collectible Ferraris are worth tens of millions! And collectors don't care! So I guess it kind of makes sense!
I totally get it, but I really think that this is one of those cars where the price becomes irrelevant to those who will be buying it. At circa 15k the standard Abarth offers infinitely better value. But this is quite a special little car. That gearbox, the exhaust, the details such as the windows, suspension, seating, the carbon fibre. My Abarth had a real unrivalled sense of occasion to it, it was noisy, used to backfire, it was so far from perfection that it was overwhelmingly charming. I really think Abarth are a great company doing great things, I love their sense of playfulness. Any other company would choke on even the absurdity of the idea of a 50 grand supermini. We used to rely on the French for mad hat concepts like the v6 clio, but even they have succumb to the realities of the financial pressure. Long live Abarth! :)
When Honda, Renault, Ford, Audi or whoever make an extreme car like this, they sell it at a loss and limit the production run to 200-500 cars so they don't lose too much money.
If Fiat doesn't limit the production run for this, it probably means they're selling it for profit or at least for what it costs them to make it.
I'm not sure what stance you are taking (do you think that's a good thing or a bad one?). I wish them every success with it. I love it, and I love the lunacy of it.
Why aren't car reviewers all over manufacturers over not being able to turn off the anti-fun systems? They should be :(
If they offered you the Hamann 265hp & +270km/h performance for let's say 35 000€ it would be golden. 70 000€ is almost an M4....
Possible that in every video there are always a lot of stupid comments?
This car is a track-toy for people who have money, it's useless to make a list of better and affordable cars (there are?.Wow..surprise).
Which person (without mental issues) would buy this as first or single car?..Not one.
Who buy this toy it does to have a go-kart for play on track, and surely not think at how much better and convenient are a Golf (has something better probably).
If "you" want a car (nice and with good performance) obvious that you look to other.
It does not seem so hard to understand.
Great video Henry
The price makes me wonder how big the crack pipe was they were smoking when they came up with how to price it. Jeez.
+youtubasoarus it's made in Italy not Mexico or Thailand like polo gti and fiesta st a made . Btw they have shit interior
At this price its going to have such a small market. Its really only going to sell to people who love Abarth, and people who can afford something like this. That gearbox seems to be the only upside to the cost.
that's a very special little car, fast too
Will it come to the USA? I want one.
They're milking the car too much. Go make a miata rival or something jeezus
I own a 2014 Fiat Abarth and all I did was get it tuned with a tuner from Remus and I'm pulling almost the same power as this for a lot less. That price is to much I'll admit great looking car though.
The notion that Fiat expects this to sell well in England and Germany points out the lunacy to Europe's opinions on cars and money.
So many Europeans (or at least Euro fanboys) were making fun of Chevy for charging $75k for "a Camaro" when the Z/28 came out, and yet it is as fast on track as the Porsche 911 Turbo, and Ferrari F12 (both of which cost well over twice as much).
Fiat wants to charge 80k for a car that's probably about as fast a Focus ST or WRX which are both less than 30k. The options alone on this thing cost as much as a Z51 Corvette which would run circles around this thing.
The Camaro is a horse of a car and has no panache or soul Pick a nice montain road and test them against each other . We know what car will win and what driver will have had the most fun and it wont be the camaro driver . Fiat
fredrich99 Sorry but you are dead wrong. The Camaro Z/28 was MT's best drivers car because it really is fantastic to drive. The Fiesta ST was 5th and most people say that's a more fun and connected car than the 500.
Don't know how to rev match?
Looks like a fun car but what's up with that window?!
I bet the build quality is not better than in the other 500/595/695 models out there.
Art is subjective and this is a piece of motoring art so to some people the price is justifiable
You can buy an M4 in the US for way less money.
8k euros for the sequential gearbox, but oh boy if that is not a beautiful mechanism, I could watch it shifting all day long
190hp from a 1.4 is pretty impressive
i need one! such a cool car.
You gotta love the Cinquino, but this biposto is really overpriced, even considering the cool materials and all the gizmos. It's like a GT3 version of the 500, but comparatively even more expensive!
Actually makes the Megane RS good value for money lol.
That price will make you think of a Ginetta track car...
Take used standard Abarth, and strip it out and boost its power and handling. Profit (by 40k)
Cool no doubt!
I would rather have a new M3 for the money.
Or better, an E92 V8 M3 + regular 500 abarth as a city car and I would still have an awful lot of change on my pocket!
It's honestly I car that makes no sense to the ordinary people.
As a second car to your brand new F458... Ok in that instance, makes sense!
I feel like I should compare the looks to a french bulldog haha
Don't think of it as an Abarth 695, rather a Ferrari Cygnet (albeit the Cygnet ceased production due to poor sales but lets gloss over that fact for now).
If you think the car is too expensive then you're almost certainly not the target market for this car, its the kind of car a supercar owner buys because they struggle to park their Enzo in whatever overcrowded urban metropolis they chose to live in and they like to pick their milk and newspaper up with some charming yet cute lift off oversteer.
The Cygnet was an Aston-Martin rebadged Toyota IQ, not a Ferrari !
+Jean-Charles Wojas You completely missed the point...
+Oscar Brady Why ?
Jean-Charles Wojas It's Ferraris version of the Cygnet style car
Very, very cool but the price makes it pointless. I'd get a Cayman S
HOW MUCH???
They will sell exactly none of 'em!
love the dog box !!!
Case of diplomatic Henry i think. If i was the journo I don't think I could hold back my opinion that none of these will sell as a result of the ludicrous pricing and utter pointlessness. C'mon Henry say what you're thinking. Better buying an Abarth off ebay and tarting it up a bit yourself.
+stoppsi Funny thing is they will sell. And they are selling. Its a toy for the wealthier individuals as a friendlier addition to their garage, something that can zip around in traffic and around the city.
Feels like a racecar.
Think id buy a used abarth and put some tuning into that. Not as special but no less fun and for a fraction of the cost.
250km/h is around 150mp/h not 135 >_
The only thing fiat needs to do to justify the price is make it RWD. If it was RWD it would be the most special car under 100k from what I can see.
+n9athan awd diff better option . But then it will weigh 100 kg more
Thought that was a sequential shifter at first lol
Henry Catchpole really resembles Guy Martin!
shifts like my grandmum
$68,924.38 US Dollars.....Dang. I'm sure it's fun though.
super fast hatchbacks dont work in Britain, most cant afford the tax and insurance..
Hank, what's the funniest bastardadation of your last name you've heard?
Spend your money how you like if you can get one get one if you can't Yo bad! GOT AN 2013 ABARTH AND I SMOKE GOLF'S AND GTI'S ! .... Oh yes mine is MODIFIED!
Its a racer, its not for every one.
Dom Degood the only one should have a like
Who in their right mind would get this over a Cayman?
+Jason Mormando cayman is not £ 30 pounds tho .. It's far more in uk , this is where this is reviewed
I like it a lot, But over £50 grand?!!! Rather have a Porsche or GTR!
+Brett Lambley you can't buy a new Porsche or gtr for 50 k
68K for a hopped up front wheel drive purse on wheels. No thanks.
The only upside i can see to this is the gearbox. Let's hope many of these things crash so i can get a cheap dogbox.
When I see Henry in a car that small I immediately think of this:
vimeo.com/49994281
very nice, indeed.
I would buy this car just for the shifter
Mini Cooper S or better GP... Nuff said.
How fast is this thing even is? I bet there are a lot of faster cars for less money
How fast a car is doesn't equate to fun.
You might be right but then again I would rather buy something else instead. Just the simple fact that this thing is fwd it already makes it less fun than all the rwd cars out there at least in my own personal opinion.
SpyderRios There are plenty of FWD cars that behave like RWD cars. The STs from Ford are a good example of this.
Fwd cars are fun in their respective category of fwd cars. I like them but I will never own one. Nothing against them I driven plenty of fwds, just not my choice for fun.
SpyderRios I got a Fiesta ST as a daily, and it is extremely fun just day to day and especially on back roads. I'll probably always have a RWD fun/race car, but there is no denying how good the FiST is.
As for cars that are cheaper than this special 500 yet faster...I'd say just about anything north of $30k. Things like a base Mustang/Camaro, WRX, most other hot hatches, a shopping cart, etc.
talking with lower voice and exhaust sounds behind makes a whole mess.. wish at least we had the engine sounds only..
Fiat touts this car as worlds smallest supercar. Unfortunately even the local hyundai dealer sells 3 faster cars 0-60, and they also list higher top speeds. As for race day, look at laying additional megabucks to make it worthy and sufficiently safe for impound/inspection day at the track. At best, its a very very over priced under-performing street car, with race-looking stuff on it. It's sad, they could have done so much more with this car. If you really want to do something fun with an Abarth, swap the ECU, fix the suspension, and replace brakes, air induction, fuel handling, and clutch, you'll be about $6,000 into your stock US Abarth, and at around 245HP, then you'll have a way more competent and fun car than this. Not to mention less than 1/2 the money.
£50k is ludicrous for a 500!
executive toy! you can keep it. Does look good though.
seat leon super cup- 70k€...
70k euro? tnx but no tnx :D Get a Lotus Exige for that money, better in any sort of way
Can't hear what the guy is saying, too much screaming Abarths in the background lol
they better make a new sp 1000
this is a madly expensive small but a rather special car
the car you buy with your heart not brain
Standard silly abarth or 135i with 8 speed box, hmmm. This Fiat will be worth 10k after 2 years.
They could have edit the sound and make some voice over... this is horrible to listen. Good car however.
That thing is Bi something.....
i thought to my self this would be a great car for some one who cant afford a golf r and then he dropped the bombshell..
+james bond it's got far better interior than a golf r why it costs that
+Ben Chesterman I am a 595 owner, but the golf R interior is of a higher quality overall.
Harry Potter drives a 695 !
i love the shift linkage
Is this a confused car or what !