NF500 / 500 Abarth

From 15th to 18th May, Abarth will be taking part in the 26th edition of the ‘Mille Miglia 2008’, a historical re-enactment of the ‘finest race in the world’, to quote Enzo Ferrari.

Abarth will have its own exhibition space at the Mille Miglia Paddock in the Fiera di Brescia, home to the world premiere of the ‘500 Abarth Assetto Corse’: the small yet powerful car due to feature in track races from next year, designed to rekindle the spirit of the ‘595 Abarth’, a car created by Fiat and engineered by the mechanical genius of Karl Abarth. To bring home this point, an historic 595 Abarth will be displayed side by side with the new car, along with a new 135hp 500 Abarth model, which will go on general sale from next July.

Abarth’s participation in this event, so unique and packed with tradition, symbolises its strong relationship with the past and significant link with the origins of the brand. Abarth cars from 1949 (the year when Abarth & C. SpA was set up) to 1957 (last edition of the 1000 Miglia race) were the stars of what has now become one of the most famous races in the world.

Full Abarth press release and technical specifications follow:

Abarth returns to track racing, and it has chosen to do so with its new ‘500 Abarth Assetto Corse’, the baby supersports car from Abarth, due to be produced in a Limited Edition (49 cars).

The new vehicle, designed by the Fiat Group Automobiles Style Centre and produced by a team of Abarth Engineers and Designers will be the star of track races from next year and its creation confirms Abarth’s racing vocation.

The Assetto Corse version of the petite 500 Abarth takes up the baton from its forerunner, the ‘595’ that notched up numerous successes and great victories from 1963 and led to the coining of the description ‘small but deadly’.

The cars sports a full racing outfit: wide track, white 17’ special ultralight racing wheels, low ride, sports racing mirrors and a place for a number on the sides. Available in pastel grey with red Abarth side stripes, the ‘500 Abarth Assetto Corse’ reveals an assertive front end that houses a badge bearing the Abarth logo and, below this, wide bumpers complete with an aerodynamic spoiler and screen-printed grilles to replace the plastic louvres on the standard production version. In addition to the classic bonnet clips, the bonnet houses two carbon air intakes bearing the Abarth scorpion logo.

The rear part of the car features a white winged spoiler, a badge bearing the Abarth logo and a twin exhaust pipe.

The Abarth identity is expressed to the full with a thunderbolt logo on the side representing the brand’s racing image and a red band and four white chequers on the roof, just as on the winning Abarth 850TC version of the 1960s.

Inside, the ‘500 Abarth Assetto Corse’ is equipped with a roll-bar type-approved for racing that is completely hollow to make the car lighter and faster. The car weighs approximately 180 kg less than the road version. The anatomical seats, the steering wheel (special for racing) and the carbon door panels make the 500 Abarth Assetto Corse a real baby sports car with a indomitable character all of its own .

Abarth has also thoughtfully provided a clothing set for the driver, that will be delivered in an original Abarth-branded leather bag. Owners of the ‘500 Abarth Assetto Corse’ will therefore be resplendent in overalls, helmets, gloves and shoes, all meticulously branded with the ultra-new ‘Assetto Corse’ logo produced for the limited edition of the car.

500 Abarth Assetto Corse Technical specifications

500 Abarth 1.4 16V turbo 200 bhp ‘ASSETTO CORSE’

• Engine - 4 cylinders in line, 4 valves per cylinder, 1368 cc.
• Power output: 200 KW (147 KW) at 6500 rpm.
• Peak torque 300 Nm at 3000 rpm.
• Garrett GT 1446 fixed geometry turbocharger.
• Special reinforced water and air sleeves.
• Transmission - M32 6-speed gearbox
• Suspension - Front: McPherson strut, special racing shock absorbers, coaxial spring with nut for adjusting height of car.
• Suspension - Rear : inter-connected arms, special racing shock absorbers, springs with nut for adjusting height of car.
• Steering - Electric power steering with racing tuning.
• Brakes - Brembo radial front calliper with four pistons M4X40.

Unfortunately Abarth have not released official photographs of the vehicle at this time (other than the computer images above), but Italiaspeed have a nice collection on their website.

Special thanks to KevinB who originally posted these images on our New Fiat 500 forums.

The photographs, taken by a super sleuth based in Poland, show the recently revealed Abarth version of the popular Fiat 500 strutting its stuff on the streets among everyday traffic.

While these images in themselves reveal nothing new about the forthcoming hot hatch version of the Fiat 500, it is always nice to see future models mixing it on the street, apparently in the latter stages of development and testing. The only visible disguise here is the clever(?!) covering of the Abarth badges, which may fool some, but it wasn’t fooling Kevin’s spotter, or us for that matter, nice try Fiat.

[Disclaimer: We may have added the NF500.com stickers shown in the windows ourselves]

We somehow failed to pick up on this first time around, but it seems many outlets have just starting reporting on a small but significant nugget of information revealed at the last weeks unveiling of the Fiat 500 Abarth.

Abarth officially revealed that an Esseesse tuning kit will be available for the 500 come November, which will boost power further still over the Abarth version to 160 hp. The kit will be available either at time of order, or as a retrofit, reportedly to 500s under 20,000 km or one year old.

Should be fun.

As ever, YouTube seems to come up trumps when seeking out some decent video footage yesterday’s Fiat 500 Abarth unveiling in Turin.

Good to see the hot new Abarth 500 in moving pictures.

We probably wont bore you with any more links to sites showing Abarth eye candy in the NF500 news section, but being a long standing source of great Fiat news and concept images we thought it only right to mention that InfoMotori have their own gallery of photos of the 500 Abarth available to browse on their website.

The full gallery can be found on the InfoMotori site, link after the thumbnail image…

Here’s your link to the full gallery… Enjoy!

While we sit here in freezing cold old Blighty, the folk over at AutoBlog.it have been enjoying themselves at the launch of Abarth’s new Turin headquarters.

No surprise that the event was combined with the unveiling of the new 500 Abarth model, and AutoBlog.it have a tonne of good photos on their website, link after the thumbnail image..

See the full set at AutoBlog.it.

From racing to our everyday roads, but always with a sporty approach. This is the goal behind the debut of the long-awaited ‘500 Abarth’, announced for the coming Geneva International Motor Show. The new car was developed by the Fiat Group Automobiles Style Centre in the spirit of the legendary Fiat 500 Abarth of the 1960s, and will be marketed from July through the exclusive Abarth network.

With a strong sporty personality, the new car will be powered by a Fire 1.4 16v petrol Turbo engine, which delivers a maximum of 135 bhp (99 kW) at 5,500 rpm and peak torque of 206 Nm at 3,000 rpm in ‘Sport’ mode (in ‘Normal’ mode, torque is reduced to 180 Nm at 2,500 rpm). This brilliant, smooth new engine is also a friend of the environment: like the regular Fiat model it is derived from, the new Abarth will respect future Euro 5 legislation.

Another interesting feature of the 500 Abarth is the fact that it adopts the new TTC (Torque Transfer Control) system, which improves the transfer of drive torque to the wheels, but, above all, ensures that the car behaves impeccably on bends, making it safer and more entertaining even with a sporty driving style. In other words, it is faithful to the phrase coined for the Abarths of the 1960s ‘small but wicked’.

NF500 also brings you all available images of the new Abarth 500 in high resolution, including a cut-away of the interior which reveals some exclusive styling enhancements for the Fiat 500, including front bucket seats. One thing seems for sure, if the Abarth 500 has handling and performance to match its looks, Fiat are into a winner!

The images of the 500 Abarth shown here are available at full, very high, resolution at our Flickr page for the Abarth 500.