NF500 / unveiling

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.

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.

As if to illustrate that the whole motoring world was watching the unveiling of the new Fiat 500 in Turin on the 4th July, Canadian publication Globe and Mail has an in depth article and appraisal of the lavish combined Birthday and Launch Party of the Fiat 500. That’s despite the fact that, at best, the North American markets can look forward to an Abarth version of the 500, sometimes after 2010! Reporter Eric Reguly certainly didn’t let that dampen the sense of occasion:

The riverside launch show of the new Fiat 500 looked like it was inspired by Disney, Cirque du Soleil and Timothy Leary in equal parts. It was clever, fast-paced, surreal at times and always imaginative.

Mostly, it was big, the type of spectacle normally reserved for millennium parties and Olympic opening ceremonies.

You can read his report in it’s entirety at that Globe and Mail website.