GENEVA 2010: ABARTH 500C BLOWS ITS TOP

For every car, there’s a prospective customer. And for a car like the Fiat 500C, a cutesy retro mini with a pseudo-cabrio sliding canvas roof, we hardly need to point out who that target demographic is. But as if to highlight what a difference the little things can make, the Abarthversion is another beast entirely.By “little things”, here we mean stuff like a 140-horsepower, 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine, a five-speed sequential paddle-shift transmission and a badass two-tone paint job. All that may not sound like much, but when applied to a little thing like the 500C, it represents thedifference between the stock Fiat’s potential customer and the car nut who takes her out for an evening...

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Paris Preview: Abarth launches EsseEsse versions of 500C and Punto Evo

Following the introduction of Abarth-tuned versions of both the Fiat 500C and Punto Evo at the Geneva Motor Show, the Scorpion brand is preparing to roll into Paris with even hotter versions of both.Carrying the EsseEsse moniker, both models get a substantial boost in output and a variety of upgrades to match. In the case of the 500C – the semi-convertible version of the popular retro hatch – we’re looking at 160 horsepower (up from 138 in the “base” Abarth 500C) for a 7.6-second sprint to 62 mph. The Abarth Punto Evo EsseEsse, by comparison, is tuned to 180 horsepower, resulting in a run of 7.5 seconds.Both feature an array of upgrades to the suspension, brakes, rolling...

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Abarth to go it alone on mid-engine roadster?

Reports of Abarth getting its own sports car have been surfacing pretty much since Fiatrelaunched the brand. They seem to have intensified recently, with reports alternately suggesting that the Scorpion marque could partner with either Lotus or KTM on the development of a mid-engine roadster. The latest scuttlebutt, however, indicates that Abarth could go it alone on the new model.The issue with KTM is reportedly that its carbon-fiber X-Bow, upon which the Abarth roadster could be based, is too expensive for the low price point Fiat seeks. The hesitance to work withLotus, however, may be more personal. Lotus CEO Danny Bahar defected there from Ferrari, and took a number of personnel...

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Fiat 500 Abarth coming to U.S., all-electric 500 BEV to launch first

The other day we told you to bone up on your Italian because the Fiat 500 configurator came online. Now you should seriously start saving your Lira because the high-performance 500 Abarthmodel has been confirmed for the U.S. market. No date has been confirmed, but we’ve been told that the launch of all 500 models will be staggered and the Abarth is last in the queue.Those other variations include the standard 500 that you can start ordering now, the 500C drop-top and a 500 that runs on all-electric battery power. Still, the one we’re breaking out thedriving gloves for is the Fiat 500 Abarth… and rumor has it that we might see the tiny terror running Stateside within the next three...

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Romeo Ferraris and Fenice Milano pay tribute to Monza with limited edition Abarth 500

Like weddings in the Deep South, everything with cars is relative. For instance, we’d strain to call most cars with racing stripes running every which way “subtle.” But when the treatment comes from Fenice Milano, anything short of gold chrome is understated. See? Relative.The Milanese design house is the same that has gilded everything from the Fiat 500C to the Rolls-Royce Ghost. But for this special edition, they’ve teamed up with Romeo Ferraris, the Italian tuning house that’s given us custom Corvettes, Land Rovers and of course… Fiat 500s. Okay, so between them there’s no lack of love for the retro hatchback, and this is the embodiment of their shared passion: the Abarth 500 Monza.A...

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2011 Chrysler 200 Convertible

The previous-generation Chrysler Sebring Convertible was a mainstay of vacation-destinationrental fleets. The cars were so numerous that you could pick them out from your airplane flying into Orlando, Miami and Los Angeles.The old Sebring seemed just about perfect in this role. It was fine for a couple days of fun in the sun, but you never shed a tear when dropping off its keys back at the rental counter. When we arrived at the launch of the new Chrysler 200 Convertible in San Diego, we wondered whether the Sebring’s successor would be better enough for us to want to hold onto the keys after our test drive was over.Posts Related to 2011 Chrysler 200 Convertible2008...

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