Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corse

Fiat has announced the 2008 Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corse, a super limited-run track day sports car based on the lowly Fiat 500 subcompact, then modified in every way into a lightweight, high-powered racing machine. Think John Cooper Works Mini Cooper S, minus a few pounds and inches in the waistline.
The Abarth marque at Fiat has come to signify small, lightened Italian sports cars that are the antithesis of nameplates like Ferrari and Maserati, yet still fast and sporting in their own right. The 500 Abarth Assetto Corse, like the less exclusive Fiat 500 Abarth,
The Abarth Assetto Corse is a limited-run Italian sport compact car, with only 49 units going to production. With 200 horsepower on tap in a package this small, the Assetto Corse will be tearing up Italian back roads soon for those Fiat fans lucky enough to get their hands on one.

Back to the track: 500 Abarth Assetto Corse
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. Read More...

Fiat Grande Punto Abarth

Fiat is relaunching one of the motor industry's legendary performance and sporting car brands at the 2007 Geneva International Motor Show, when it takes the wraps off its new Grande Punto Abarth, the first of a new range of high performance and sporting Fiats, as well as performance and sporting kits for the Fiat range.
Luca de Meo, CEO of Fiat Automobiles SpA, decided some time ago that Abarth had to be much more than merely a badge attached to certain models in the Fiat range. So the new Abarth division of the company will run its own racing and rally teams, starting with the successful Grande Punto Abarth S2000, which won both the Italian and European Rally Championship titles last year, in its debut season. The new Abarth division will also prepare racing and rally cars for customers in a wide range of series and one make championships.
For road car customers, Abarth will develop new models for the Fiat range, starting with the Grande Punto Abarth, as well as developing performance and styling packages for the owners of existing Fiat products. Promotion of merchandise and clothing lines will also be a key element in the company's plans for Abarth.
Founded in 1949 by Carlo Abarth, the Abarth company produced classic sporting versions of key Fiat models and ran racing teams that were dominant forces on both the race track and on rally stages. The famous scorpion badge was chosen as a clear indication of what Abarth was all about - small cars with a big sting in the tail!
"The link with tradition is not just an idea, but tangible and concrete," says Luca de Meo. "This is a real rebirth, that will start with the triumphant return of Abarth activities to our historic premises in Corso Marche, Turin, where the famous 'Officine Abarth' will be recreated."

Grande Punto Abarth
The first of a new generation of Fiat Abarth performance cars being unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show this year is the Grande Punto Abarth, which is equipped with a 1.4-liter turbo petrol engine that delivers 150 bhp at 5500 rpm, boosted to 155 bhp when 98 RON petrol is used. Peak torque of 152 lb-ft is developed at just 2000 rpm, but 169 lb-ft is produced at 3000 rpm by driver activation of the Sport mode. And thanks to the availability of an aftermarket booster kit, some 180 bhp can be made available, representing a peak power output of almost three times that of the entry level Punto.
All of which is a revival of past traditions: for example, the 1957 Fiat 500 delivered 13 bhp at 4000 rpm with a top speed of 53 mph, while the Fiat 500 Abarth of the same year delivered over 20 bhp at 5000 rpm and a top speed of 73 mph. The new Grande Punto Abarth aims to revive the feats of these entertaining performance cars, and Abarth aims to offer young enthusiasts in particular an opportunity to enter the world of motor sport in complete safety and at an accessible price.

Grande Punto Abarth S2000
Abarth is planning to repeat the stunning 2006 competition debut of this car, by entering the 2007 Italian Rally Championship with Giandomenico Basso and his co-driver Mitia Dotta. On the international scene, the Grande Punto Abarth S2000 will compete in the IRC (Intercontinental Rally Challenge) with drivers Andrea Navarra, and co-driver Guido D'Amore, together with the young Umberto Scandola and Anton Alen.
Powered by a 2000cc normally aspirated engine that delivers 270 bhp, with 4-wheel drive, the latest Grande Punto Abarth S2000 is a development of the machine that won the 2006 Italian Rally Championship with Paolo Andreucci and Anna Andreussi, winning 7 of the 11 events in the series. During the same season, Giandomenico Basso/Mitia Dotta also won the European Rally Championship and the International Rally Challenge, with a similar car.
As well as possessing a highly successful standard bearer in the Grande Punto Abarth S2000, and an outstanding team of drivers, the new Abarth & C. company also boasts a staff with vast experience: a total of 113 experts, including 26 engineers, 43 on the manufacturing side of the business and nine dedicated purely to motorsport. Read More...

Fiat 500C Cabriolet After Japan, The Next is Europe

Fiat 500C Cabriolet After Japan, The Next is Europe

Fiat 500C Cabriolet 2010, after launched in Japan, Fiat set to launch in Europe.
Fiat 500C Cabriolet scheduled to go on sale in Europe is about starting April 14, 2004.
The city car that provide in manual 5-speeds and 6-speed automatic transmission will available in 4 engine versions and meet Euro 5 standard, which are1.2 liter 69 hp, 1.4 liter 16 valves 100 hp, 1.3 liter Multijet 75 hp, and 1.3 liter Multijet II 95hp.
Special for gasoline engine type, Fiat 500C would provides Dualogic 5-speed gearbox robotized.
The price of Fiat 500C Cabriolet is about 18,000 Euro. Read More...