Pocket Rocket: The 2016 Fiat 500 Abarth

The 2016 Fiat 500 Abarth.

Four years on, the Fiat 500's fifteen minutes of fame and fashionability has long been up.  But if you still like the look, want one but haven't bought one, the one to buy is the Fiat 500 Abarth.

Abarth is an Italian racing company founded in 1949 by the late Karl Abarth, who started hot-rodding Fiats in 1952.  Fiat bought the company outright in 1971.

New Car Review: 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth

The 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth.

For a bit over a year now, Fiat 500s have been making us smile whenever we see one on the street (increasingly common near TireKicker World Headquarters in Phoenix, Arizona, where they seem to be selling well). Regular TireKicker readers will recall that we liked the first 500 we drove...the 500C...last fall.

All well and good...but no preparation whatsoever for the ear-to-ear grin and maniacal laughter produced by the Fiat 500 Abarth.

What's an Abarth? Well, it's an Italian racing company founded by the late Karl Abarth in 1949, and which began building hot versions of Fiats in 1952. Fiat bought Abarth outright in 1971, but allowed the name to descend to trim level packages and not much else by the 90s.

But Abarth is back, and a great way to make a statement that Abarth means fast is to take a 2,533 pound Fiat 500 and swap the 101 horsepower 1.4-liter four-cylinder with a turbo version making 160 horsepower.

Or as Top Gear's Jeremy Clarkson called the Abarth, "A small, cuddly pet mouse that can be used for killing burglars."

New Car Review: 2012 Fiat 500C




The 2012 Fiat 500C.

Regular TireKicker readers know I am hype-averse. The more something gets promoted, plugged, built-up, the more skeptical I am about it.

So, a dumb commercial featuring J. Lo and the Fiat 500C is a great way to turn me all the way off:

Chrysler/Fiat To Build Electric 500 In 2012

Seems like a natural...Chrysler/Fiat says it will build an electric version of the 500 minicar in 2012.  Full details on that, plus a fleet of electric Ram pickups, from The Detroit Free Press, here.