Très Exclusif: French Abarth importer creates special edition Cinquecento
Fiat 500 Abarth SpeedGrey par Neubauer – Click above for high-res image gallery
The Fiat 500 Abarth is a pretty sweet little retro rocket all on its own, but the Italian automaker's performance division hasn't stopped churning out a seemingly endless stream of special editions, from the Opening Edition to the 695 Tributo Ferrari. We can now add to that list the 500 Abarth SpeedGrey by Neubauer.
Unlike the Competizione edition made specially for the Dutch market, the SpeedGrey is actually an undertaking of Neubauer, the official Abarth distributor for France. Starting with the up-rated EsseEsse spec, the Neubauer edition gets a special Monza exhaust system for an extra five horses (boosting output up to 165), a pair of Sabelt bucket seats, tinted windows, Blue&Me navigation system and special Maserati gray paint job. Looks pretty sweet, but Neubauer will only be making 10 examples exclusively for the French market, so we'll just have to bide our time until the stock hot hatch arrives Stateside.
[Source: Neubauer]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
artandcolour 8:50AM (11/09/2009)
love love love that color and trim. as 'cute and bubbly' as the 500 looks in bright colors, it's so much more grown-up looking and sophisticated with this gray finish. beautiful!
Reply
GOT 7:45AM (11/13/2009)
Agreed. This 500 is awesome!
ropeburn 9:09AM (11/09/2009)
this version of the Abarth is a winner.
less boy racer and much more sophisticated.
I'm interested to see how people feel about this car
for the $$$. The Smart may have ruined some folks on
performance and the really small vehicle
.... will people appreciate that the performance has been
turned up to 11 on a really small car?
Reply
Andre Neves 9:54AM (11/09/2009)
"Hey Angelo, I see de land! Mama-mia! We have reached Amer-ika! Prepare to unload all de special ed-eeshuns!"
Reply
grimble 10:08AM (11/09/2009)
this is beautiful, reminds me of the Senna bike's color schemes. I really want to get a 500 when they arrive stateside, but my soon to arrive baby may be a bit cramped on the road trips. Bah...
Reply
txdesign 10:11AM (11/09/2009)
Wonderful but I still don't understand why the US 500 is slated for 2010 yet the Abarth won't make it until 2012. All models are already being sold in Europe-why the long gap between the two versions?
Reply
JimBob 11:48AM (11/09/2009)
Control/manage supply/demand
txdesign 12:33PM (11/09/2009)
Hmmm, Mini sells more Cooper S here than regular Coopers. Seems to me the Abarth demand will be quite high compared to the regular 500.
larry raines 12:01PM (11/09/2009)
best one yet
I hope that when the Abarth 500 comes to the states we will have the option to order it in black or grey - and delete the side stickers.
Reply
txdesign 2:55PM (11/09/2009)
On the Fiat site there are 5 colors for the Abarth (2 whites, red, black and grey). The stickers are part of an option pack.
larry raines 3:26PM (11/09/2009)
Wow, cool, can you post a link?
Every time I went to configure a 500, there was never an Abarth option I could find.
Paolo 12:38AM (11/10/2009)
Abarth is a stand alone car company in Italy. They have their own website which is in italian language only.
Check it out:
http://www.abarth.it/it/CMSIT/Pages/Home.aspx?CarConfig=500
larry raines 10:42AM (11/10/2009)
Thanks Paolo, I have been to their site many times, and I did try to configure a 500 - the site just kept grinding to a halt, really slow and never really worked so I gave up. I will try it again.
Strange what AB said in their Chrystler report on how the Abarth 500 is not coming until 2013, and that the other 500's will come before that. It contradicts another report that they did that said Fiat would lead with the Abarth. I guess time will tell.
I heard there will be the possibility of a 500c Abarth - want now