The Abarth is one of those things I’ve been trying to get my head around for some time. Now motoring enthusiasts amongst you can be forgiven for thinking me a tad slow, but maybe a tad uninterested is closer to the mark. That is, up until I got to experience the full might of the Abarth in two quite different forms.

Travelling up to the Abarth event through the beautiful countryside of North Yorkshire in the gorgeous Fiat 500c (sadly didn’t get to experience it in cabriolet form due the rain after weeks of sunshine), I wondered why anyone would require or need anything more than this. It’s cute, stylish, pelts alone very nicely on the motor way, is a delight along the country roads and is utterly stunning to look at. Mine was glowing white with a maroon top.

I sat through the chats about the Abarth, both the 500C and the Punto Evo. My interest was slightly prodded as the UK head of the Abarth waxed lyrically about its attributes – 1.4 Turbo T-Jet engine, 140 bhp, MTA gearbox with gear shift paddles, high specs, electric hood, striking alloys and the Abarth philosophy of making the ordinary extraordinary. I was getting rather hot and just wanted a bite to eat and my bed.

So when I finally got into the Abarth 500C and my co-driver allowed me to go first, I popped it into the automatic mode, put down the roof and off we went along roads slicing through quite breathe-taking scenary. I didn’t want to go too fast as I always get slightly self-conscious driving with someone new and he was white haired and I felt that was reason enough to go at a modest pace.

It was then my white-haired friend’s turn at the wheel. We’ll call him Mr R. Having already told me that his wild driving days were far behind him, now that he was a man of more mature years with nothing to prove, I assumed that our pottering ride would continue.
Never judge a book by it’s cover! I have never had so much fun as a passenger that during the next hour as Mr R put the car through its paces along the wide, open country roads. Paddles all the way as we flew along at rather an alarming but exhilerating rate with the wind in my hair (despite the wind shield). Overtaking was a doddle, with this little car having so much to give. Of course it helped that the sun was shining, no police cars in sight and only the poor sheep to occasionally dodge.

How could I have missed the opportunity to drive as if the vehicle was stolen, which by the end, I felt like doing!?

I still don’t get paddle shifts and prefer a gear stick every time (there is talk of producing a manual one but for the moment they seem to want to show off their technolgy). The automatic gearbox in automatic mode felt jerky, but this can be reduced by playing with the accelerator pedal and anticipating the gear changes I was told – not something I managed to achieve. And all this fun will cost you £17,500.

I still can’t equate the look of the 500C with a hot hatch although it certainly behaves like one, having further proof of this on a track with a professional driver at the wheel. But apart from having great fun, why would you want to throw this gorgeous car around a track – I’d much rather be seen on the open road where it leaves other cars standing as you stylishly zoom past in a cloud of cheeky, Italian elegance!