A new baby roadster which will wear the famous Abarth SS badge is on the drawing board
Distinctive two-tone paintwork to join black bonnet
And believe it or not, the pretty two-seater shares its underpinnings with the Fiat Panda.
Designed in Turin, home of the giant Italian car manufacturer, it has a proposed price tag of just over £12,000. Under the bonnet is a 100bhp 1.4-litre engine, which gives peppy performance thanks to the roadster’s lightweight construction. The new project also includes scope for a more powerful 150bhp 1.4-litre turbo version in the future.
Fiat relaunched the famous Abarth brand at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, where both road and race-going versions of the Grande Punto were displayed on a special stand. The SS project features a distinctive two-tone red and white paintjob, like the Geneva show cars, as well as a traditional black bonnet.
The project – which is the work of the European Institute of Design in Turin – could provide a useful toe-dipping exercise for a future Abarth-only model. There are currently no further plans for a small roadster in the firm’s product schedule, but Fiat is one of the most ambitious car makers in Europe and will be fully aware of its potential.
For the time being, though, its scorpion-badged offshoot is focused on developing uprated versions of more mainstream Fiat cars.
As well as a hot Grande Punto, engineers at the evocative tuning division have been spotted testing a 500 city car at the famous Nürburg-ring circuit in Germany. It will make its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show later this year, before hitting British showrooms in 2008.
However, the SS isn’t the first proposal for a roadster spin-off using the Panda’s underpinnings. Leading coachbuilder Bertone unveiled the Barchetta Concept at the Geneva Motor Show in March, which was also based on the Panda 100HP platform.
Designed in Turin, home of the giant Italian car manufacturer, it has a proposed price tag of just over £12,000. Under the bonnet is a 100bhp 1.4-litre engine, which gives peppy performance thanks to the roadster’s lightweight construction. The new project also includes scope for a more powerful 150bhp 1.4-litre turbo version in the future.
Fiat relaunched the famous Abarth brand at the Geneva Motor Show earlier this year, where both road and race-going versions of the Grande Punto were displayed on a special stand. The SS project features a distinctive two-tone red and white paintjob, like the Geneva show cars, as well as a traditional black bonnet.
The project – which is the work of the European Institute of Design in Turin – could provide a useful toe-dipping exercise for a future Abarth-only model. There are currently no further plans for a small roadster in the firm’s product schedule, but Fiat is one of the most ambitious car makers in Europe and will be fully aware of its potential.
For the time being, though, its scorpion-badged offshoot is focused on developing uprated versions of more mainstream Fiat cars.
As well as a hot Grande Punto, engineers at the evocative tuning division have been spotted testing a 500 city car at the famous Nürburg-ring circuit in Germany. It will make its debut at the Tokyo Motor Show later this year, before hitting British showrooms in 2008.
However, the SS isn’t the first proposal for a roadster spin-off using the Panda’s underpinnings. Leading coachbuilder Bertone unveiled the Barchetta Concept at the Geneva Motor Show in March, which was also based on the Panda 100HP platform.
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