Carbon-argh-a

Abarth slathers stripped Fiat 500 in carbon fibre. At a cost...

iPosto means two-seater in Italian. That probably tells you most of what you need to know but, just in case, this is a road car that does a passable impression of the Abarth 595 Asseto Corse that Fiat runs a one-make race series for on the continent. And, yes, those are genuine carbon-fbre bumpers. Subtly fared arches cover a wider track, and the car sits on 18-inch OZ Racing wheels shod in bespoke Goodyear Eagle tyres. On proud display behind the anthracite spokes are drilled, ventilated Brembo brakes with glossy red calipers. Yes, the basic 500 Abarth is a tall, topsy bubble, so the tearaway 695 still struggles to look truly planted, but there’s now some menace. It’s cute, but evil too.

BThe 1.4-litre engine has been wrung out from 157bhp to 187bhp, and drives the front wheels via a fve-speed manual gearbox. Which gearbox depends entirely on you, and so we enter the fabulously expensive world of BiPosto options...

The standard 695 – shorn of its radio, aircon and rear seats to drop the kerbweight to 997kg when bone dry – costs £32,990... £2,840 pricier than TG’s favourite hot hatch, the VW Golf R. You could have his ’n’ hers Ford Fiesta STs and change for fuel. And that really is the base price.

Polycarbonate windows with a Ferrari F40-spec sliding shutter are an extra £1,775. An aluminium bonnet and other ally bits cost £2,990. The race pack, which adds Sabelt four-point harnesses, an Abarth crash helmet and a race-data Dog ’box is gorgeous, but pretty gate looks vulnerable to abuse