Abarth Spider heritage a hot topic
Can a car based on a Japanese model really do justice to the iconic Abarth brand? Let’s find out, says David Linklater.
Abarth is an iconic name that’s had as many ups and downs as a World Rally Championship special stage.
The glamorous bits of the story are often told. Carlo Abarth formed the company in 1949, using his star-sign Scorpio as the inspiration for the logo. He made many impressive racing cars and developed a neat sideline creating performance parts and accessories for road cars. Exhaust systems tuned for specific models were a speciality.
Most people probably know Abarth Take One best for its modified Fiats. The first racing car built with the Italian maker’s mechanicals came in 1952, while the first Abarth-enhanced Fiat road car was launched in 1955. It was based on the tiny 600: Abarth’s 750-kit handily doubled the car’s power.
Abarth the man sold Abarth the brand to Fiat in 1971. Let’s call that Abarth Take Two. The diverse nature of activity that formerly categorised the company was ditched and it was reorganised to focus on Fiat’s international motor racing, especially rallying. With great results: the 124 Abarth Rally and 131 Abarth are still legendary. The latter won 20 rallies from 1976-81 and claimed three World Championships.
But in 1981 Fiat essentially pulled the plug and reorganised its racing activities into yet another company. Abarth became little more than a badge: over the next 25 years it was applied to uprated versions of the Cinquecento, Seicento, Uno, Punto, Bravo and Stilo. The company also did a nice line in alloys and floor mats. Sigh.
Abarth was kicked into life again in 2007 as a separate division of Fiat. Or since 2015, a separate division of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). It’s made suitably barking-mad roadgoing versions of the Punto and especially the 500. Many of them have been pretty special: the 695 Tributo Ferrari, for example, is the only model outside the Italian’s supercar-maker’s own catalogue to have been allowed to wear a genuine ‘Ferrari’ badge.
Excuse the once-over-lightly history lesson, but there’s a reason: to illustrate that Abarth is a company capable of genius that occasionally gets sold out by the management. When you’re looking at the next big thing from the organisation, success or even credibility is by no means guaranteed.
Here is that next big thing, by the way. In company tradition it’s actually quite small: the Abarth 124 Spider.
Will it make you even more nervous to learn that it’s based on Fiat’s version of the Mazda MX-5?
I’m fine with that. An Italianengineered version of one of the world’s best sports cars sounds good to me, and if it happens to be built in Japan, then okay. Less time chasing squeaks and rattles, more time enjoying the drive. That’s what Abarth used to do anyway: modify others’ cars.
We don’t get the standard Fiat 124 Spider. For the record: it’s an MX-5 underneath, but the Fiat version has an FCA 1.4-litre MultiAir engine and every exterior body panel is different, save the windscreen header. The soft top’s the same, too.
The interior is a mix of Mazda and Fiat. Granted, the two do look quite similar inside and out: hard points are hard points and there’s not a lot you can do without a complete redesign, which kind of defeats the purpose of sharing in the first place. But the Fiat is still effective in paying homage to the 1966 124 Spider. It’s a nifty 50th celebration.
If you’re still offended by the appropriation of all that Italy holds dear, consider this: Abarth’s first name was actually Karl and he was born in Austria. He changed it to Carlos in 1949 because it sounded more... Italian.
Think of the MX-5 as a Mazdo if it makes you feel better.
Anyway, the $52,990 Abarth 124 Spider was indeed designed and engineered by espresso-drinkers in Italy, although it’s 100 per cent assembled in Japan by Mazda. The Scorpion-Spider gets a tweaked 125kW/250Nm version of the MultiAir engine, special suspension with Bilstein shock absorbers, Brembo brakes and a mechanical limited-slip differential (LSD). There are quad pipes hanging out the back and you can get a more angry Monza system as an option. Exhausts are still an Abarth thing.
Standard equipment for Kiwi cars includes LED lights, Abarthspecific sports seats in leather, blind-spot warning and rear crosstraffic alert.
I haven’t yet driven the car in NZ, but I did get a day in the car in Australia last week, both on-road, on the Norwell circuit in Queensland and around a soakingwet skidpan. Around and around and around.
It’s a fantastic car. Mostly because because it’s based on a fantastic car made by Mazda, but the Abarth upgrades mean the Spider offers a different, more aggressive driving experience. It’s not crazy-fast (just half a second quicker to 100kmh than a 2.0-litre MX-5) but it does have a satisfying surge of torque in the mid-range and even the standard exhaust has a subtle rasp. There’s a shortage of the Monza pipes at the moment due to global demand, but surely they’re a must-have? The good news is that FCA can retro-fit them.
The sportier suspension and especially the LSD make this a car you can throw around with abandon. It’ll drift around circuit or skidpan corners all day, with varying degrees of tidiness depending on driver skill. Not much from this writer, but I had a ball. But there’s more to a good LSD than track-day skids of course: it has a torque-loading designed to help standing starts and it improves the car’s steer-bythrottle character considerably.
So yes, this Abarth is part-Mazda and yes, it’s the real thing. An awesome sports car with an edge.
FCA is even toying around with a rally version: the company has been showing an Abarth 124 Rally producing 220kW from a 1.8-litre turbo engine, designed to comply with R-GT regulations (a 2WD formula that includes the likes of the Lotus Exige and Porsche 997 GT3).
The prototype Abarth Rally is finished in the same colours as the 124 Abarth Rally that won the European Rally Championship in 1975. We like.