Little devil
The majority of ‘hot hatches’ offer supercar performance with a polished chassis, but aren’t cheap – or, indeed, particularly small. A hot hatch should make you feel like you’re getting away with something in life rather than just exploiting it.
Fiat (who else?) continues to offer us the hot 500. Right now, all Abarth owners, I guarantee, will be gnashing their teeth. They go up the wall when their beloved cars are referred to by their parent-company-supplied underpinnings. “It’s not a Fiat 500!” they scream repetitively and without irony.
Presently you can spend anything from £19k to £30k buying a brand-new Abarth hatch – unbelievable for what should be a cheap city car with a bit of poke. But the three owners I know all unconditionally love their examples. I texted all three of them for this article. Two replies used expletives to explain their emotions from driving them – and they were from lads used to seriousperformance cars and motorbikes. Only one Abarth-owning chum gave me a comment that I could use here “I love it for overtaking and going sideways,” said the usually sweet Alex. All of which speaks volumes about the sheer fun (the raison d’etre) of this little car.
I found one in Manheim Washington direct from an Abarth main dealer. Finished in Ferrari Red, registered
16/16 it was a 595 T-jet 140 Trofeo and had covered 48k miles. It already had three owners in the V5 and three Abarth service stamps in the book. It came with two keys, a 39-point mechanical check
that showed nothing untoward, while condition-wise it was graded 2 – as good as you get on a used car. In the metal, it looked well cared for.
Watching it bounce in, it appeared more Mini Cooper than MINI Cooper. By that I mean it looked small, strong and cheeky – characterful, then. Despite being a quiet sale, there was plenty of interest in the car; yet, surprisingly, the gavel only knocked it down for a provisional £6450. This would be in addition to the house fees and charges for the aforementioned checks.
But if you’re keen on a used example, the rumour is a national chain of used car supermarkets has cornered the market for these buzz-bombs. Clearly, they’ve latched on to the strong emotional appeal of the car. I’d be trying there first before risking at auction, because after all, buying a hot hatch at auction was always a roll of the dice.
Fittingly, the Abarth logo is a Scorpion, which, as we all know, has a sting in its tail. Think on…