2012 Abarths Sold Out

Eager to get your hands on the 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth? Get in line, and be warned: you're going to have to wait.

According to The Detroit News, Chrysler has stopped taking wholesale orders on the 2012 model year 500 Abarth. According to sources within the automaker, customers who plunk down the money for the hotted-up 500 right now will be put on the 2013 model year waiting list, with those cars expected to arrive in the fall. In a statement to the Motown newspaper, Chrysler officials simply said that the number of orders received "exceeded the production run of this model for the 2012 model year."

Chrysler had originally planned to build about 1,000 Abarth models for the 2012 model year. However, those cars were all spoken for by the end of April – the Abarth's first month on sale – so the automaker upped production to 3,000 units. According to the Detroit News, this was the maximum number of units that the Fiat factory in Toluca, Mexico could handle.

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Abarth 695 Maserati Edition bows at Mille Miglia

The Fiat 500 in its various guises positively romps on its popularity, making special-edition hay with terrific frequency. This latest outing in the form of the Abarth 695 Maserati Edition follows a familiar trail, coming three years after the Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari that debuted at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show.

That hatch had a tuned 1.4-liter turbo four putting out more than 180 horsepower, a variable exhaust system and paddle-shifting automated manual under its Ferrari 430 Scuderia-mimicking paint scheme. But aside from the paint, this one gets much the same treatment: 180-hp output, Abarth Competizione gearbox and dual mode exhaust.

It goes the GranTurismo route instead of hard-core sports car, though, using the convertible Abarth as a base and adding Pontevecchio Bordeaux paint with a gray top, sand-beige leather and black interior, Jaeger instrumentation, and 17-inch Maserati-style Neptune wheels and hexagonal tailpipes. Still, it gets even bigger Brembo brakes than the Ferrari version.

Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato

2011 Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato Concept

There are few certainties in life, aside from death, taxes and the number one rule of automakers worldwide: future products are not to be commented on, ever. There’s logic behind such a sentiment, as building excitement for products that don’t exist tends to negatively impact sales of products already in dealer showrooms.

That’s why we tend to be skeptical when outlets publish future product plans from automakers. While some of this information may prove to be accurate, other bits and pieces will likely turn out to be wishful thinking. As a rule, the farther away a projected launch date is, the less likely it is that particular model will see the light of day.

In other words, we doubt that Automobile’s projections on Chrysler’s future product lines will turn out to be entirely accurate, but we’ll bet they’re probably on the money with the projected 2013 launch of the Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato.

First shown as a concept at the 2011 Geneva Motor Show, the Zagato-ized hatchback restyles the current Fiat 500’s rear to present a more coupe-like profile, while retaining the car’s hatchback sensibilities. It may be smaller than the current Fiat 500, but it retains the car’s 2+2 seating arrangements, albeit with less rear headroom.

The concept was shown in an electric-yellow paint scheme, trimmed with burnished chrome and gunmetal accents. If the car is launched as a limited-edition model (likely the case), expect to see production versions carry the same artfully bold color scheme.

There’s no word yet on pricing or content, but expect the Fiat 500 variant to be a Zagato for the masses, priced accordingly. If you’ve always wanted a Zagato-styled creation in your garage, this may be the least expensive path to ownership the world has ever seen.

That is, of course, if the Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato gets the rumored green light for production.

500T and Abarth Convertibles?!

These 2012 Fiat 500 Abarths will reside above an anticipated 500T Sport in the lineup.

Fiat is planning to introduce a 500T Sport for the 2013 model year, according to documents the company has filed with NHTSA and the California Air Resources Board (CARB). This seems to corroborate rumors of a new model that would be positioned between the standard Fiat 500 and the Abarth, which would feature a less powerful version of the U.S.-spec Abarth’s 160-horse turbo four. (The T in 500T is for “turbo,” of course.)

The evidence includes a chart filed with NHTSA, which explains how to decode VIN numbers; it clearly shows a “500T Sport” listed among Fiat’s 2013-model-year offerings. Fiat applies Pop, Sport, and Lounge to the base 500 as trim levels, but this 500T Sport is listed separately from those, as well as apart from the 500C convertible models. Among the convertibles, though, we now see an Abarth listed for the first time. No real surprise there—the car already exists—but it’s a vehicle Fiat hasn’t publicly confirmed for the U.S

Abarths are now at FIAT of Tacoma

The 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth may be small -- smaller than even a Mini Cooper -- but it's a heavy car.

With a curb weight of about 2500 pounds, the 500 Abarth isn't pound-heavy -- it's heritage-heavy. Just look at all the stylized scorpion badges. The 500 Abarth has eight of those badges on its exterior alone, if you count the wheel centers, and all of them remind you of one thing: a reputation for performance that's as large as the 500 is small.

This is the car the most fervent Fiat fans have been waiting for, ardently avoiding local dealers for fear of cracking and buying a regular 500. It certainly looks the part, especially our tester, turned out in Rosso paint and the optional gunmetal-colored 17-inch wheels, red brake calipers peeking out from behind the spokes. The rear valance has the requisite vents to match the restyled front air dam, with inlet and exit ducts for the twin intercoolers mounted just forward of the front wheels. The interior gets a restyled shiftknob and a chunky, flat-bottomed steering wheel. And those Abarth badges...well, they do the intended deed.

Open the hood and you're greeted with a red plastic engine cover that isn't quite long enough to hide the most significant revision to the little 1.4-liter Multiair engine: the small Garrett turbocharger that puts 160 hp and 170 lb-ft of torque on tap. As in the good old days, the heart of any Abarth is the engine, and this one pushes out nearly 60 percent more hp than the standard car. While the engine is somewhat different from the European version despite its identical horsepower to the premium esseesse (Italian for SS) model, the transmission is the same -- a five-speed manual unique to the Abarth (an automatic is not available).

The engine fires with a throaty burble, the din exiting via twin chromed exhaust tips -- a far cry from the normal car's mild rasp. Setting off, a mash of the throttle sends the boost gauge twirling and the Abarth leaps forward, picking up steam north of 4000 rpm and revving strongly to redline. Torque steer, a valid concern with high-output front drivers, is virtually nil in a straight line, thanks in part to an active locking differential that's tied into the new three-mode electronic stability control program. At the dragstrip, we recorded a 0-60-mph time of 6.8 seconds -- 3 seconds faster than the 500 Sport -- and a 15.3-second quarter-mile run with a trap speed of 89.8 mph. The last Mini Cooper S we tested (the Cooper is a primary 500 competitor despite its slightly larger scale) was roughly half a second quicker to 60 mph, but a full second quicker to the quarter mile. A standard Cooper was just over 1 second slower in both categories.

Like the Abarths that have come before it, the 500 Abarth has been tuned to be a well-rounded sport coupe. Engineers tweaked the 500's front MacPherson strut design and added Koni dampers and shorter coil springs that are stiffer by 40/20 percent front/rear.

 

 

 

Abarth also added its own front control arms, beefier anti-roll bars front and rear, and reinforced the rear axle and coiled spring mounts. An Abarth tweak to the electronic power steering makes it 10 percent quicker and improves road feel compared with the 500 Sport's. Front brake disc diameter is increased by an inch to 11.1 inches, and our tester's optional alloys were wrapped in sticky 205/40R17 Pirelli PZero Nero rubber.

FIAT 500L

GENEVA — The 2013 Fiat 500L compact crossover will get several engines, including the new 0.9-liter TwinAir, as well as more than 30 exterior color choices — and "fragrance diffusers." It debuts at the 2012 Geneva Auto Show.
The Fiat 500L will also get a 1.4-liter four-cylinder gas engine and a MultiJet 1.3-liter diesel engine when it launches in Europe later this year. It will deubt in the U.S. early next year.
Fiat said the five-passenger hatchback will also get an eco:Drive application that gives the driver advice for cutting fuel consumption. The EPA has yet to rate the 2013 Fiat 500L. It will also get the optional my:Car, which diagnoses, records and certifies the car's history and state of maintenance.
The 500L — the L in the car's name stands for "large" — is 163 inches long, 70 inches wide and 65 inches tall.
Fiat 500L buyers will get a choice of white, gray or black for the alloy wheels and a range of accessories, including custom graphics, chrome-plating, ski roof bars and a bicycle holder. The 14-cubic-foot trunk can hold up to five suitcases, said Fiat.
The 500L will be built on Fiat's SUSW (Small U.S. Wide) platform, which also will underpin a new compact Jeep crossover in the U.S., as well as replacements overseas for the Fiat Punto and Palio.

Fiat convertible 500 Abarth plans leaked

According to documents submitted to the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Fiat is already planning a convertible version of the 500 Abarth, and a turbocharged non-Abarth version of the 500 called the 500T.

Good news for fans of high-performance small cars and convertibles everywhere, if it holds up.

And it looks like it will hold up.

The documents, sourced via Car and Driver, show a pretty clear chart of upcoming 2013 models, and the Abarth is clearly listed under the "2 Door Convertible" group, while the 500T Sport is added to the standard Pop, Sport, Lounge, Abarth, and Electric lineup.


Having wrung out the hardtop 500 Abarth at Spring Mountain in the US earlier this year, we know it delivers on many levels where the standard 500 doesn't. Whether the similarly-powerful, but non-Abarth 500 will show similar fun potential remains to be seen.

The convertible version of the Abarth is sure to win fans, however, as many of you commented that a soft top was the only thing holding you back.

Of course, it will likely be the retractable-cloth-roof (a la 500C) sort of convertible, rather than the whole-top-comes-off kind, but even so, it means more sun in the cabin with (hopefully) all of the benefits of the Abarth.