On March 5, Abarth Abbas pushed a message on Weibo: "The 2022 Abarth Abbas is about to return, and the parallel import of all models is introduced." The specific models are available in the 145 hp regular 595, the 165 hp 595 Turismo, the 180 hp 595 Competizione and the 180 hp 695 Esseesse. The new car has two body structures, hard top and soft top, in addition, the 2022 Abarth Abbas will be equipped with a 5-speed manual or 5-speed sequential semi-automatic transmission.
Careful netizens must have found a line of small characters above the vehicle number plate rack in the picture above, which is written by Shandong Deman Outu Automobile Sales Co., Ltd. That's right, it is a parallel importer of the Abarth Abbas brand, responsible for the introduction, sales, after-sales service and event business of the Abarth Abbas brand models. After the official discontinuation of the MX-5's Fiat 124 on the same platform, the Abarth 595/695 became the only small steel gun model currently on sale by the long-established Italian high-performance brand.
Here it is necessary to popularize the close relationship between the Abarth Abbas brand and Fiat, which you can simply understand as the relationship between SHELBY and Ford Mustang. But now Fiat has wholly acquired Abarth Abbas to create a high-performance sports model for Fiat. It is worth mentioning that Karl Abarth, the founder of the Abarth Abbas brand, has also had many stories with Porsche, let's take a look at the interesting things about it.
Ferdinand Porsche, the founder of Porsche, whom we know, and his son Ferry Porsche have always been very good friends with Carl Abbas, so they offer Abbas a job opportunity to help organize and manage Porsche Motors. With this job opportunity, Abbas met many car suppliers and manufacturers, and laid a solid foundation for future independence. Later, during the rescue of Ferdinand Porsche from prison, Porsche established a partnership with Citialia Automobile Manufacturing, and Abbas naturally served as a technical and racing design instructor for Cistialia Automobiles.
Soon after, Piero Dusio, the founder of Cistialia, got into trouble and fled to Argentina, and The Cistialia Automotive Company went out of business. But this experience with Citialia opened the door for Abbas to enter the automotive industry. Abbas took over Citialia and renamed it Abarth & C, adopted his constellation Scorpio as the new brand logo, and acquired five 204 sports cars (two full Spiders and three unfinished) from Citialia, officially starting the car-building journey.
In April 1950, a sports car with the Abarth Abbas logo won the Pellegrino Trail race in Italy. In addition to building its own brand profile, Abbas also works as a supplier to the Fiat Group, producing spare parts and performance components for some of Fiat's sub-brands, such as intake manifolds and silencers. In April 1951, Abbas's factory moved to Turin, Italy. The following year, Abbas and Fiat began a strategic cooperation and used Fiat machinery to build the world-famous Abbas 1500 model.
To be precise, Abarth Abbas is a producer who had to go to mass production because of the rules in order to participate in the competition. Like the classic Lancia Delta S4 (SE038) and Lancia Stratos HF, they are both production versions produced to qualify for the competition. After Abarth Abbas was acquired by Fiat (1971), between 1973 and 1981, Fiat Abarth won a total of 21 World Rally titles and won three manufacturers' titles (1977, 1978 and 1980) with fiat 124 and 131 models, earning the fiat brand a name in the field of motorsport.
According to the data, the 2022 Abarth Abbas is based on the ordinary version of the Fiat 500, and has made a series of enhancements to the powertrain and chassis. In terms of power, the 595 and 695 are both equipped with 1.4T engines. Among them, the 595 standard model has a maximum power of 145 hp and a maximum torque of 206 Nm; the 595 Turismo has a maximum power of 162 hp and a maximum torque of 230 Nm, and is equipped with a damping variable koni shock absorber at the front and rear; the 595 Competizione has a maximum power increase to 177 hp and a maximum torque of 250 Nm, which is upgraded to a larger brake disc on the basis of the former; and the 695 Esseesse model has a power parameter with 595 The Competizione is consistent, but with upgrades to a range of configurations such as the Scorpion exhaust, Brembo brake calipers, and more.
Currently, Abarth Abbas plans to open the test drive reservation lane at the end of April and deliver the vehicles sequentially in early May. The official did not disclose the specific price of the new car, and it is not recommended to choose a car on the official website. Responsible for the sales of Abarth Abbas parallel imports, said: "It is not recommended that you choose and order your own car, we have prepared a richly equipped existing car for everyone to choose, and the price will definitely be the best price in The country ever." ”
"As battery costs fall, it is our responsibility to bring to market electric vehicles that cost no more than an internal combustion engine as soon as possible," Fiat CEO Olivier Francois said in a previous interview: "We are exploring the area of sustainable mobility for all: this is our greatest project." From 2025 to 2030, our product line will gradually become all-electric, which will be a fundamental change for Fiat. ”
It can be seen that Fiat's transition to pure electrification is resolute and direct. But for its high-performance brand Abarth Abbas, I think it will continue to produce traditional fuel models for a while. So if the final price is around 400,000, would you consider buying a Mazda MX-5, or adding another 100,000 to toyota GR Yaris?