Ferrari-edition Fiat 500 Prototype Spied in the Wild

Mike Solowiow
by Mike Solowiow

Ecco! Ferrari edition Fiat 500 prototype spotted in the wild. It’s preproduction, 180bhp, Ferrari authorized (with Ferrari shifter), for only 40,000€. It was supposed to be covered up, but being an American, I accidentally pulled the cover off trying to get a BMW CSL out. It was sighted at a racing company in Kelburg, next to the Nurburgring. The owner of the racing shop said it’s overpriced, but drives like a demon.

Last year, Fiat delivered 200 Fiat 500 Ferrari editions to Ferrari dealers for customers to use as courtesy cars while their F430 Scuderia (or whatever) was in for service. However, what was parked casually in the corner, is something completely different. Abarth, in conjunction with Ferrari (styling) tuned this little beast up from its original 100bhp to the screaming 180bhp claimed. A Renault Clio Cup, Megane R26.R, and similar creations all run low 8-minute Bridge-to-Gantry times with a good driver, so a sub-8 minute BTG time for the wickedest 500 yet should be possible… with slicks, and not the street tires fitted to this prototype.

The Ferrari/Fiat/Abarth 500 features quad exhausts, brake cooling ducts that lead to 4-piston brake calipers on front, slotted rotors, gigantic oil coolers, upgraded suspension, Abarth/Recaro racing seats, 5-point harnesses, and a partial body cage. Based on a cursory inspection, the interior looks lightened as well.

As Renault Sport has found tremendous success in the European market with its racecar for the road R26.R and Clio Cup, maybe Fiat thinks a properly sorted 500 with that special Corsa Red Ferrari paint, badge, and Abarth tuning will capture the market. At 40,000€, I highly, highly doubt it, unless the owner craves something completely different, and stylish. As an exercise in hot hatch theory, I absolutely love this little car. As something actually feasible in the real world, Renault gets to laugh at Ferrari for once.

Mike Solowiow
Mike Solowiow

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  • Jerseydevil Jerseydevil on Sep 13, 2009

    40 k euros. sigh i guess i STILL cant afford to get a Ferrari. Even if it's a Fiat. sigh,

  • Areitu Areitu on Sep 13, 2009

    So, when's Top Gear going to put one head-to-head with an Aston Cygnet?

  • Rochester "better than Vinfast" is a pretty low bar.
  • TheMrFreeze That new Ferrari looks nice but other than that, nothing.And VW having to put an air-cooled Beetle in its display to try and make the ID.Buzz look cool makes this classic VW owner sad 😢
  • Wolfwagen Is it me or have auto shows just turned to meh? To me, there isn't much excitement anymore. it's like we have hit a second malaise era. Every new vehicle is some cookie-cutter CUV. No cutting-edge designs. No talk of any great powertrains, or technological achievements. It's sort of expected with the push to EVs but there is no news on that front either. No new battery tech, no new charging tech. Nothing.
  • CanadaCraig You can just imagine how quickly the tires are going to wear out on a 5,800 lbs AWD 2024 Dodge Charger.
  • Luke42 I tried FSD for a month in December 2022 on my Model Y and wasn’t impressed.The building-blocks were amazing but sum of the all of those amazing parts was about as useful as Honda Sensing in terms of reducing the driver’s workload.I have a list of fixes I need to see in Autopilot before I blow another $200 renting FSD. But I will try it for free for a month.I would love it if FSD v12 lived up to the hype and my mind were changed. But I have no reason to believe I might be wrong at this point, based on the reviews I’ve read so far. [shrug]. I’m sure I’ll have more to say about it once I get to test it.
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