RE: 180hp Abarth 695 Maserati Edition revealed

[Lost soul]

sjp63 said:

On the other hand the BMW says "I couldn't afford an M3"

That is such a stupid view to take , you could say that about any car from any manufactured

cockage of the highest order

[corozin]

Thirty big ones for a Fiat 500 is a seriously amount of money.
Anyone paying that much should get a free visit to the hospital in my view... and some free crayons.

[somejohn]

There was a special Maserati edition of the Alfa Romeo MiTo banded about a couple of years ago limited to 100:

http://www.autoblog.com/2010/01/28/alfa-romeo-prep...

These were built specifically for the Maserati dealer network to use as courtesy cars, although sadly they never made it into the UK (none of the UK dealers took them on)..

Essentially top-specification Cloverleaf MiTos (at the time: later called QVs) with all the trimmings, a special paint job and some Maserati badges. Is this not just the same thing but with a 500 instead? Is anyone sure that they will actually be sold directly to the public?

Edited by somejohn on Friday 18th May 07:56

[r7ehw]

M@1975 said:

One question.. Who on earth would pay that money for a Fiat 500 and why?

Simple, people with lots of it.

I think the world is a better place for such excesses occasionally. Well done Fiat, or should I say Maserati?

[E31Shrew]

Prefer the FIAT to one of these...

http://www.stratstone.com/default.aspx?page=308&am...

[Bladedancer]

Wow... 30k. So the word "Maserati" in the name is worth, apparently 10k plus. Nice.

[sledge68]

i would imagine someone would think like that if they were insecure.

Love this car, bit pricey but far more style than those ridiculous minis

As for that BMW and any BMW, Mini, MB,useless soft roaders, people please use some imagination and dont just follow the crowd like lemmings

peter450 said:

What kind of comparsion were you expecting??, nobody goes round looking at other peoples cars thinking that says they can't afford a XXX, or at least i didn't think people did, learn something new everyday i guess

[LuS1fer]

That is very nice indeed - I love the deep burgundy.

I don't like the price, needless to say and would never pay that for one, not even if I was a millionaire.

[Podie]

Looks like the perfect station car to me.

[fathomfive]

I'm sure it will make the perfect car for someone with plenty of cash, some other very exotic machinery and the need for a small but nippy car to drive and park in a city.

[B10]

Contigo said:

I'd gladly have this as a city car, beautiful car. I'm 6ft 4 so whether I'd get in or not would be another matter.

I am 6'4" too and had a 500 for 3 years. More than enough room.

[Chrisw666]

Podie said:

Looks like the perfect station car to me.

Only if you're getting a fast train from Milan to where your proper car lives.

[sandys]

will-w said:

tomv1to said:

To be honest with you, the ltd edition 500's that fiat are putting out aren't that bad when you compare them to the Abarth Punto Evo Scorpion, that gives no extra power, just the option for a ltd edition abarth roof rack!

The Abarth Punto Scorpione (it has an 'e' on the end) is not just a Punto Evo. It is an Abarth Punto Evo with quite a number of options, including:

• Esseesse kit with black wheels
• Koni FSD shocks
• Black leather Sabelt seats
• Dual zone climate control

The roof rack, snowboard and an extra set of 17" alloys with winter tyres comes as a separate kit

There are only 10 coming to the UK so it will be rather rare.. Only down side is that it'll depreciate like a brick!

It also has 180bhp rather than 163bhp of the stock Evo, so it does have more power, you have to buy an esseesse kit to get an Evo up to 180 normally.

Fancy 500s are not for me but they are pretty quick really and something a little different.

[thirsty]

I like it. For a city car, beats the hell our of a Smart.

[sjp63]

Lost soul said:

you could say that about any car from any manufactured cockage of the highest order

Quite agree

[mwstewart]

That is really very nice. Cracking interior, too.

[myhandle]

deltashad said:

This isn't a new trend. Years ago we had the Wood and Pickett cars. They were lined with walnut and deep pile carpets etc. They too, were not cheap.

This is just it. They are making less than half as many of these as they made F40s, so it won't be hard to shift them. The customer will be someone who can afford any car, but wants something small, unusual, fast and stylish. Whether's it's £18K or £32K is entirely irrelevant - if anything, the high price will be an incentive to buy the car (example of a Veblen good, ie when price rises, demand rises - if the Honda NSX had cost more than a 348 it can be argued it would have been taken more seriously and sold more units).

I know of someone who has the 695 Tributo Ferrari; other cars currently owned include a 458, 430 Scuderia and 365GTB/4 Daytona, all of which are used extensively. A true enthusiast. The Fiat fits in very well with these other cars as there are clearly times you might want to have a car that's not a Ferrari, but has some of the fun attributes of a Ferrari.