A new Abarth sports car could be based on the next Lotus Elise, it has emerged. A source close to the company has told PistonHeads that an Abarth two-seater has been given the green light and is already being developed by the company.
But now Autocar reports that the car will be unveiled in 2011 and could use Lotus underpinnings. The car will be more than just a rebadge of the Elise and the insider told PH early models look similar to the now defunct Smart Roadster, albeit bigger.
The car will also use a different engine with Abarth opting for the Fiat Group's new-generation of turbo-charged, direct-injection, air-valve four-cylinder engines, which promise high torque, high power and low emissions, reports leftlanenews.com. The car is expected to have around 240bhp from the mid-mounted four-cylinder and the car will weigh no more than 900kg.
At the recent Abarth 500 launch, Abarth CEO Luca de Meo said that he dreamed of a stand-alone Abarth but denied there were firm plans to produce one. 'Maybe one day we can develop a model that is just an Abarth for Abarth,' he said. 'We might have this one day, but we don’t have the in-house resources to do that today.'