RE: Abarth 695 SS Evocazione: You Know You Want To
Thursday 13th March 2014
So we've got an Abarth 595 Competizione on test at the moment, the first hot 500 we've had in at PH for a long, long time. And it's rather good fun.
Around £20K would get you into 'our' 595...Exposure to this and the mad dog 'boxed 695Biposto at last week's Geneva show has suddenly put all things Abarth back on our radar, to the extent that while researching what's in the classifieds for my roadtest on the Competizione I stumbled across this. Cool, eh?
...but could get you into this too. Decisions!Anyway. Checks and balances squared away and originality be damned this car just looks like a right hoot. It's got fat Minilites squeezed into swollen arches, stripes, scorpion logos aplenty and, of course, the engine lid propped open in the signature Abarth fashion. I'd try the same look with the new one but then I wouldn't be able to see where I was going. OK, the interior is pretty minimal and ... intimate but the driving position can't be any worse than the modern car's. Honestly. And which would be cooler for punting around the city?
Abarth 695 SS Evocazione: You Know You Want To
£20K would get you in a new Abarth 595 like the one we've got on test ... or this instead
Around £20K would get you into 'our' 595...
Now, our test car as specced costs £21,290. Which is conveniently comparable with the £19,990 being asked for this rather tasty looking medley of seemingly pukka period Abarth bits into a 695 SS 'Evocazione'. Now my Italian isn't all that but it's clear enough from this and the accompanying text that XJA 639L isn't an original car. But it looks to have been faithfully converted and the overall effect is convincing. I popped by our colleagues on Classic & Sports Car for their view and, while there was a little teeth sucking at the lack of originality, they admitted it wasn't ridiculously priced. C&SC did a look back at Abarth in its June 2013 issue, which included a drive in a proper 595 SS - a features archive is being uploadedhere and fingers crossed will include that story in due course.
...but could get you into this too. Decisions!
Yeah, I know I want to!
ABARTH 695 SS EVOCAZIONE
Price: £19,990
Why you should: It screams fun on four wheels; it's cooler than the new one
Why you shouldn't: Lack of originality may put off the beard strokers
See the original advert here.
[Sources: Classic & Sports Car]
Discussion
My first exposure to the insides of a fast car was at the home of a demented bachelor in my childhood. He had a 595 like this in his garage as well as a lovely bare metal Double Bubble shell. Or I thought ihe had only the shell. One day he let me into the house and showed me a lounge where he had covered the floor, literally, with the Bubble engine all arranged in order for rebuilding. In another bedroom he had another engine, on a stand, awaiting new fuel injection. In a third rom he had two stacks of Cromodora magnesium wheels; thinking back, they must have been no more than 12 inches, but they were shod with the first racing tyres I ever put a hand on.
Now that I think about it, there should have been little wonder that he was living alone.
I'll happily tAke the old girl here!
Now that I think about it, there should have been little wonder that he was living alone.
I'll happily tAke the old girl here!
Love the classic Abarths, they are proper mad, if only health and safety nowadays wasnt so strict. Could you imaging a new shape 595 with a rear engine 1.4 turbo, rear wheel drive and the boot open for cooling. Would be awesome fun.
Really looking forward to your review on the 595 Comp. I have one myself and agree that the seating postion isnt the best but you do eventually find a comfy position.
All I ask is that when you do the reveiw please dont say it has a lack of boot space like all the other reviews do, after all if you want space youd buy a bigger car.
And will you compare it to a Corsa VXR, Clio RS etc ( which is the price braket )or other city cars like the Swift Sport and Twingo RS etc ( which are equal size )?
All I know is I am loving the character and fun of the 595 Comp.
Really looking forward to your review on the 595 Comp. I have one myself and agree that the seating postion isnt the best but you do eventually find a comfy position.
All I ask is that when you do the reveiw please dont say it has a lack of boot space like all the other reviews do, after all if you want space youd buy a bigger car.
And will you compare it to a Corsa VXR, Clio RS etc ( which is the price braket )or other city cars like the Swift Sport and Twingo RS etc ( which are equal size )?
All I know is I am loving the character and fun of the 595 Comp.
I have a new 595, and whilst it's not perfect it is an entertaining little car. It lacks a certain amount of feel, but not many manufacturers fit an exhaust that is deliberately designed to pop and bang. Childish, but very satisfying when it rewards you a massive bang when you change up.
Love the old one too, and all things rear engined, R8's, Simca Rallyes, Imps.
Love the old one too, and all things rear engined, R8's, Simca Rallyes, Imps.
I had a very similar car years ago.
I'd read somewhere that Gordon Murray had fitted a bike engine into the back of one, so I wrote to him at McLaren (he was still there then). A colleague of his phoned me back, he explained that yes one had been modified with a bike engine as a test mule for the LCC Rocket project. Apparently though it hadn't been a great success and that Gordon recommended Jimmy DiCarlo at Ital Corsa for all things Fiat 500.
I got in touch with Jimmy and he built me a great little car. It was pretty much the last thing he did before he and his wife Jan retired to his native Northern-Italy.
It was a beauty, Giallo Fly yellow, black stripe, Abarth extra's everywhere, proper steel wheels, ferocious disc brakes, fully-worked over 126 engine, webber carb, raised bootlid, and an exhaust note that I'll never forget.
Sadly I had to sell it at a distress price, just before the values shot up! It went to a nice guy, a proper car collector on the Isle of Man.
It was pre digi-photos so the only photos I have are in a box in the loft somewhere.
ETA: Jimmy also restored the 500 in this picture. (the house is a London Mews, with a really cool garage that has a hydraulic lift so you can stack a couple of cars)
I'd read somewhere that Gordon Murray had fitted a bike engine into the back of one, so I wrote to him at McLaren (he was still there then). A colleague of his phoned me back, he explained that yes one had been modified with a bike engine as a test mule for the LCC Rocket project. Apparently though it hadn't been a great success and that Gordon recommended Jimmy DiCarlo at Ital Corsa for all things Fiat 500.
I got in touch with Jimmy and he built me a great little car. It was pretty much the last thing he did before he and his wife Jan retired to his native Northern-Italy.
It was a beauty, Giallo Fly yellow, black stripe, Abarth extra's everywhere, proper steel wheels, ferocious disc brakes, fully-worked over 126 engine, webber carb, raised bootlid, and an exhaust note that I'll never forget.
Sadly I had to sell it at a distress price, just before the values shot up! It went to a nice guy, a proper car collector on the Isle of Man.
It was pre digi-photos so the only photos I have are in a box in the loft somewhere.
ETA: Jimmy also restored the 500 in this picture. (the house is a London Mews, with a really cool garage that has a hydraulic lift so you can stack a couple of cars)
Edited by suffolk009 on Thursday 13th March 12:48
Fetchez la vache said:
To be honest I have a huge hot spot for either 
A little o/t but ZCars do classic 500s occasionally.. 2.5l Subaru engine anyone?
video
Not bad, but...A little o/t but ZCars do classic 500s occasionally.. 2.5l Subaru engine anyone?
video
Garage Oemmedi can sort of top that:
http://www.speedhunters.com/2014/01/murcialago-mix...
There's a guy locally who has a 695 replica of some description. Not sure what the exact spec is and I believe the performance is still fairly modest, but it looks like a hell of a lot of fun. The car turned up in all its bright yellow glory at a classic car meet last year and instantly blew all the big V8s and classic Jaaags into the weeds as far as I was concerned.
mr2j said:
Garage Oemmedi can sort of top that:
http://www.speedhunters.com/2014/01/murcialago-mix...
Handily putting aside the engineering that went into the thing, which I'm sure is impressive, and I don't mind being on my own here, but to my eye's that's an abomination.http://www.speedhunters.com/2014/01/murcialago-mix...
Why bother with a beautiful little car only to rip the absolute b
ks out of it and make it look barely recognisable? It looks like a 500 body stuck on top of a transit van. In fact it reminds me of something I used see in Bristol years back that had the top half of a beetle stuck on an old truck.
To me the key is keeping the overall aesthetics of the original, and updating the innards to something more modern / potent. That's why I'm a fan of what Singer do to Porsche, as opposed to other various chop shops.
Each to their own, but aaam oot.
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