CarBrandLogos archive · Abarth · 2008

AbarthAbarth 500/595

A city car turned into a small, loud argument for the scorpion badge.

Photo: Ad Meskens · CC BY-SA 3.0

The story

A defining chapter in Abarth history.

Explore the ideas, engineering and context that shaped the Abarth 500/595, then continue into its specifications and place in the marque's lineage.

Origins

When Fiat brought back the 500 in 2007 it also brought back Abarth, dormant as a maker of complete cars since the 1970s. The retro three-door hatchback - drawn by Roberto Giolito as a concept and turned into production form by Frank Stephenson with Flavio Manzoni - was a front-engined, front-drive city car built at Tychy in Poland, and an unlikely basis for a performance brand.

2004 Fiat Trepiuno concept · Shkermaker at English Wikipedia · Public domain

Design and engineering

The Abarth version arrived in 2008 with a turbocharged 1.4, lower and stiffer suspension, bigger brakes and an exhaust note out of all proportion to the car's footprint. Buyers could order an esseesse upgrade delivered in wooden crates and fitted by the dealer, a deliberate echo of the tuning kits Carlo Abarth had sold half a century earlier. From 2012 most of the range took the 595 name, borrowed from the Fiat Abarth 595 of 1963, with 695 reserved for the hardest versions.

2008 FIAT 500 1.4 Lounge · The Car Spy · CC BY 2.0

In production

It was never a subtle car. The wheelbase is short, the ride is firm, the steering fizzes and torque steer is part of the experience. But it undercut every hot hatch that could match it for pace, and it kept selling long after the standard petrol 500 had begun to look its age - Polish production ran to 2024, with the electric 500e named as the successor.

1966 Fiat Nuova 500F and 2008 Fiat 500 · dave_7 · CC BY 2.0

Legacy

More than anything, it re-established Abarth as something a customer could walk in and buy rather than a name in the history books.

At a glance

The facts that define it.

Produced

2007–2024

Engine

Petrol engine

Designer

Centro Stile Fiat:

Body

3-door hatchback

Technical specification

The Abarth 500/595, in detail.

Production: 2007–2024 (Poland); 2011–2019 (Mexico); 2023–2025 (Algeria)
Class: City car (A)
Body style: 3-door hatchback; 2-door cabriolet
Layout: Front-engine, front-wheel drive
Engine: Petrol engine; Petrol: ; 0.9 L Fiat TwinAir engine; TwinAir Turbocharger; turbo Straight-twin engine; I2 ; 1.0 L Fiat Global Small Engine; GSE FireFly Straight-three engine; I3 mild hybrid ; 1.2 L Fully Integrated Roboti
Transmission: 5-speed manual; 6-speed manual; 5-speed Dualogic automated manual; 6-speed automatic (Aisin)
Designer: Centro Stile Fiat:; Roberto Giolito (concept); Frank Stephenson (production) with Flavio Manzoni
Assembly: Poland: Tychy (Fiat Auto Poland); Mexico: Toluca (Toluca Car Assembly); Algeria: Tafraoui (Stellantis Tafraoui)
Manufacturer: Fiatefn; name=manufacturer; Fiat Group Automobiles (2007–2014) ; FCA Italy (2014–2023) ; Stellantis Europe (2023–2025)