Abarth 500C

The Abarth version of Fiat’s 500C has always been a blast to drive but purists missed out as the only gearbox option was the paddle-shift automatic. Until now that is. The five speed manual version has everything that made the Fiat 500C Abarth great but with a good old fashioned stick-shift.

At £16,856 (GBP) on the road the ‘Competizione’ box equipped convertible comes in a full £1000 less than the auto and boasts slightly better performance figures. the 0-62 mph time dips under 8 seconds at 7.9 while the little convertible tops out at the same 128 mph. Fuel economy seems unaffected.

As with the paddle-shift Abarth the new car has a 135bhp 1.4 16v Turbo T-Jet engine and Dualdrive electrically assisted power steering with ‘Sport Mode’ while stopping is courtesy of front (ventilated) and rear disc brakes.