My transport of choice this week has been a £30k Abarth Scorpioneoro, the latest iteration of the well-honed 180bhp Fiat 500-based 595 pocket rocket they’ve been making for a decade. Its performance has sent me into a fit of philosophical contortions.
Thing is, this cheery little car is never going to top our Best Hot Hatch list (age; wheel fight under power; a very firm ride), yet on one of my pre-lockdown errands, a 160-mile round trip to Woking, I found myself taking the long way home to avoid ending the journey. Such things make you question the criteria you’re using to judge the car.
The elevated driving position is great (it’s really a Panda underneath). And all the Abarth hardware – bolstered seats, boost gauge, g-meter, alloy gearknob and pedals, Sport regime, gold wheels – reminds you this really isn’t a car to be delicately savoured but to be driven with commitment. Took me a while to get this, but once I had the message, I enjoyed the 595 thoroughly. Could I live with one? I reckon so.
Monday
Intrigued to see new Aston Martin CEO Tobias Moers start the week with a claim that “everything is in place for Aston Martin to become one of the greatest luxury car brands in the world”. Have to say it begged the somewhat cynical question: what, in just six months? I mean, weren’t they telling us back in the summer that it was all a disaster?
Admittedly, plenty seems to have been achieved by Moers and his chairman, Lawrence Stroll, in a short time. But most of it, I’m thinking, is because Daimler is increasing its Aston stake to 20%. That switched the lights on. I suspect it would have switched the lights on for recently departed CEO Andy Palmer, too…
Wednesday
Join the debate
si73
Always been a fan of the M100
I've often thought it would have sold better and be more fondly remembered if it had a different name, instead of being a wrong wheel drive Elan it would be known as the best handling fwd car and respected for what it is as opposed to what it isn't. The MX5 it's often unfavourably compared with has no where near the performance, close would have been a big engines Z3 or the later S2000, neither known for their handling.
Can you buy all the kit to electrify a classic mini for £10k? That price seems to be for the motor assembly only, not the battery etc.
Abarth 500s should be great fun even if not the best hot hatches out there, the standard 500 is a hoot to drive so the abarth is bound to be great fun, I wouldn't mind an open top to enjoy the rorty exhaust sound a bit more.
Peter Cavellini
Lotus.
Great they may have been when they first burst on the scene way back in the mists of time, in today's car World, well, you don't see many do you?, why is that?
LP in Brighton
Elan
I've owned several original Elans and driven the M100 in its heyday. I'd say the later one was better to drive, equally fast and considerably more robust than the original. If it was mine, I wouldn't risk hill climbing it though. Far better to keep it looking smart and reserved for Sunday drives - and use someone else's Abarth for sporting activities!
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