Scoop: Abarth Coupe

Fiat could make a special-bodied Abarth Coupe in order to expand the ‘affordable high performance’ credentials of its recently re-established brand.The company is reportedly delighted with the early reception for its Abarth Punto and 500 variants and believes that a special Abarth model may be feasible. A coupe would be in the spirit of the cars created by the firm’s founder, Carlo Abarth, in the 1960s.Fiat bosses, who recently reopened an Abarth HQ in Turin (where Carlo Abarth had his original premises), are eyeing three business models for the reborn company.

One is simply to update the 500 and Punto as the mainstream models develop. Another is to produce a special-bodied coupe, probably using components from another coupe to be launched in the Fiat Group range — possibly the proposed Lancia Fulvietta.A third proposal is to produce high-quality performance parts for other marques, even rivals, just as Carlo Abarth produced exhausts for a wide range of cars, even Porsches and Ferraris.