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Abarth will be present at
the 81st Geneva Motor Show next month. It won't have
anything especially new to show off to visitors, instead
however it will present the Abarth 500C fitted with the
"esseesse" kit for the first time as well as unveiling
the limited-edition 695 Tributo Ferrari in new two
colours. The Scorpion's recently reborn racing tradition
will also be on display at the Geenva Palexpo thanks to
a Formula Aci-Csai-Abarth 'grassroots' single-seater.
The Abarth 695 "Tributo Ferrari", which will be on
display for the first time with Abu Dhabi Blue and
Titanium Grey livery, is the fastest and highest
performing road-going 500 ever, arising out of joint
venture between Abarth and Ferrari. Over the last two
years, both brands have worked even more closely
together, which has led to the development of the Abarth
695 Tributo Ferrari, an exclusive car that on the one
hand allows Abarth to expand its range, thus entering
the luxury sports car segment, and on the other offers
Ferrari customers a small, lively car for all mobility
requirements, including practical and urban mobility.
This numbered and limited special series has been
marketed from July and has already notched up more than
1,000 orders; more than half of which are from countries
such as United Kingdom, France, Germany and Japan.
Bolstered by the success of the recent conversion kits
(one Abarth 500 in three is converted using the official
kit), Abarth is presenting the “esseesse” kit for the
Abarth 500C in Geneva for its debut. These are designed
to improve their performance, handling and safety
without having to renounce the car's low emission and
fuel consumption level. Visitors to the stand can
examine a 500C “esseesse” that illustrates the spirit of
Abarth tuning, encapsulating substance and unassuming
good looks: in accordance with brand tradition and
market requirements.
The Abarth 500C “esseesse” comes with a Campovolo grey
and Pista grey two-tone livery with a white chromatic
liner, an element that divides and at the same time
combines the two souls of the car: the elegance of a
cabriolet above and the out-and-out sporty performance
of the “esseesse” kit below. The 500C “esseesse” is
exhibited with an original “Record Monza” exhaust
silencer (dual mode with variable counterpressure) that
enhances the engine sound above 4,000 rpm and, as on the
Punto Evo, with an Abarth Blue&MeTM MAP satellite
navigation system with telemetrics. The prestigious
setting of the Geneva International motor show also
presents the occasion to make an advance announcement to
the general public of the commercial launch, expected
during the second quarter of 2011, of the manual
five-speed gearbox on the Abarth 500C, combined with the
135 HP 1.4 T-Jet engine. This novelty permits an
expansion of the Abarth 500C range, teaming the
"competition" robotised gearbox with steering wheel
paddle as standard with a manual gearbox which is
specifically designed to appeal to those customers
looking for a more direct relationship with the car and
deem this solution to be the most suitable for their
driving style.
There is also space for a Formula Aci-Csai-Abarth model
that this year will take part in a championship reserved
for this single-seater made by Tatuus on a carbon fibre
body, an FPT Racing 1.4 Fire Turbo engine developing 180
HP based on the engine used in the Abarth 500 Trophy,
and a Sadev transmission with a sequential six-speed
gearbox. This Aci, Csai and Abarth single seater trainer
is destined to hone the skills of talented young drivers
until 2014, serving as their career launch pad towards
the higher formulas. It is the heir to the Formula
Azzurra car that introduced the Csai "Young Drivers
Project" in 2005. In this sector too, Abarth boasts a
long tradition, dating back to the 1970s and 1980s, with
the Italia and Fiat Abarth formulas that made it
possible for drivers of the calibre of Michele Alboreto,
Riccardo Patrese and Alessandro Nannini to make their
names.
The Geneva Motor Show is also an opportunity to take a
look at the two pillars of the Abarth business model:
roadgoing cars and the world of racing. To date,
approximately 1,800 Abarth 500C and nearly 1,400 Abarth
Punto Evo cars have been sold from the launch in July
2010: these numbers bear witness to the warm welcome
extended to these two cars and will certainly contribute
to the already excellent results recorded since the
brand was relaunched. Suffice it to say that since 2007
the brand has enjoyed continual growth, as evidenced by
sales of more than 28,000 for the Abarth Grande Punto
and Abarth 500 models in addition to approximately 6,000
performance kits designed for the two models. These
sales successes have been partly made possible by the
extraordinary network of dealers and official tuning
shops, an organisation that is unique in its field and
is extending to other international markets such as
Israel, Romania, Cyprus, Lebanon, Finland and Australia.
In addition to its sales successes, in 2010 Abarth
achieved important results in sports activities as well,
in both rallies and on the track in Italy and Europe, as
the victory of Luca Rossetti and Matteo Chiarcossi
aboard an Abarth Grande Punto S2000 in the 2010 European
Rally Championship exemplifies. Rossetti also took
second place in the Italian Championship Drivers
classification, in which his team-mate Giandomenico
Basso, paired with Mitia Dotta, came in fourth. Again
speaking of rallies, the first edition of the Abarth
500-Selenia Trophy was raced with the Abarth 500 in the
R3T version in the limelight. The absolute winner was
the expert Roberto Vescovi, but a large group of Under
25 drivers fought it out behind him, and they took the
most prestigious awards. Not counting the large number
of foreign drivers who raced in their national
championships behind the wheel of the Abarth 500 R3T
personally prepared by Abarth for the competitions.
Track activities have also met with great success. The
tried and tested single-make Abarth 500 Selenia Italia
and Abarth 500 Selenia Europe trophies, both won by
Nicola Baldan, and Abarth 500 Selenia GB, won by Ben
Winrow, have been joined this year by a championship
reserved for single-seater Formula Aci-Csai-Abarth cars
with the intention of allowing young drivers to show
their mettle at the wheel of a experience-building
single-seater car at an accessible price. Divided into 7
events consisting of 2 races each on Italy's leading
race tracks, more than 40 drivers will competed in this
championship. Many arriving from abroad and all young,
they made the competitions highly spectacular and
hard-fought. For the record, the victory went to
Frenchman Brandon Maisano, 17, a member of the Ferrari
Driver Academy, Ferrari's new breeding ground.
The stand at Geneva
The design idea that inspired the Abarth space was
simplification: the architecture does not use a language
to interpret the brand but acts as a substrate to
enhance its values. Abarth and its world take centre
stage and the brand exhibits itself to the public in all
its pureness and simplicity, in its maximum essence. The
result is a great space with four areas of light under
which the car is positioned: this is the stage, which
plays out and narrates the world of Abarth. A sheet of
glass standing in the centre of the space supports the
recognisable Abarth icon; a large LED display acting as
the central element of the scenery forms an ideal
backdrop for the cars. The lines of the entire stand are
symmetrical, straight and right-angled. The materials
are similarly neutral and intangible: white structural
elements and extensive use of transparency helps remove
all the visual “noise” to focus attention on the
content. Technical drawings of Abarth engineering are
ideally exhibited under a glass floor, visible to all,
as used to happen with cars when their rear bonnet lids
were partially raised. Intangible elements such as
light, sound and digital content are not accessories in
this case but work in a holistic and synchronised
manner, acting out different scenes to create an
impression that the stand is always in movement. The
neutral and minimal physical space is coloured and
filled by scenes that recount the Abarth values in
sequence: challenge, passion, ingenuity, Italian flair,
participation, determination and authenticity.
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