Fiat Abarth 695 Biposto Review – Mad, Stupid-Mad… And Irresistible
IT IS NUTS IN EVERY WAY, THE ABARTH 695 BIPOSTO; STUPIDLY EXPENSIVE, RIDICULOUSLY SMALL, AND ABSOLUTELY BONKERS TO DRIVE.
To drive it, you have to punch it in the mouth on every gear-change. And it responds by thumping you in the back.
And if you were to buy one – but you’ll have to be quick, there are less than 20 ear-marked for Australia – your friends will wonder quietly if you are totally “out-of-your-flakey-tiny-microscopic-mind”. That’s what they’ll think.
This is Abarth’s 695 BiPosto: “the world’s smallest supercar”.
Price: $65,000 (plus on-road costs)
Engine/transmission: 1.4 litre turbo petrol/5-speed manual (with optional dog-ring gearbox)
Power/torque: 140kW/250Nm
Fuel consumption claimed: 6.5 l/100km; tested: 9.1 l/100km
OVERVIEW
There are only two seats in the Abarth BiPosto – that’s the ‘BiPosto’ reference – it’s just for two; or for one and a race track.
And it is as raw and unadorned as a slab of meat. There is no air-conditioning and no radio.
But who needs the latter? You won’t hear it anyway over the snarling and popping of the exhaust, the thud of each shift, the turbo whistle and the ill-mannered snorting induction from under the bonnet.
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