One of these things is quite like the other, but despite close ties, this pair of roadsters arrive at different outcomes.
When it came time for us to add another car to the CarAdvice collection, we realised there was a giant hole – it was one that had to be filled by an Italian car. Ferrari or Lamborghini weren’t the most practical options, so last year we welcomed a red (pre-facelift) 2017 Abarth 595 to our family – a Fiat 500 with extra horsepower and badging, which is something that’s needed for us car people to get around the city swiftly...
The fact that both the Mazda MX-5 and the Abarth 124 Spider sports cars exist, side-by-side, is a good thing. In fact, they need each other to survive. You've heard it before: the issue with making a sports car is scale. There is a great deal of development cost involved in getting a vision to production and then, because no one really needs sports cars, the return is generally not all that great...
The arrival of the new 2016 Abarth 595 has dropped the ownership doorway into Italy's famed scorpion shield from mid-$30k down to a basement-level $27,500 list price. Stripping back the frills, while liberally pilfering from the marque's go-fast parts bin, this 'regular 595' is the type of cut-priced sweet spot many buyers having been hankering for...
