I really don’t know what it is, some God-given ability or just a deep understanding of all things tuning, but the Japanese really know how to make a car look good – even when you’re talking about the most basic of modifications.
I’ve said it many times before, but 99 percent of the modified import cars I come across in Japan, whether they’re an Alfa, BMW, Benz, Audi or the like, look spot on. Even if it’s just a subtle suspension drop and an aftermarket set of wheels, there’s almost an artistry at work that nails the offset and tire sizing. The end result is always extreme rubbernecking if you happen to drive by one parked on the street or spot one at the track – you can’t help but take a closer look.
Build on that with some custom aero and it’s pretty much what you see here.
The Abarth versions of the Fiat 500 have been around for what seems like forever, and boy are lightly modified ones popular in Tokyo. But a wide body?
Before coming across this Abarth 595 Turismo at Mooneyes’ Yokohama Hot Rod Custom Show last weekend, I didn’t even know what ‘Three Hundred’ was. As it turns out though, the Shibuya-based company has been around for some years and specializes in getting the best out of the various versions of these little cars, with the 124 now getting some attention too.
The fender flares not only add visual girth to the egg-shaped Fiat, but allow the wheels to be pushed out at each corner with some seriously aggressive offset to really get the best out of the handling.
Every other Three Hundred addition you see is made out of carbon fiber, so up front that means the vented hood and the lip spoiler, the latter being color-matched to the car’s baby blue exterior hue with a highlight line. And yes, it was painted – I checked.
This is actually Three Hundred’s demo car, so it wears every possible piece from the catalogue. That rear end couldn’t possibly be any more aggressive.
With a good 2.5-inches of extra girth on either side, you can see just how much the rear track has been increased here. And the rubber splatter around the rear portion of the arches is the telltale sign that this car has seen some serious track work.
And yes, more carbon. This being Japan, there was that uncontrollable urge to add a wing onto another wing, because you can never have too many wings.
I really liked the white es Wheels six seven-spokes as they have a hint of old school rally about them, which just goes down a treat on these 500s.
More pin-striping around the rear carbon diffuser and you have an Abarth that tries its very hardest to look like a Ferrari. And price wise, these 595s are already halfway there!
Dino Dalle Carbonare
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dino@speedhunters.com
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Those wheels are seven-spokes, Dino. Hahaha!
Shhhh....nobody will notice
Awesome lil Abarth!
And 7 spoke wheels right? ☺️
Not a fan of the widebody, but I'd really love to get in an Abarth one day just to see how it does in the mountains.
They are an absolute treat in the corners. I traded my mildly built SRT4 caliber on a 500 Abarth and under the speed limit the Abarth was WAY more fun than the SRT above the speed limit.
It's a fun car, although I've never driven the 595 version which should feel even more ballistic. This car is well overdue for a redesign
The Fiats really are crappy cars but this is a pretty good setup visually if you have to have one - the wheels feel 1 size too big
..... crappy how? Have you actually ever driven one?
Drive? Fiats move under their own power? I kid, I kid. Of course they do. Most of them were driven all the way to those spots on the side of the road where we'd see them in clouds of smoke and puddles of oil.
And they aren't exactly the most reliable car in the world...
The driving position is terrible.
Widebody on 500 seems a little bit overkilled.
It is lol
This is perfect, it accentuates the lines of the cars and gives it an aggressive look that's not seen in these vehicles. It's nice, because its different nobody bothered to touch these cars now someone did, its unique.
+1
I find nothing about this car and its treatment an improvement over the stock appearance of the Abarth. The body kit pieces look like stuck on with carpet tape, and the wheels don't fit is well either, brake discs look tiny in them.
Well, its a Fiat, so the tow ring is a good idea.
oh Yeah, fiat stands for Fix It Again Tony . right??? becausr they break down all the time Geddit ?? ? ?/
Nick goes for sarcasm, collides with reality of multiple decades of crappy Fiats.
What brand of wheels are those?
es Wheels, says in the text
That's what I thought but I wanted to make sure it wasn't a typo lol
Is there a website I can see what sizes they offer?
Ever notice how the Japanese seem to apply the same philosophy to modifying their cars that they use for urban planning?
The average city block in the average Japanese city has random shapes stuck wherever they'll fit. Round contours right next to angular boxes. High-tech designs on top of throwback machinery. Odd design elements wedged into whatever spare recess is available.
Here you have a basically round car with angular body extensions all over it, with no effort to integrate any of it into a coherent overall form.
Don't get me wrong here - mishmashing makes a city look interesting and cool. I spend way too much time watching those YouTube videos where people roll around Tokyo with a GoPro on the dash, and I really wish we had more flexible zoning here in America.
But cars should really have an overall unified design.
Urban planning in Japan? More like urban overcomplexity and confusion. I get what you are saying, it's an example of Japan at its best, shit getting exponentially more complicated as different teams of people, planners or government offices add their input into any project. The result is organized chaos.
Interior please.
The double wing ruins it for me. Either you keep the stock one or replace the stock one by another. Both ? Yuk.
Thats the kind of japanese cars my dreams are made of! hahahaha Thank you Dino!
I like the design of everything, except the fender flares.... They look super tacky and like something out of a JC Whitney catalog just stuck on there. If they would molded in, or some attempt to make them look more natural i think would be more pleasing to the eye.. at least for me.
really did bring the best of it.