A special Grande Punto Abarth “SuperSport” is making the scene at Geneva, garbed in Airfield Gray paintwork – the same colour sported by the Scorpion’s historic race cars and, as the story has it, taken from the planes based next to the brand’s original headquarters – enlivened by a racing-inspired livery.

Grande Punto Abarth

Equipped with a 16-valve 1.4 litre engine pumped up to deliver 180 horsepower, with a wrenching 270 Nm peak torque at speeds as low as 3000 revs, the Grande Punto Abarth “SuperSport” racing version hits a top speed of 215 km/h and accelerates from 0 to 100 km/h in only 7.5 seconds. In addition, a variable back-pressure dual-mode exhaust system enhances engine sound, producing a distinctive throaty roar over 4000 rpm. With performance features like these, there can be no doubt that this is a car whose whole heart and soul is in racing.

Performance also benefits from a number of changes that the “esseesse” kit makes in ride height and trim attitude, giving the car a more solid stance with firmer, shorter springs, 215/40 R18 tires and specially designed 7.5 J X 18 alloy wheels. The kit puts the car into a real sprinter’s crouch, dropping its roll center by 20 mm. Just as important, the brake system features cross-drilled discs all round, together with high-performance front brake pads.

On the inside, the show car boasts Sabelt Abarth Racing leather-upholstered seats – lightweight and track-approved, as befits the car’s sporting spirit – and the Abarth Blue&MeTM MAP satellite navigator with telemetry capabilities developed with Magneti Marelli. This innovative device provides four different functions. The first – Monitoring – displays the main in-car parameters (engine rpm, vehicle speed, engaged gear) acquired and transferred by the Blue&Me system to the PND Portable Navigation Device via Bluetooth. The Track function, accessible if the driver is on one of the circuits stored on the device’s SD memory card, displays a set of additional information such as the car’s location on the track (provided by GPS) and lap times. The third function – Configuration – makes it possible to store telemetric data for a route and associate them with a personalized session identified by the driver’s name, circuit and date. Stored information can be easily retrieved and analyzed later with the fourth, Analysis, function.

Abarth at the 2008 Bologna Motor Show

Abarth is using the 2008 Bologna Motor Show mainly to show off its new 500 Abarth Trophy (Trofeo Abarth 500), with a 600-square-metre temporary outside structure that showcases the preparation of the 500 Abarth Assetto Corse.

Abarth at the 2008 Bologna Motor Show

The Grande Punto Abarth and 500 Abarth Esseesse models will both be present, and on 11 December, the Grande Punto Abarth S2000 will also make an appearance.

In addition, there’s the usual host of Abarth accessories and merchandise, large-screen configurators for the road-going models, and even a pair of Abarth Powerplay Extreme desktop PCs and the Yamaha FZ1 Abarth Assetto Corse Concept Bike.

Abarth at the 2008 Bologna Motor Show

It is only a few months since the 500 Abarth was launched, but there is no stopping Abarth & C. S.p.A. as they bring several more new products to the Paris Motor Show. The major new developments include a world preview of the “esseesse” kit for the 500 Abarth, the Assetto Corse Abarth and a new collection of technical equipment produced in partnership with Basic Net (owner of the prestigious Kappa, Robe di Kappa, Superga and K-way brands).

Fiat 500 Abarth Esseesse

In particular, the spotlight will be on the “esseesse” kit for the 500 Abarth, which evokes the glorious history of the Scorpion. Carlo Abarth always concentrated his efforts on developing the performance of standard-production cars, but it was only after a meeting with Vittorio Valletta (President of Fiat from 1946-1966) that the conditions were put in place for development of the famous conversion kit. In 1958, the year in which Abarth & C. Spa was recognised as a solid international company, an important agreement was sealed which allowed Abarth & C. to use the semi-finished bodyshells of cars on which they could design their conversions using special parts.

This link to a major car manufacturer allowed the company, based in Corso Marche (Turin) to develop and fine-tune its preparation of small vehicles. Carlo Abarth’s aim was to design a simple, standardised performance enhancement technique so that any workshop, mechanic or even the customer himself could fit the parts to their vehicles.

The new Abarth – underlining its desire to carry on the historic work of Abarth & Co by bringing it up to date – now brings us the first conversion kit dedicated to the 500 Abarth. The whole concept of the Paris stand is based on car preparation, with the presentation of the 500 Abarth “esseesse” kit and the Assetto Corse Abarth version. The public will be able to see the various levels of Abarth “empowerment”, through which everyone can find their ideal performance level. From the entry-level car, the range continues with a specific kit, through to the “assetto corse” racing set-up which represents the ultimate Abarth performance.

Original and extremely eye-catching, the display area is characterised by those elements of the Scorpion philosophy that have made it so unique and popular worldwide: the tough spirit, speed, and an innate desire to win.

Compared to previous shows, nothing has changed as far as the brand’s distinctive identity is concerned: the colour red, a great passion for cars, the red and white chequered flag used to signal the end of endurance races (the competitions in which Abarth has notched up its greatest achievements), and the yellow and red shield with the black scorpion, representing the stinging zodiac sign of this mechanical genius. The beautiful polished white floor only adds to the dynamic look of the stand, while the materials and finishes almost fade into the background in order to show off the car and the kits – the real protagonists of the stand.

Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corse

500 Abarth and the “esseesse” kit are sharing the Paris stage with another star: the 500 Abarth Assetto Corse, to represent the coming together of two worlds: racing and ordinary road driving. Each draws strength from the other in a mix of past and present, the historic and the contemporary, tradition and technology – an integral part of the Abarth story. The stand also makes room for technology, with interactive features like the car configurator so that visitors can view the different versions of each model. The parts look so real you can almost reach out and touch them. There is also a series of interactive screens which brings the Abarth world to life: a way to discover, hear and share that empowerment – the capacity to make a normal product into something outstanding – which makes Abarth unique.

Paris is the perfect opportunity to really find out about the world of Abarth preparation which is already proving to be a great hit with the “Assetto” and “esseesse” kits available for the Grande Punto Abarth 1.4 Turbo T-Jet 155 CV. Over 600 kits have been sold in just a few months. The distribution network, unique in its class and steadily growing, has been a key factor in achieving these significant results. The European target has been achieved, with 100 dealers now operating in Italy, Germany, the United Kingdom, France, Switzerland, Austria, the Netherlands, Greece, Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Poland. There are 100 official converters and about 200 workshops. By year-end Abarth will make its début in non-European markets, first of all in Japan which is keenly awaiting the Scorpion’s arrival.

A post appeared on the Abarth blog today with the news that the Esseesse kit for the new 500 Abarth will be shown in public for the first time at the Paris Motor Show, which opens on 4th October.

The post also mentions the Assetto Corse, which we’d already blogged about earlier, and Google interestingly translates as “Racing Trim.”

There are also a couple of new pictures of the 500 Abarth Esseesse:

Fiat 500 Abarth Esseesse

Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corse

For the first time at the Bologna Motor Show, the reborn Fiat Abarth marque makes a comeback with its own dedicated stand of powerful visual impact which, in line with its relaunch philosophy, was designed to highlight innovation using a fresh, up-to-date language, with leading-edge technology and refinement in the smallest details.

Abarth at the 32nd Italian Motor Show in Bologna

The galvanized steel floor and the ‘naked’ technology of the monitors provide an effective contrast to the luxurious shiny white environment, the mirrorlike effect of the large illuminated sign and the special chromed guardrails, evocative technical details delimiting the area of the boutique and the boundary of the stand.

The new traits of Abarth communication are there in all their powerful clarity: the “original” logo, extrapolated from the Abarth shield of the same size and identical top curve in large polished aluminium stands proud on the rear wall. A linear decoration picks up the white and red chequered motif, forever the finish line symbol in endurance competitions where Abarth has achieved outstanding success.

Abarth at the 32nd Italian Motor Show in Bologna

Abarth values and tradition are recaptured with discretion and a touch of hi-tech: the luxurious materials and coatings such as aluminium, carbon fibre, enamels and laquers enhance the exhibition area adding to the value of the exhibits: the Grande Punto Abarth S2000 and in world preview the Grande Punto Abarth with Kit “essesse”, which is the real novelty of the stand, placed on an inlaid pedestal reproducing a great polished stainless steel scorpion emphasizing power, technology and full pedigree.

With the official presentation of Kit “esseesse” on the Grande Punto Abarth – to be marketed with the formula of the historic ‘conversion box’ – the marque forcefully recalls the concept with which it achieved success back in ‘50s and ‘60s: creating small exclusive sports cars.

At the stand, elements of clear historic connotation intermingle endlessly with modern traits, thus inducing visual and perceptive stimuli of a technical and stylistic nature. Thanks to a unique photo-quality multimedia configurator, visitors are able to appreciate and almost touch the defining characteristics of the world of Abarth engineering. Moreover, 23 small LCD monitors show a number of short “viral videos” illustrating the distinctive features of the Scorpion in fresh, straightforward language.

In line with one of the leading concepts of the marque, namely authentic excitement and hands-on experience, the external test track of the Bologna Motor Show will host the Team Abarth with the Grande Punto S2000, winner of the Italian Rally Championship 2007. In the on-line competition also appearing in the official Abarth blog, 24 lucky winners will be selected to experience what it is like to be the \”navigator\” sitting beside the official drivers of the Abarth Competition Team. One of these will be superchampion Giandomenico Basso who, together with Mitia Dotta, has recently won the ItalianRally Championship 2007 – on the heels of the triumphant 2006 season in which he won both the European Championship and the Intercontinental Rally Challenge – again driving the Grande Punto Abarth S2000.

This event emphasizes the aim of the marque to be close to the fans all over the world who continually follow the Team Abarth competitions, and to make public opinion and the younger generations in particular, aware of the strategic importance of driving safety, accident prevention and road education in every developed society. Because sport driving pleasure always includes a “tankful” of safety in terms of vehicle control and knowledge of one’s own limits.

Without forgetting that standard production Abarth cars incorporate all active and passive safety electronic devices currently available, including the ESP (Electronic Stability Program) system which cuts in limit driving conditions when vehicle stability is at risk, helping the driver to maintain control of the vehicle. Besides, on Abarth cars it is not disconnectable: a further example of the extra care of the marque where safety is concerned.