Italy is famous for its stylish furniture, and there’s evidence of that in the Abarth cabin; its bucket seats are trimmed in an attractive ribbed fabric.
The fine style continues with a leather and aluminium-sheathed steering wheel that invites you to get behind it, handsome alloy pedals, red stitching for the leather-bound gear lever, handbrake grip and door armrests, and a leather-covered lower fascia.
The effect is slightly spoiled by the slightly cheap, hard-feel plastic of the main fascia, the cheap silvering of the centre console and the tacky Sport button, but the overall effect is nevertheless appealing.
Surprisingly, the chance to adorn the instruments with scorpions has been resisted; they simply read ‘Abarth’, like the electronic display on start-up. It doubles as both a trip computer and turbo boost gauge.
This is a well equipped car, coming with a six-speed gearbox, Brembo brakes, 17in alloys, air conditioning, six airbags, wheel-mounted switches, a trip computer and even cruise control.
The deliberately limited – but growing – dealer network, not all of them Fiat franchises, may be geographically inconvenient, but they should deliver enthusiastic service.
Running costs promise to be fairly low, what with fuel consumption in the mid-to-high 30mpgs and reasonable CO2 emissions. Insurance won’t be as costly as for more potent hatches and depreciation – often the blight of Fiats – ought to be less steep for this rarer Abarth.