We’re pretty sure that not a lot of people remember this, but the latest-generation Fiat 500 was actually based on a concept called the Trepiuno, which came out no fewer than 14 years ago.
When Fiat did put the car into production, mid-2007, they made sure to stick with the Concept’s retro styling, in order to give it a fighting chance against some of the industry’s most iconic small cars, like the Mini Cooper or the VW Beetle.
Of course, the best part about a Fiat 500 is that it also comes in Abarth trim, which usually means more power, a louder exhaust, stiffer suspension, those sorts of things.
Since this is a lightweight car, it’s also quite fun to drive, especially if you’ve got the right engine. Here, Doug DeMuro will argue that if it’s fun you want, it doesn’t get much better than a used 500 Abarth, especially if your budget tops out at $9,000.
We won’t bore you with all the quirks and features he discovered over the course of this review (they are many, and you can watch them in the following video), so we’ll just skip straight to the driving experience.
The first thing he noticed is just how big of a difference it makes to press the Sport button, saying that it transforms the 500 Abarth from a regular city car to something that’s “ready for battle.” Then he mentions how great of an exhaust note this car has, and how communicative the steering is. These are all major points to be scored when it comes to this segment.
In the end though, while $9,000 isn’t a lot of money for a hot hatchback, there are other used sporty cars that fit the budget, and the Mazda MX-5 Miata and RX-8 immediately come to mind.