Auto News 5

Americans get one Fiat 500 Abarth model while Europeans get two: the 135-horsepower Abarth and 180-horsepower Abarth Esseesse. Fiat thought the lesser Euro-market Abarth was too wimpy for the States so it only sent the high-performance model here. However, that makes a major gap in horsepower (and in price) between our Abarth and the second, er, sportiest 500 sold here, the Sport. Porca vacca! But the solution was simple enough: send over the 135-hp Abarth from Europe, and market it as something that fills the space between Sport and Abarth.