The new race cars will debut later this month at the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne, where the cars will be driven in the event’s annual Celebrity Challenge (formerly Mini Coopers were used). The cars have already been testing at Australia’s Bathurst race track and will soon head over to Europe to start the official competition.
At this week’s Geneva Motor Show Fiat is debuting its new performance 500 Abarth models, which are expected to be the basis for the new race-prepped models. The new car comes with a sporty bodykit with larger air intakes, side skirts, a rear diffuser, pumped fenders, Abarth decals and new alloys plus the famed scorpion logo on the grille. Power will come from Fiat Group’s turbocharged T-Jet petrol engine, developing a peak 135hp at 5,500rpm and 180Nm of torque at 2,500rpm.