Written by Luke Wilkinson Updated: 4 October 2024

Overview

This was a difficult review to write. Much to the annoyance of my colleagues, I’ve long championed the Abarth 595 and 695 as the best small hot hatchbacks on sale. I love how brazenly they fly in the face of convention, and how they offer a unique, highly entertaining and unashamedly Italian answer to the small fast car question.

But all good things must come to an end and 16 years after the first Abarth 500 rolled off the production line in 2008, the brand has finally pulled the car from its showrooms. Tightening safety regulations, tougher emissions criteria and the omnipresent push towards electrification has forced the car out to pasture. And that’s a real shame.

The 695 sat at the top of Abarth’s range. It was powered by the punchiest version of the company’s turbocharged 1.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine, which sends 180hp and 250Nm of torque to the front wheels. That sounds a little weedy when you compare it to 231hp of the previous-generation MINI Cooper S JCW but, because the Abarth is so small and light, it’s still immensely fun.

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Abarth’s simple engineering approach cranks up the fun factor, too. The 695 was one of the last genuinely analogue petrol cars on sale. It didn’t have any clever active safety technology, its interior equipment was basic and it did without a complicated hybrid system.

This lack of electronic interference makes it an attractive car for driving enthusiasts. Indeed, the Abarth community is thriving. There’s a huge scene for these little cars, with a bustling aftermarket industry and a booming events calendar packed with track days and club meets. If you want a car with strong community support, look no further.

But this popularity is surprising when you consider the number of objectively better cars that were competing with the Abarth when it was new. The Ford Fiesta ST is its most obvious rival, but there was also the Hyundai i20 N and the MINI Cooper S. They’re all more practical, faster, more comfortable and easier to live with.

What made the Abarth stand out from the crowd was its personality. No other small hot hatch could make me smile as broadly because none offered the same sort of pantomime performance, lairy looks and pure charisma. Scroll down to find out why my heart’s still bleeding from the loss.

What’s it like inside?

An ergonomic nightmare. The steering wheel doesn’t telescope out of the dashboard and the pedals feel like they’ve been mounted parallel to the floor. That means you can’t find a comfortable driving position, regardless of how tall you are.

You’re choosing between one of two discomforts. You can either set the seat at a comfortable distance from the pedals and get used to overstretching for the steering wheel, or pull the seat forwards so your arms are comfortable and operate the pedals with your knees rammed into the dashboard. I went for the former.

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The bucket seats on the 75^th Anniversario model you see in these images presented another problem. They’re slightly too wide for the car, which means you can’t adjust the angle of the backrest on the move without tearing all the skin off your knuckles on the cabin plastics. You need to pull over and open the door to access the seat knob. It’s Italian lunacy at its finest.

The 695’s interior is also quite dated, which is to be expected in a car that’s been around for 16 years. In fairness, Abarth has tried to modernise the car’s cabin in that time with some digital climate controls, a digital gauge cluster and a 7.0-inch infotainment screen. The latter system is quite clunky, though.

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The menu design wouldn’t look out of place on a Windows 98 PC and you can also only use Android Auto and Apple CarPlay with a USB cable. Plus, once you’ve plugged your phone into the dash, there’s nowhere for you to store it. I had to leave my phone on the passenger seat. So, if you’re shopping for an Abarth, I strongly suggest you buy a phone mount at the same time.

Comfort

If you can look past the idiotic driving position, the Abarth isn’t an especially uncomfortable hot hatchback. Yes, it has stiff suspension and low-profile tyres, but I drove my test car the 220-mile round trip Peterborough to Farnborough – and I arrived home feeling rather refreshed.

I had my car’s Sabelt seats to thank for that. Despite the fact they tore all the skin off my knuckles when I tried to adjust them, they have a much lower hip point than the standard 695’s seats, which meant my thighs were better supported. They also have stronger bolstering, so I didn’t fall out of them when cornering hard – something that can’t be said of the slightly less racy Abarth 595.

Road noise is surprisingly well suppressed and that shouty engine even quietens down once you’re at a cruise – especially if you take the car out of Sport mode (which I seldom did because I’m a child). However, one important thing to look out for when shopping for a used 695 is the brand of the tyres the car has fitted.

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If you run these little Abarths on anything other than the factory-specified Michelins, they can get incredibly boomy at speed. My family has owned an older Abarth 500 for about 10 years now – and we made the mistake of fitting it with Bridgestone tyres.

The tread pattern and harsher compound seemed to read the texture of the road, amplify the sound and pass it through the chassis and into the cabin. It was especially noisy when we weren’t carrying anything in the boot, as the empty space acted like a subwoofer box. When we put the car pack on Michelins, though, the problem went away.

Safety

Euro NCAP hasn’t tested the Abarth 695. However, the Fiat 500 on which it’s based scored three stars when it was tested back in 2017. At the time, the testers were quite disappointed with how poorly the car protected its occupants. Both the adult and child dummies sustained serious G-forces to critical body components such as their heads and chests. The 500’s lack of safety equipment counted against it, too.

However, it’s worth noting that the Abarth 695 has far better brakes and suspension than the Fiat 500. That means, if you have enough time to spot an accident happening, it’s more likely that you’ll be able to either stop before you hit it or swerve around it.

Engine

The 695’s 1.4-litre petrol engine is a fantastic unit. I love it how hilariously old school it is. There’s very little response until about 3,000rpm, at which point the turbo wakes up and chucks all 180hp at the front wheels. It’ll then thrash up to its 6,500rpm redline like it’s powered by nitro-glycerine, torque steering and snatching for grip all the while. If you can make it behave, you’ll be able to sprint from 0–62mph in 6.7 seconds and hit a top speed of 140mph.

It makes an excellent racket, too. The car you see in these images is fitted with Abarth’s Record Monza exhaust, which barks if you so much as look at the throttle – and it has a very entertaining valve in the back box that snarls when you lift off the pedal. It’s fun, but it’s not quite as juvenile as Abarth’s even noisier (and optional) Akrapovic system. If I was buying one, I’d splash some cash on that for the extra yobbo points.

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The engine is yoked to a five-speed manual gearbox as standard which, if I’m being brutally honest, leaves a lot to be desired. The clutch is almost as light as the regular Fiat 500’s, and the gear stick is a too vague, neither of which gel with the savagery of the rest of the controls. Still, it’s a lot better than the optional automatic.

What’s it like to drive?

Brilliant, but it lacks the finesse of its rivals. I’ll illustrate my point with a metaphor. The old Ford Fiesta ST corners with all the poise and delicacy of a prima ballerina, but the 695 acts more like a drunken metalhead staggering around in work boots. It’s a car you really need to grab by the scruff of the neck to get the best from.

The suspension’s very stiff, so it controls the body well. There are benefits and drawbacks to this setup, though. The 695 stays unwaveringly flat when you’re cornering quickly, but it can also skip over mid-corner bumps and throw you off your intended line, which is scary if you’re not expecting it.

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Thankfully, the steering is more than responsive enough to compensate for how unsettled the chassis can be. It’s also immensely talkative, constantly buzzing away in your hands to communicate both the texture of the road and the strain you’re applying to the engine into your palms.

The 695 gets even more exciting when you prod the Torque Transfer Control (or TTC) button on the dashboard. It’s a rather agricultural torque vectoring system which uses the brakes to tighten the car’s line through corners.

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It works excellently but, like everything else about the Abarth, it’s quite brutish in its execution. I found I had to be very careful with the throttle when the front wheels weren’t pointing dead straight as, if I was too exuberant, both front wheels would spin quickly enough to evaporate the tyres.

What models and trims are available?

When the 695 was new, there were three trims to choose from – standard spec, Turismo and Competizione. The base model features front fog lamps, rear parking sensors, an Alcantara gauge cowl, automatic air conditioning, wired smartphone mirroring and a leather steering wheel.

The Turismo model has some additions designed to make the 695 easier to live with over longer distances. These included slightly plusher leather seats and a Beats stereo system. At the top of the range, there’s the Competizione model. It’s the raciest spec available and come with 17-inch matte black alloy wheels and a pair of Sabelt racing seats.

You could upgrade every model with improved Koni suspension and a convertible roof. The Koni dampers are well worth the money as they make an appreciable difference to the car’s handling, but the drop top isn’t worth the fabric it’s hewn from. It makes a harsh car even more uncomfortable to live with.

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Just before Abarth pulled the 695 from its showrooms, it launched a special 75th Anniversario edition version of the car (which is the model you see in these images), designed to celebrate the brand’s 75th birthday.

It was based on the Competizione model, but packed with extra features such as gold 17-inch alloys, Koni dampers, an Alcantara dashboard, black Brembo brakes, gold side decals and a huge scorpion decal on its roof. It wasn’t exactly cheap, though. Prices started from £32,930.

Now click through to the next page to read my verdict on the Abarth 695.