Abarth 500C With Manual Transmission Now Available

The British division of Fiat’s in-house tuner Abarth today announced it has added a new 500C convertible sports car with manual gearbox, to the lineup, which naturally comes cheaper than the current variant with ‘Competizione’ paddle-shift transmission.

Priced at £16,856 OTR, the Abarth 500C with five speed manual transmission, is around £1,000 cheaper than the automatic version. Along with a stylish electric hood with glass rear window, and third brake light incorporated into the spoiler, the car receives, as standard, a host of other equipment.

This includes seven airbags, xenon headlights, TTC (torque transfer control), parking sensors, Blue&Me hands-free telecommunications system, leather steering wheel and alloy wheels. A full range of options includes automatic climate control, leather sports interior, bi-colour paint, red brake callipers and coloured Abarth side stripes and mirrors.

The car features Dualdrive electrically assisted power steering with ‘Sport Mode’ while stopping is courtesy of front (ventilated) and rear disc brakes.

But let’s see with what Abarth paired the manual tansmission with: the unit in question is a 135bhp 1.4 16v Turbo T-Jet engine, which provides the convertible with a top speed of 128mph and a 0-62mph time of 7.9 seconds. The manual version returns 43.5mpg fuel economy on the combined cycle and has a CO2 figure of 155 g/km.

“With the choice between hatchback and convertible versions and in manual or Competizione form, we now have an Abarth 500 to suit all requirements and driving conditions,” said  Ivan Gibson, head of Abarth in the UK. “And with the option to take on the 160bhp esseesse specification, open top performance motoring has never been more accessible.”