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Abarth Roadster Rendered Based on 2016 Mazda MX-5

Like strings of yarn, deals between automakers have a tendency to unravel if you're not careful – Volkswagen and Suzuki, Renault and Caterham or more recently Alfa Romeo and Mazda. The Italians were supposed to get the same super-light platform as the new MX-5 for their Spider sportscar, but the deal fizzled.
Abarth Roadster Rendered Based on 2016 Mazda MX-5 1 photo
Photo: Theophilus Chin
With the Italians, who aren't known for reliability, building the engines and the Japanese taking care of the design, they probably got the deal a little backwards. But whatever the reason for this annulment may be, recent rumors suggest Abarth is now going to be the beneficiary of Mazda's Skyactiv knowhow.

Actually, if you think about it, the stripped-down attitude of the Mazda MX-5 is a far better fit for the Abarth brand than Alfa Romeo, who's supposed to chase premium German car brands.

Without further ado, we bring you a rendering of what the Abarth Roadster might look like if it were based on the latest generation of a Japanese legend. It's been created by Theophilus Chin, a graphic manipulator from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He changed the headlights, the front grille, bumper and of course added graphics and Abarth wheels.

But even though this is supposed to look like an Italian sportscar, it looks exactly like a British one, the defunct MG TF. Weird, right?

Of course, this rumor has a good chance of not being true, like Yeti and UFOs. If you want a sportscar that's just like the Mazda MX-5, why not buy the actual Mazda MX-5? It's brilliant in every regard and Fiat bosses probably know that already. What's more, Abarth would need to swap the Skyactiv engine for one of their 1.4-liter turbos, used on the hot 500 range. Turbo engines and nimble rear-wheel drive sportscar kind of don't work together all that well.

Die-hard Abarth fan, the few that are left, will also point out that a true Scorpion should be mid-engined, like Fiat X1/9.
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About the author: Mihnea Radu
Mihnea Radu profile photo

Mihnea's favorite cars have already been built, the so-called modern classics from the '80s and '90s. He also loves local car culture from all over the world, so don't be surprised to see him getting excited about weird Japanese imports, low-rider VWs out of Germany, replicas from Russia or LS swaps down in Florida.
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