Abarth may have hopped on the EV bandwagon with the 500e and 600e, but the Fiat tuner still pumps out hot hatchbacks that run on gasoline. The venerable 695 is still around, and it’s now getting the special edition treatment for the umpteenth time. The latest limited-run model marks the brand’s 75th anniversary.
Aptly named the Abarth 695 75° Anniversario, the newest model from the Scorpion brand tries to freshen up a car that has been around for 16 years. Yes, the high-performance version of the Fiat 500 was launched back in 2008 as the 595 model. It gets exclusive 17-inch wheels with a gold finish that has also been applied to the body decals. The graphics portray a piston head on the rear fenders and a huge “Abarth” logo running along almost the entire width of the doors. In addition, the roof gets a massive scorpion motif finished in gold as well.
Those Lexus-like vertically stacked exhaust tips should look familiar if you’ve been following the Italian brand for a while. These were introduced in 2021 on the Abarth F595 and have since been installed on other products. The most recent car to get the unusual exhaust setup was the F595C at the end of last year. Available on certain 595 and 695 models, the Record Monza exhaust has an active valve to alter the soundtrack.
The new 695 flavor uses the tried-and-tested turbocharged 1.4-liter gasoline engine. It produces 180 horsepower and 250 Newton meters (184 pound-feet) of torque, channeled to the front axle via a five-speed manual gearbox. This classic setup enables a 0 to 62 mph (100 km/h) sprint in 6.7 seconds and a top speed of 140 mph (225 km/h). At both axles, it rocks Koni FSD shock absorbers in a hot hatch about as light as the Mazda MX-5 Miata.
The interior is certainly showing its age, but Abarth has tried to spruce things up by wrapping a part of the dashboard in Alcantara. There are Sabelt carbon seats with yellow stitching and color-matching “75° Anniversario” lettering with a retro-flavored look embroidered on the headrests. Although the cabin is getting a bit long in the tooth, you still have everything you’ll ever need: automatic air conditioning, Apple CarPlay and Android Auto connectivity, a pair of 7-inch screens, and a Beats sound system.
Abarth is making only 1,368 units. Why that specific number? It’s a nod to the engine’s capacity of 1,368 cc.
