Abarth 124 Spider GT: Abrahadabra

25 February 2019 Redazione News, Tested

ABARTH 124 SPIDER GT

ABRAHADABRA

Words by Marco Mancino

Photos by S. Lomax

Cursed or not, I’m laughing like a child and any excuse to snatch the voice out of the 1.4 Multiair is good for me to toss in the intimate but comfortable interior of a 124 that at least at first glance seems to be anything but a Spider. There is no time to get bored today and as I enjoy the beautiful frame shared with the legendary Mazda MX-5 through the corners, the moment I sink the gas pedal, the 170 horses make you feel their presence. It is still the umpteenth demonstration that we do not have to exaggerate the size of the engine, because in reality it is enough to maintain a contained weight and the game is done. The Abarth 124 is the bad sister of the quieter Fiat, you can feel it observing its clearly marked ribs, but the GT version has something more, without losing a bit of the driving involvement that we would have expected. It knows how to transform itself, knows the best way to surprise you, yet it does not give up anything (or almost) and will torment you through sleepless nights spent planning the next day at the wheel. Now let me tell you why I took it to the infamous Lago delle Streghe (ed, Lake of the Witches).

Abrahadabra – and the canvas roof of the 124 opens. The mechanism is strictly manual and in a moment turns the little rascal into a musical instrument ready to spank the eardrums thanks to the exhaust system, a Record Monza that is never satisfied to shriek its innate rudeness, those burbles while coasting as well as those bangs the precise moment you pluck the red line and let yourself go with surgical precision with both arms and legs dialoguing like God commands. All is fine, you could say, but it’s not over here. We are talking about the 124 GT and actually to open the canvas roof you must first remove the hard top, a rigid carbon fiber roof that can easily contradicts the doubts of your girlfriend about the possibility of using the small spider 365 days a year. The hard top weighs only 16kg and not only offers better isolation from the outside, allowing you to talk quietly with the one next to you at high speeds, but also contributes to a torsional stiffening of the car itself, an aspect that is always a delicate topic on a cabriolet.

The carbon roof is a unique piece and also incorporates the rear glass, but removing it is a fast process to undergo, as long as you have a place to leave it – I mean, if you leave home with the roof mounted, forget to travel en plein air later. That said, the 124 Spider GT is a so called coupe/cabriolet, with the further possibility of using the canvas roof alone, in case it becomes necessary and you have left the rigid one at home. There is also carbon fiber on the rear spoiler and mirror caps, while as an option you can have the matte black bonnet and the optional EsseEsse automatic transmission. Fortunately we have a manual g’box with a clutch pedal and I say fortunately not to look like a driver-snob, but because despite the automatic proves to be responsive and precise, the mastery that offers you an old-school transmission is something that accentuates driving pleasure and which is a key factor for a car primarily devoted to entertainment. Yes, because it is logical that the Abarth 124 is a toy for over-grown children. How could it be otherwise with that noise that comes out of the two couples of exhaust pipes and the desire to immediately deactivate traction control and throw it into the tangled arms of some isolated road.

Under the bonnet, in this case of the same color (Grigio Alpi Orientali) of the rest of the body, beats the well-known 4-cylinder turbocharged 1.4cc with its 170 horsepower. I do not think it is necessary to tell you, but traction is only on the rear axle, which also has a self-locking differential. For putting it simply, regardless of whether you have the prestigious carbon headgear or rape the hairstyle of your girlfriend, everything that happens will take the form of an exaggerated consumption of tires and petrol. The nice thing is that you will do it with a huge smile on your face, the bad thing is that if you are aggressive with the throttle, the little Abarth drinks like an Irish alcoholic and is able to drain the tank in half a day. The 17-inch black ultralight OZ wheels read what happens on the ground and the suspension turn out to be rather stiff, but without making everyday life something unthinkable. There are still some problems related to the search for the ideal driving position, with the steering wheel still unable to be adjusted in depth, but only in height. The passenger will have to deal with the protuberance next to the central tunnel, which heats up a bit and does not offer a compartment roomy enough, unless you use the glove-box between the two seats.

With this illusionist, somehow misunderstood by those people who could never give up extra seats and an even more spacious trunk than the already good one on the 124, I continue my hysterical journey to the Lake of the Witches. After a few kilometers pinching the edges of the road, I decide also to enjoy its side of a small grand tourer, now accentuated by the excellent soundproofing towards the external environment. The window is still a bit ‘lowered and allows the exhaust to keep me company while milling kilometers as the sun slowly descend behind the hills. On board there is everything you need, navigation system, stereo, smartphone connectivity and two comfortable mixed leather seats with Bose speakers sunk in the headrests. The red stitchings and the extensive use of Alcantara (another surplus of the GT version) make the cockpit an exceptional place to spend those beautiful moments before your next refueling.

But what really matters is the ability to bite the curves using a weight of just 1 ton and a torque of 250Nm, which from 2,500 revs seems to raise the front bonnet and aim at a moon veiled by a wall of threatening clouds. Even if I had left the roof in the garage, the rain would have not been a problem, since I always have the canvas top at my disposal, an aspect you shouldn’t take for granted. Time to reach the Lake of the Witches that I realize that the Abarth 124 is not only able to transform and hide its various identities, but it is the representation of entertainment according to one of the best recipes ever, the one that provides lightness in favor of performance. In fact it takes just under seven seconds to shoot from 0 to 100 kph and touches 230 per hour, but these are actually simple numbers that only partially explain a magic formula that is able to capture your attention and ask you to find a way to justify a price that starts from just over 42 thousand Euros for this GT with manual transmission – € 2,000 more for the automatic transmission. Anyway, if I was a good sorcerer, Abrahadabra and I would keep it in my garage.