Abarth 595 Price Guide

The Abarth 595 name has bookended the brand’s history. In the 1960s it was Carlo Abarth’s original recipe — a Fiat 500 with its engine bored out and a free-flow exhaust bolted on. From 2012 it became the car that kept the scorpion alive for over a decade: raucous, theatrical, and objectively flawed, but delivering pure, undiluted fun that no rival could replicate.

The Classic 595 (1963–1971)

Carlo Abarth took Fiat’s smallest, cheapest car and turned it into a competition winner. The 500’s 499cc engine was bored to 594cc — hence the name — and fitted with a revised camshaft, larger valves, improved carburation, and the signature Abarth exhaust. Power ranged from 27 to 32bhp depending on specification, which sounds laughable until you consider the car weighed around 470kg. The SS (Super Sport) variant with its distinctive humpback exhaust and alloy wheels is the most desirable. The 595 was originally sold as a kit that could be fitted to any Fiat 500, so provenance verification on any car presented as a genuine period 595 is essential — sympathetic retrospective conversions and crude bodges both exist in equal measure.

The Modern 595 (2012–2024)

The 595 designation replaced the Abarth 500 name in 2012, deliberately echoing the 1960s car. All versions used the 1.4-litre T-Jet turbo in three states of tune: 145bhp in the base car (IHI turbo), 165bhp in the Turismo and Pista (Garrett turbo, revised air filter), and 180bhp in the Competizione and esseesse (Garrett turbo, higher boost, Record Monza exhaust). A 2016 facelift brought revised lights and a seven-inch touchscreen. Koni frequency-selective dampers were standard on the Competizione’s front and rear, and on the Turismo’s front only. The esseesse added an Akrapovic exhaust and a mechanical limited-slip differential via the Performance Pack. Countless special editions were produced — Trofeo, Rivale, Scorpioneoro — most differing in cosmetics rather than mechanicals.

What Goes Wrong

On the modern car, remarkably little given its character. The 1.4 T-Jet is a tough engine that responds well to regular servicing. Cambelt replacement every six years or 75,000 miles is the major scheduled expense — the water pump must be done at the same time. The 180bhp cars prefer super unleaded; they get grumpy on standard 95 RON in cold weather. The MTA automated manual gearbox is jerky and slow — always choose the five-speed manual. Clutch wear is accelerated by the car’s personality: the 595 encourages hard launches that no owner can resist indefinitely. The Competizione’s Koni dampers give a better ride over broken surfaces than the standard springs despite being ostensibly sportier. The driving position is high and van-like, with the seat sitting above the fuel tank and no height adjustment on base models. Turning circle is poor. On the classic car, rust is the overriding concern — the same structural areas as any Fiat 500 of the era — and the tuned engine requires more attentive maintenance than the standard 500 unit it was derived from.

Which One

For the modern car, the Competizione is the definitive 595: Brembo brakes, Koni dampers, Sabelt seats, Record Monza exhaust, and the 180bhp engine. The Turismo with 165bhp and leather seats is the daily-driver compromise. The esseesse with its Akrapovic exhaust and optional LSD is the collector’s pick. The base 145bhp car is adequate but misses the point — buy the loudest, maddest one you can afford. For the classic, the SS is the car that collectors chase hardest. A genuine period 595 with documented provenance connects you directly to the moment Carlo Abarth invented the modern hot hatch concept, forty years before the term existed. The 1000 TC took Abarth’s philosophy of extracting improbable performance from humble Fiats even further, using the larger 600 platform for outright competition rather than road use.