Stellantis owns the racing brand Abarth. It makes limited-edition copies of Stellantis’ current products, like the Abarth 500e, that are faster and more powerful. The company’s latest project is the Abarth Classiche 1300 OT, an updated and restyled Alfa Romeo 4C. It brings back a racing car that was forgotten for a long time and makes it look worse. I’m one of the few people who actually like the Alfa Romeo 4C. Yes, it was a huge failure that could have lived up to the high hopes that people had for it. In the US, however, you could buy an Italian mid-engine supercar with an exotic look and a carbon fiber frame and body for the same price as a base-model Porsche Cayman. Although it had many problems, such as a rough ride, an unstable dual-clutch transmission, and a cabin that felt like an econobox, I’m just glad it existed. But the Abarth 1300 OT, which has a body that doesn’t look as good and none of the original car’s charm, tries to bring the long-dead 4C back to life. In honor of the Scorpion brand’s 75th anniversary, this new limited-edition Abarth 1300 OT is based on the famous 1965 Fiat-Abarth OT 1300. This new one, on the other hand, looks a lot like a huge 4C thanks to its cheap body makeover and homemade paint. It has a funny “periscope” air intake on the roof that looks like the original 1965 OT 1300s, and it has showy “ABARTH” branding on the back, among other things that make it stand out. No other car has two headlights that look like bug eyes. Thankfully, its body is still made of carbon fiber, which makes it very light. Abarth had already brought back the 4C, and in 2021, it launched the 1000 SP convertible, which looked better than the 1300 OT. It still had the crazy headlights, but it got cool vents in the back haunches, a beautiful set of vents on the hood, and the word “ABARTH” was taken off the back. It was also very different when the roof was off. The new 1300 OT will likely have the same 1.7-liter turbocharged four-cylinder engine and dual-clutch transmission as the Alfa Romeo 4C, but Abarth hasn’t said anything about the technical details. Abarth still needs to get a full-size production model; they only have a 1:3 scale model and a few drawings. Stellantis is already taking orders, but only five will be made when the real work starts. Even though the price isn’t clear, it will be a lot more expensive than a used Alfa Romeo 4C, and it looks awful because they are making so few of them. It should work and handle much better, which would make it worth it.
