Here at Jalopnik, we looove the Fiat 124 Spider Abarth. We love the way it looks, how it drives and its brashness: A hot little Italian roadster with a manual and rear-drive. It’s a breath of fresh air to those of us being suffocated by mundane SUVs. And now it’s got the vocal chords to boot.
The 124 Spider models get a few new options for 2019; namely a new Record Monza Exhaust for the 124 Abarth for an extra $995. And for $495 more, you can get the Veleno Appearance Group (“veleno” means “poison” in English), which includes red mirror caps, a red front lip, a red tow hook, Abarth floor mats and a “bright foot rest.” Package pictured above. It looks sweet.
The non-Abarth 124s will also get a center stripe option for $295. They’re called either the “Double Rally Stripe” or “Retro Stripe.”
When we last had the 124 Abarth, we noticed that it weirdly didn’t sound as loud as its 500 Abarth cousin. In fact, back in 2016, Jalopnik darling Mike Ballaban wrote about that very detail:
Fiat had two versions of the Abarth on a little autocross circuit at the press launch for the Spider this week, one with the standard Abarth exhaust (the white car you see) and one with an additional Mopar-tuned exhaust kit and blow-off valve (the red car, and the price on the Mopar pieces is still being determined). Both sound raspy and perfect, but the Mopar version sounds like it’s inhabited by some minor fire-breathing demon.
When I asked some Fiat execs why the Mopar version isn’t just standard equipment, they made some noises about regulatory annoyances that may or may not be surmounted in subsequent model years, but for the time being just sit back and enjoy.
And now it does! Here, listen:
Blaaaaaahhhh alkasjdoiwrhoaihkjbkjsbekb. Rasps! Growls! Snarls! All of the good sounds!
Prices don’t seem to have gone up much, if at all. The Classica starts at $24,995, the Lusso at $27,795 and the Abarth at $30,000. Looking for a snappy little roadster? This is the one you want.