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Title: Abarth Dealership UK Post by: Gremlino on August 02, 2008, 07:42:11 PM I popped in to my local Abarth dealers on Thursday to see how things were going.
They were just putting the finishing touches to the showroom and only had 1 Grande Punto Abarth on show, very nice. I parked Voli outside the workshop while I went in and nosed, when I came back out there were Mechs, Techs and Floor Managers surrounding her. ;D I said "So lads whats it like to see a real Abarth?".......you know what.....they actually knew what a Volumetrico was and I got bombarded with the full 20 questions? ;D I opened the bonnet and there they were taking pics and asking yet more questions....it was not what I had expected and they were genuinely interested. So there you go......the new boys are up for a bit of heritage and not just focused on the modern stuff. I asked plenty of questions about the G/P/A , they answered them all and the most surprising was the price........?13,750 o.t.r...... ???.......thats so inexpensive for that level of car....... ?3,000 for the Esse-Esse 180 BHP kit.........are they nuts, I was expecting something like ?16k for the base model alone. It was an educational visit for all and I'll be going back on launch night in a couple of weeks. The dealer is Lipscomb Maidstone and info will be available soon on www.lipscomb.co.uk (http://www.lipscomb.co.uk) I took some pics myself......? ? Title: Re: Abarth Dealership UK Post by: Gremlino on August 02, 2008, 07:44:29 PM .......
Title: Re: Abarth Dealership UK Post by: Gremlino on August 02, 2008, 07:47:27 PM The delivery note has some interesting info.......
Title: Re: Abarth Dealership UK Post by: kev131 on August 02, 2008, 07:59:23 PM Nice posting Graham - Amazing that the new guys were so interested ..as you say! Nice pics of the 131 by the way! ;)
On the new range I really like the idea of all of the Fiat branding being removed & being replaced with Abarth badging only. It somehow increases the desirability of the range. Oh how fantastic it would be to see an "Abarthised" mid range modern equivalent of the 131!? :-* :-* :-* Title: Re: Abarth Dealership UK Post by: Gremlino on August 02, 2008, 08:12:02 PM Thanks Kev,
Yeah the you get the impression that they are serious about the new models being separate from the mainstream production. I had a quick look under the bonnet and the badges are on the cover and all visible labels. They said there will be Abarth oil for sale again just like the old VS Corse 8) Abarth are planning a mid engined sports car, it has been shown in the press as an Elise with Abarth badges. As far as I know Abarth purchased a number of Elise tubs to study the construction......the final production model will not be of Lotus origin. It would be great if they developed a RWD saloon again.......heres to wishful thinking ;) Title: Re: Abarth Dealership UK Post by: Gremlino on August 02, 2008, 08:15:27 PM I'll post some pics of the launch as & when it takes place........I hope I can get Voli in there somewhere :D
Title: Re: Abarth Dealership UK Post by: simon131 on August 03, 2008, 11:00:54 AM Hi Graham,
Perhaps you could put it to them that you could get a few old Abarth's along for their opening night - to help with promoting their business. We could also promote the site at the same time too ;D Maidstone isn't so far from me, so perhaps I could bring along my Stradale to swell the numbers? Just a thought. Simon Title: Re: Abarth Dealership UK Post by: Gremlino on August 04, 2008, 07:57:57 PM I'm going back there this week so will see how far I get with getting the old school cars in for launch night......They are also a Lotus dealer and when that showroom had its open night 18months ago they had a Camel F1, a Europa and an Elan there.
It would make sense for them to have some of the old Abarths for the new launch. 8) |