Giannini Spettacolo: Meet The €133,000 Hot Hatch With Racing Heritage

The end of manufacturing is drawing near for the Abarth 595/695, which is based on the Fiat 500. On the other hand, a startup in Italy aims to revitalize the hot hatch with its latest idea. Here we have the Giannini Spettacolo, a limited edition model with ostentatious technical and aesthetic upgrades.

It fetches an astonishing €133,000 ($144,360), so you shouldn't be surprised. From 1917 until the mid-1980s, the Italian tuner Giannini Automobili made a name for itself by customizing and racing Fiats.

Impero of Rome and Groupo Maestri of Turin have teamed up to bring the brand back into the market. Thanks to its custom body panels, the Spettacolo takes on a more forceful posture visually. The updated front end has a different grille, bigger air intakes, and a noticeable splitter. The integrated headlamp covers and F1-inspired vents give the aluminum hood a unique look.

A pair of 18-inch-diameter carbon fiber wheel covers, larger fenders, and expanded side skirts complete the profile's reinforcements. Also, unlike your average Fiat 500, these doors open upwards. Rear design elements include side intakes evocative of the Renault 5 Turbo, a large spoiler, and a modified bumper that conceals two exhaust pipes set above the diffuser.

Anyone interested in purchasing a Giannini Spettacolo may use the website's configurator to personalize the vehicle's appearance. You can customize the hot hatch with a variety of colors and a wide assortment of stickers to give it a racing look. Two ultralight carbon monocoque seats have replaced the rear seat bench. The entire process of creating the Giannini Spettacolo took a total of one hundred fifty days. Paolo Mancini, a co-founder of FV Frangivento Automobili, bears the responsibility.

This month, an exclusive Rome event showcased the first prototype, which is based on a 2012 Abarth 595. Resting under the hood is the well-known turbocharged 1.4-liter T-Jet four-cylinder engine, fine-tuned to provide 247 horsepower and 360 Newton-meters of torque. These figures, including the forthcoming all-electric Abarth 600e and all road-going variants of the 595/695 series, exceed any production offering by Abarth.

While a genuine manual gearbox is an option, an automatic one transmits power to the front wheels. Reducing the vehicle's weight to 985 kg (2,172 pounds) further improves the power-to-weight ratio. This results in a peak speed of 174 mph and a 0-62 mph. Giannini Automobili is currently placing orders for 200 Spettacolo vehicles. Due to hand-building, each device has a five-month waiting time.