2011 Abarth 500 "Motore Centrale R230" by Anzom

Aznom’s work on the Abarth 500 isn’t so much about the added output the little Italian hatch gets – 230 ponies for good measure – but more so on how they did it. You don’t get to wake up everyday and see an engine placed inside a clear, transparent box, do you? Yeah, we didn’t think so.

Traditionally a front-engine car, the folks over at Aznom decided to turn the Abarth hatch into a mid-engine, rear-drive vehicle, one that harkens back to the days of the original 500. Even better than rearranging the car’s overall set-up was the fact that the tuning company also tuned the car’s 1.4-liter turbo four engine all the way up to 230 horsepower and 243 lb/ft of torque. Figures may not mean much in a world littered with 300+ horsepower sports cars, but for a tiny hatch that weighs less than a ton, that’s a mighty impressive number.

Throw in other goodies like a new suspension with Bilstein dampers, upgraded brakes, and a set of Kumho tires, and you’ll have a car that’s going to make heads turn for all the right reasons. Let’s just all hope that the people over at Aznom won’t charge as hefty a price tag for the privilege of owning one in the future.