Fiat 500 racer takes on the Mini Challenge

Fiat 500 racer – the evil brother of 2008’s must-have supermini

The sensational Fiat 500 racer - the evil brother of 2008’s must-have supermini - has been given the green light.

Official details have just emerged on Fiat’s Italian website of the winged monster Fiat 500 which looks ready to give the Mini Challenge racing car a run for its money.

View more pictures of the Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corse

The company will produce of the Fiat 500 racers, which will be fully tuned for the track with more than 190bhp being spat out of a turbocharged 1.4-litre engine.

it's power and super-sticky tyres should let the racer accelerate from 0-60mph in around six seconds and on to a top speed in excess of 140mph.

Handling is optimised with racing suspension and a stripped out interior which removes180kg from the car – the equivalent of two adults and a child.

However, you won’t be seeing this Fiat 500 on the roads – it’s a track only car.

The full name of the racey Italian is quite a mouthful – the Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corse – and it’s being prepared to take the legendary Abarth name (Fiat’s tuning arm) back to the performance podium.

The original Abarth 500 took great victories in the early 1960’s competing against cars with twice its power and it became known as ‘small but deadly’.

Fans of the Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corse racing car can get there hands on a Fiat 500 Abarth road car with 135bhp.

It will offer most of the looks and thrills of the racer but will be more refined for everyday use.

There are also rumours a Fiat 500 Super Sport will be made available with 185bhp as a separate model and as a tuning pack upgrade – making it almost as quick as the Abarth Assetto Corse.

What do you think of the Fiat 500? Have your say on the Auto Trader blog.