The Abarth 695 Club Italia Is A Special Edition Of A Car You Can’t Even Buy Anymore

Towards the end of the very long life of the Abarth 500, and later 595 and 695 versions, it felt like we were reporting on a new special edition every single week. We sort of assumed that when the flawed but loveable hot hatch was finally shuffled out of production last year, that would be the end of that, but turns out we were wrong: meet the Abarth 695 Club Italia.

It’s part of the ‘Reloaded by Creators’ programme run by the Heritage division of Fiat's parent company Stellantis. The ‘creator’ in question here is Club Italia, an organisation that’s remarkably difficult to track down info on in the English language corner of Google but basically seems to be a well-regarded classic car organisation, based in Italy and focusing on Italian cars. Obviously.

Just eight 695s, pinched from the very end of the car’s combustion-powered production run, are getting the treatment. That involves them receiving a special new two-tone livery, with a deep blue upper half and dark green lower half, split by a red pinstripe.

It’s topped off with some bronze 17-inch alloys and, on the inside, some lovely tobacco leather on the Sabelt bucket seats. Naturally, there’s a smattering of Club Italia badges inside and out, too.

As far as we know, it’s mechanically standard to a regular late-model 595 or 695, meaning 178bhp from a 1.4-litre turbocharged four-pot. The one in these pictures, at least, is a manual too. 0-62mph takes 6.7 seconds, and top speed is 140mph.

It also gets the most desirable mechanical bits available on these last-of-the-line cars: the rorty Record Monza exhaust with quad stacked pipes, active Koni dampers and beefy Brembo brakes.

Only available to Club Italia members, each of the eight instances of this car will get a special plaque in both the interior and the engine bay bearing the owner’s name. It’s the latest in a line of special editions of Italian cars offered to the club’s members, which have previously included the Lancia Delta Integrale, Fiat Barchetta, Alfa Romeo 4C and Maserati MC20.

Will this really, finally, definitely be the last of the special edition Abarth 500s? Frankly, who knows – continuing to churn them out after the car’s official death works for the Pagani Zonda, so why not here?