A popular motoring personality has shared the ideal used car for motorists who want to look rich on a budget and have fun in the process.
Jonny Brighton runs the YouTube channel Cars With JB and regularly posts videos in which he reviews a wide range of pre-owned performance and luxury cars to help viewers find the perfect model for them.
In a recent video, Jonny gets behind the wheel of a used Abarth 595 Competizione, highlighting that it was the model Ferrari would give to customers as a courtesy car.
He explained: “There’s a reason why the Abarth was selected as the car that Ferrari drivers would have as their service car when their own car was being serviced.
“If I cared about something that looked good, sounded good, was fully focused on spec, was usable from day to day in a city, if it needed to do all of those things then 100 percent I’d be getting this car every single time.”
Introduced in 2012 and still in production to this day, the Abarth 595 is essentially the sporty version of the iconic Fiat 500 city car, featuring more aggressive styling and a more powerful version of the 1.4 Fire TurboJet enigne.
Featuring both a turbocharger and intercooler, the Abarth 595 Competizione produces 178bhp, allowing the little Italian city car to accelerate from 0-62mph in 6.7 seconds and reach a top speed of 140mph.
Used car buyers can get behind the wheel of an Abarth 595 from around £6,000, with an £8,000 budget being enough for a well-kept, low-mileage example.
Despite noting that the Abarth 595 does not have the same level of interior space as most other hot hatchbacks, particularly for rear occupants, Jonny was still impressed at the overall design and build quality.
He continued: “Me, I prefer the interior on this to the [Mercedes-Benz] A45 AMG. That car is supposed to have the coolest hot hatchback interior on the market, but I found it underwhelming in terms of looks and materials used – this Abarth blows it out of the water completely.
“I really love the looks, I really love the interior, I really love the quality of the build – there are so many things about this car that I really love.”
Getting behind the wheel, Jonny suggested that the steering was not the most precise, however the Abarth still offers a particularly enjoyable driving experience.
He added: “It’s not crazy fast, I’ll be honest. I don’t know what the right word for it is, but it’s a very peppy car – it’s excited that it wants to go somewhere. There’s a little bit of understeer, but it is wet.
“I like how taught the car feels through the corners, though. It feels very agile, but the tram lining isn’t the best. I like the sound from inside the interior, though. It’s pretty normal outside, but it sounds really good inside – I’m getting a great noise from the car.”