The Fiat 500 Abarth - The Italian temptress that won my heart.

When the clutch died on my Honda went last week, I finally decided it was time to replace it with something a little more exciting.

Where did I head to? I went straight to an Abarth dealership in Maidstone, Kent. I had looked up their selection of Abarth 500s before I went and felt that most of their cars were very reasonably priced. It was time to finally take one for a test drive - something I've been longing to do ever since I first saw the Abarth 500 in 2008.

Of course, I lust after cars like Ferraris and Aston Martins but these are cars that I probably will never afford. However, the little Abarth, as well as the Honda S2000, is a car that has always intrigued me since its release. These are cars that, one day, I might actually be able to buy.

The Abarth 500 might not be the quickest or sportiest hot hatch, but with the combination of style and performance, there are no rivals that are quite as desirable. I loved the exterior styling of the Abarth. Fiat's in-house tuning division took the very girly Fiat 500, fitted it with big alloys, twin-exhausts, more air vents than the Nakatomi Plaza, a few spoilers and hey presto - they'd turned it into a properly sporty-looking hatchback. Inside Abarth fitted racing-style bucket seats (available in several colour and material combinations), a leather sports steering wheel and a little turbo-boost gauge, which is coupled to a perfect gear shift indicator, beside the steering wheel - a fun, if a little twee set of additions to the simple, but effective 500 interior.

Under the bonnet, they fitted a turbo to a Fiat twin-cam 1.4 engine, forcing out 135hp - plenty in a car that weighs just over a tonne. They also fitted bigger brakes and  much stiffer suspension (for which I can vouch). But, what would this all mean? Would I enjoy the Abarth as much as I enjoy looking at it?

The one I spotted and insisted on test-driving was a black Abarth 500, with red stripes and red-chequer roof. If I was going to buy any of the Abarths on offer, this was the one - chique lady's toy car meets Essex boy racer - I loved how it looked.  Inside, it was just as pleasing, with red leather seats at the front and enough gadgets to keep any technocrat entertained for weeks - Air Conditioning, Bluetooth, iPod USB connection and a voice activated entertainment system. Not to mention the "Sport" button, which increases the peak torque of the car and stiffens the steering. It remained switched on for the entire test drive.

As the engine ignited it made a lovely deep purr, the sort I would normally associate with a much larger engine. As I pulled away I immediately realised just how modern this car was - how unused it was. The clutch was weightless. The raised gearbox, set beside the steering wheel, was completely smooth and chinkless. Changing gear in this car was an effortless operation, but because of the oomph of power that came with it, it did not seem detached, as in the Vauxhall Astra I tested last summer.

That power was really something. This was the first time that I had been slightlty frightened by a car's straight-line acceleration since testing the Gallardo in June. The Abarth made a grumbly humming sound as it accelerated effortlessly - as if the car had plenty more to give. So engine and drivetrain both received a big tick.

However, the most common complaint of the Abarth 500 has been its steering and ride. I personally found that the weight to the steering, although electronically induced, gave the 500 a really edgy feel. In Sport mode, with the steering tightened right up, the car flicks from left to right with incredible agility. On a long sweeping bend, my body gave up staying in place, well before the car did - something I had only experienced in the Lambo last year.

For this reason, I can forgive the bouncy ride, which was very jiggly. My father, who came with me for the drive, nearly died of a heart-attack, coupled with a snapped spine at one point. I  had approached a train crossing at Honda Accord appropriate speed - big mistake! The car bounced over the tracks and landed on the other side, not before my father and I had used some rather exotic language, shocked at the sudden leap and thud that had occured. Apart from this incident though, the car felt very comfortable and I was much more careful on the return journey over the train tracks.

Overall, the little Abarth had stunned me. This was a car that I had lusted over because of its favourable reviews in motoring magazines and shows, but also, because of the retro-meets-modern styling. I was not expecting to be wowed by its performance, but I was. It was tight, controlled and in a straight line, behaved more like a missile than a small hatchback. Couple this to its genuinely brilliant styling touches and the amount of technology included and the Abarth was everything I could want in a car. Not to mention that it costs almost half as much to tax than my Honda did and that it can achieve around 15 more miles per gallon. Whilst the 500 might not seem that serious, in reality it really is a proper contender within its sector. That's why I took the plunge and put a deposit down on it. After two weeks driving, I'm still smiling everytime I see it as I walk out of the front door.

My new Fiat - cheekily taunting
an Aston V8  N400.