This is old-school tuning, so much of the magic occurs on the inside. It certainly sounds hotter than a regular 500.
As on the standard car, the starter and choke are operated by a pair of pull-up levers sited on the tunnel, just behind the gearlever.
Once it’s fired, you’re certainly aware of the fact because it sounds so angry.
It might pack all of 0.7 litres, but the Abarth wins on decibels.
The simple interior of the Giannini is recognisably Fiat
The controls are much as you remember from 500s past: the steering is light, reasonably direct and with no kickback.
The clutch is heavier than you might imagine, while the brakes are standard drums all round with a slightly limp middle pedal.
The driver’s seat, for its part, is more supportive than it looks, but you still feel as though you’re wearing the car, such is the proximity of the steering wheel.
The angry-sounding Abarth 695 SS (left) provides a markedly different experience to the relatively quiet Giannini 500TV
But, again, it is the fanfare out back that dominates the Abarth experience, the sound of an air-cooled two-banger spinning off its axis worth the price of admission alone.
It doesn’t feel slow, either, the gearchange with its dog-clutch engagement being easy to guide between planes.
That said, for silent changes it’s advisable to pause momentarily in neutral when moving up the ’box, and to blip on downchanges.
The dramatic, wide stance of Abarth contrasts with the tall Giannini
And then there’s the ride quality: it simply doesn’t have any. The spine-compressing set-up guarantees that.
You feel every zit in the asphalt through your contact points, which is to be expected of a car with the ground clearance of a dachshund.
The Giannini is almost limousine-like in comparison. Obviously, the 500TV is less hardcore than the 695 SS, with no suspension mods relative to the car that bore it, but you really notice – and appreciate – having pliancy.
The Abarth 695 SS is more suited to a smooth race track than broken B-roads
The Abarth is clearly a track weapon; the Giannini is anything but.
It emits noise much like any other 500, too, and doesn’t like cold starts. It sounds decidedly bronchial until warmed up, but eventually settles down to a harmonic thrum.
As with the Abarth, the close proximity of, well, everything is all too obvious, but it is a masterful bit of packaging.
Acceleration here is eager. Few things will beat it to 10mph from a standstill, and it just keeps pulling as you continue scuttling along until you arrive at a happy cruising speed.
The Giannini is pliant and playful over bumps, while the 33bhp Abarth scampers through corners
The Giannini is definitely more brisk than a regular 500D, but it is all relative. The controls are identical, as you expect, but the gearing feels much lower when compared to the Abarth.
It also has synchromesh, which suggests that a Fiat 126 ’box has been substituted at some point. There’s no need to constantly swap ratios, even if torque isn’t exactly elephantine.
The braking set-up is identical, but the middle pedal is appreciably firmer and, overall, the 500TV is infinitely more pleasant to drive.
Lighting up the Fiat 500 with extra performance also upped the fun factor, then as now
On a circuit, it would probably be a different story.
It seems almost absurd to discuss handling, but the Giannini just romps along and doesn’t appear to notice corners.
Fiat 500s can get a bit lively in the wet, but these two are never scary. It’s just all rather joyous.
The horsepower hike here merely accentuated all that was good about the original Fiat, which was rather the point of the exercise.
Images: Luc Lacey
Thanks to: Andy Heywood (McGrath Italian)
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Richard Heseltine
Richard Heseltine is a long-time contributor to Classic & Sports Car