9 years, 50k miles, and 9 track days in my Abarth 500. Former daily driver, retired track toy, and infinite smile generator

It was 2017, I was working at Chrysler, and was bored with my 2011 V6 mustang. The mustang was an amazing daily driver, but my commute went from 40 miles of highway to 10 miles of city streets. I found this nugget used at a local dealership with only 4k miles and jumped on it after a quick test drive. It had 100hp less than the mustang and "wrong wheel drive" but it was 1,000 lbs lighter and way more practical. It has been an absolute joy over the last 9 years and Tony hasn't had to fix anything, let alone twice. Front wheel drive is a ton of fun, especially on track, more people need to try it. Despite the low mileage, it was my daily driver for 5 years and it really felt like it was at home with my short commute. It's not awful on the highway, but it's clearly not designed for it, but it's one of the most practical and fun car for city driving. It was completely stock until a few years ago, I took it to my first track day, and I got the mod bug hard. I didn't go too crazy, just intake, intercooler, coils/plugs, and an atmospheric BOV for all the noises and a bit more power. After 9 track days, and getting a sub 2 min at Gingerman, I finally retired it from track duty. It now lives on as just something to drive for fun also serves as my bike hauler, Despite what people think, these things have a ton of storage, especially if you remove the rear seat-back. These aren't really worth much of anything, are cheap to maintain, and don't take up much space so I don't plan on getting rid of it until the motor pops. I've had no major issues except for the stupid gas tank vent is stuck so filling the tank is a chore. I can't exactly recommend anyone buy one unless you stumble across a clean example, but there's far worse cars to own. People seem to appreciate it the more obnoxious it becomes, I get 'cool car' and thumbs up from kids to seniors. The Elantra N has basically been a 'grown up' version of the Abarth. It's still boy racer, but seats 4 adults, 100 more horsepower, and only a few hundred pounds heavier. I'm happy I kept the Abarth, it's a lot more fun at lower speeds, easier to park and get in/out of. Pictures! Starts with the day I got it and random shots since: https://imgur.com/a/zkDbMas A few track day shots: https://imgur.com/a/iFaquMP Mods and stickers: https://imgur.com/a/voHQwcy Junk in the trunk: https://imgur.com/a/xY4WCWt shoutout to r/abarth and most Abarth communities. They're all super friendly compared to most others, we're all the same type of weirdos who bought something despite everyone saying they're nightmares. Such a supportive group of people. Mustang groups were about the most toxic I've ever seen, the Elantra is a bit between the two. submitted by /u/lostboyz [link] [comments]