Scoop! A new 'Ferrari' for $80,000

Exclusive: Limited edition model is coming to Australia
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Geneva International Motor Show

The famous Ferrari badge will soon be within the financial reach of more Australians than ever before.

And with a pricetag of just $80,000 it is a fraction of the cost of the cheapest Ferrari in the current line-up, the $460,000 California convertible.

But there is a slight catch: it's not quite the Ferrari you might have imagined. Rather, it is the Ferrari of small cars – a Fiat 500 with extra performance and seven Ferrari badges.

The distributor of Ferrari cars in Australia, Neville Crichton, told the Carsales Network in Geneva overnight that the Fiat 500 Abarth "Tribute Ferrari" edition will be sold locally by the middle of this year.

"We've secured an exclusive allocation and we'll have them within a few months," Crichton said. "And they'll all be red."

Just 25 of the 695 special edition models made globally will be coming Down Under and they will be individually numbered for Australia.

The Fiat 500 Tributo Ferrari edition is more than twice of the price of the Fiat 500 Abarth Esseesse hot hatch released next week.

Despite the cost, the Ferrari of small cars is almost sold out. The first allocation of Essesse editions has been allocated and the distributor already has names against most of the Tributo Ferrari models.

"There's a few Fiat collectors, Ferrari collectors and Ferrari owners among the mix," Crichton said.

Ferrari F1 drivers Fernando Alonso and Felippe Massa also have one each.

The Tribute edition was worked on by Fiat and Ferrari engineers, the company said, including a special bi-modal exhaust to give it a cracking sound.

It is powered by a turbocharged 1.4-litre four-cylinder engine and comes with an automated twin-clutch transmission.

The engine has in excess of 135kW and 250Nm (up from 117kW and 230Nm of the Essesse) – enough grunt for a 0 to 100km/h time in the low seven-second bracket.

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