We weren’t expecting to see an Abarth version of the new Fiat 124 Spider so soon, but the company went ahead and unveiled this model along with a Rally version of it at the 2016 Geneva Motor Show. You can think of Fiat 124 Spider Abarth as a 170 horsepower Mazda MX-5 that looks a lot better.

Fiat 124 Spider Abarth has a pretty much perfect recipe for a sports roadster. The car weighs only 1,060 kilograms and has a four-cylinder 1.4-litre MultiAir Turbo engine with 170 horsepower and 250 Nm of torque, resulting in a weight-to-power ratio of 6.2 kg/HP. What’s more, the car can be had with a six-speed manual or the automatic Sequenziale Sportivo gearbox, and you get the Record Monza exhaust as standard. It’s just too good.

Just about the only niggle that might stop some people from buying Fiat 124 Spider Abarth is the way it looks. It’s not bad looking, but it’s peculiar, what with that retro-inspired face that is now made weirder by the carbon fiber bonnet and the red accenting which make the thing look like Joker from that Batman movie. But res assured the driving characteristics of the Abarth 124 Roadster are good enough to make up for the looks.

While we’re discussing negatives, we should also point out the car has a starting price of around 40,000 Euros which is really high for a compact roadster. Come to think of it, you might be better off getting the regular 124 and have it tuned.