COBI Fiat Abarth 595 Set 24354

COBI's Fiat Abarth 595 is a 1:12 model built from 1,091 blocks, 24 cm long, in white with a black roof stripe and a red interior. The wheels turn and steer, the doors open, and the engine compartment is accessible. A windscreen part was designed specially for this set.

Why the engine lid is propped open

Look at photographs of Abarth 595s of the period and the rear lid is usually not shut. That is not carelessness — it is how they were driven.

The Fiat 500's twin-cylinder engine was air-cooled and sat in a sealed compartment at the back. Standard, that was adequate. Tuned to nearly half again as much power, it was not, and the car cooked itself on a long climb. So Abarth owners ran with the lid propped open on its hinge stays to let air through, and Abarth eventually supplied the stays as part of the kit. A cooling bodge became the visual signature of the model.

The car itself was the sports version of the 500, built between 1958 and 1971 by Carlo Abarth's Turin firm: a 595 cc twin, sports suspension, better brakes, and a scorpion badge — Abarth's own star sign — on the nose.

In the COBI range

Set 24353 is the same car as the Executive Edition, in yellow with a display stand, at 1,223 pieces.

Specifications

Pieces: 1,091 · Scale: 1:12
Model dimensions: 24 × 11 × 12 cm (9.4 × 4.3 × 4.7 in)