Fiat Stilo Abarth | Spotted

The joy of a Fiat hot hatch is that you never quite know what you’re going to get. The Strada Abarth persisted with carbs back in the day when GTIs were all the rage, then the Tipo Sedicivalvole went completely the other way with 2.0-litres, fuel injection and 16 valves. A Punto HGT was fairly tame; a GT Turbo was certainly not. A Panda 100HP was cheap, simple, back-to-basics hot hatch goodness; it didn’t take long for the Abarth 500 to become an expensive turbo trinket. 

They’re always memorable, at least. Even the latest batch of Abarth EVs, if not the best small electric cars in the world, are certainly performance cars with a personality. For this fast Fiat, the entire appeal was under the bonnet as, post-Coupe and pre-500, Fiat sort of forgot how to design cars with any stylistic appeal. The Multipla got its boring facelift, the Idea was a bad one, the Punto had a bland update and the less said about the Ulysse, the better. The first Panda was about as good as mid-’00s Fiat got. 

The Stilo was especially dull, if slightly improved as a three-door; at least then it resembled a traditional hatch rather than a balloon on wheels. Its point of difference was undoubtedly provided by a 2.4-litre, five-cylinder engine under the bonnet. Before the Focus ST took the Volvo five, Fiat pioneered the idea of a hot hatch with more than 2.0 litres and four cylinders. We say ‘hot’ – without a turbocharger or any kind of special features for the engine at all, the five-pot lump could only muster 170hp. Even in the early ’00s, that wasn’t especially competitive, and efficiency wasn’t much to write home about either, the official scores no better than 30mpg and 231g/km. So that VED won’t be cheap. 

Precious few 2.4-litre Stilos sold in period. It wasn’t that fast, it wasn’t that great to drive and it didn’t look all that sexy. Shocker. Plus it was saddled with a Selespeed gearbox for the first three years of its life. We’d draw the line at sharing one of those with you, honest. This is a 2004 manual Stilo 2.4, showing just 73,000 miles and cared for by just three owners in its 21 years. 

As these things go, it looks bloody great, still no stunner but a nice reminder of when hatchbacks could just be hatchbacks, when new cars could have a glasshouse, and when wheels didn’t have to be a minimum of 20-inch diameter. Apparently it’s been garaged for a good chunk of its life, so the paint looks really good and there’s no mention of rust in the MOTs. The interior is still pretty staid, if at least still all there. While there aren’t any underbonnet images, it would be amazing to find any different there. 

It must be one of the best surviving Stilos, and there really aren’t many to speak of now. It deserves saving, for the TLC that’s been lavished on it as well as the curiosity value. Howmanyleft suggests that the number of 2.4s remaining on the road is less than 20 per cent of the 2016 figure; it’s less than 10 per cent of the number taxed in 2012. Five-cylinder manual cars of any stripe deserve a better fate than extinction, and this one doesn’t look far off show winner for those interested. It’s not going to be competing against many other Stilos, at least…

Engine: 2,446cc, five-cylinder
Transmission: 5-speed manual, front-wheel drive
Power (hp): 170@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 163@3,500rpm
MPG: 29.1
CO2: 231g/km
Recorded mileage: 72,817
First registered: 2004
Price new: £14,245
Yours for: £9,975