If you can find them, these out-of-production Gunze Sangyo High-Tech kits can be quite nice. (They can be frustrating, too; one day I'll tell you about the Lotus Elan).
This is one of the three Fiat 500 versions made by Gunze Sangyo. The kit of the 500D reproduces a factory stock vehicle, with the aircooled 500 cc twin; this one and the 695 SS have been hotrodded by Abarth.
The Interweb is not familiar with the Assetto Corsa version; a search only brings up Gunze Sangyo or Italeri kits. And photos of the 695 engine show a different cylinder head and a large sheet metal box around the cylinder liners and head. But the kit box claims the engine is a proper 695, so we'll go with that.
Online photos of the 695 engine show the plugs located next to the intakes, and the exhaust pipes taking off either end of the head where the plugs are located in this kit. No matter, it looks cool. And the Abarth script on the oil pan is just raised enough to be able to scrape paint off the raised lettering.
The Abarth engine retains the Fiat block and head, along with the pushrod valve actuation, but with new pistons and other bits. It has also been bored and stroked, from 67.4 x 70 to 76 x 76 mm. The result is 38 hp at about 5300 RPM, compared to about 21 hp at around 4400 for the base 500.
The rest of this little bomb appears to be relatively straightforward. It will look good next to the 1000 TCR. Stay tuned!
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