Lamborghini Huracan vs Abarth 124

What's the difference?

Lamborghini is a brand built on madness, excess and eye-searing design. Its cars don’t have to make sense, and indeed its owners probably prefer it if they don’t - they have other vehicles to use for the real world.

So, the existence of the new Lamborghini Huracan Sterrato, the world’s first 'All-terrain Supercar', a V10-engined mad machine built to drive sideways at high speed on dirt, should not come as a surprise.

And yet it really does, because there’s never been anything like it before (yes, Porsche has built the 911 Dakar, but it’s more of a sand-dune-climbing, desert-crossing motorsport tribute), for the very good reason that no one ever considered it would be a good idea. 

It also sounds just a touch intimidating, the kind of driving experience that would require pro rally driver skills to survive, so it was with some trepidation that we headed to Palm Springs, USA, to test out the new Huracan Sterrato.

When you take on a classic you’d better get it right.

Which is why, back in 2016, when Fiat released a new 124, many an eyebrow was arched.

The original was an icon from the late 1960s, the golden age of roadsters. Styled by Pininfarina, it also oozed Italian swagger and, to top it off, its double overhead cam engine (modern at the time) helped introduce a swathe of innovations to the Italian automotive scene.

Even 50 years later, those old boots were looking awfully hard to fill, and the complexity and demands of today’s economy had Fiat working with Mazda to use its MX-5 chassis and Hiroshima manufacturing facilities to get it right.

A travesty? To some, maybe. But the MX-5 once aimed to emulate cars from the original 124’s golden era, and was a runaway success since, arguably making few missteps.

Thus, the apprentice has become the master. So, does today’s 124, which we only get in angry Abarth spec in Australia, bring something different to the ultra-refined roadster formula in 2019? Is it more than just a badge-engineered MX-5?

I took an Abarth 124 – the latest Monza limited edition – for a week to find out.