Driving Seat's Ibiza Cupster concept

Read the full Seat Ibiza Cupra review

Major strengthening work was done to the chassis to compensate to the loss of structural rigidity from removing the roof. The sills were thickened and widened, strut braces were fitted front and back, the base of the A-pillars have been reinforced, and there are further reinforcements running from the top of the rear suspension to the base of the B-pillars.

Despite all this added strength, the Cupster weighs the same as an Ibiza Cupra owing to the removal of the roof.

The suspension has been lowered by around 30mm, and also made around 50 per cent stiffer. Larger brakes from the Leon Cupra have been added, covered by a new design of 18in alloy shod in low profile rubber.

The 178bhp 1.4-litre TSI engine and seven-speed DSG gearbox carry over unchanged from the Ibiza Cupra, but a beefier-sounding sports exhaust has been fitted, complete with a large central pipe fitted into the rear diffuser.

The front-end is also borrowed from the Ibiza Cupra, save for a new gloss black finish to the grille. The rear gets the aforementioned exhaust and diffuser, and the sides still feature the Ibiza’s distinctive blister lines.

The smaller windscreen may look more raked than a standard Ibiza’s, but it is in fact the same angle. The glass is darkened, the same treatment given to the side glass that runs down to the rear.

Behind the two seats inside sits a black rear cover, made from glassfibre for the prototype. The whole car is finished in a colour simply called Cupster Orange, three layers of the paint applied to result in a finish that gleams in the Barcelona sun.

That colour is also used to trim the black interior, which gets a more substantial makeover than the exterior. The two rear leather-wrapped Recaro bucket seats are mounted 70mm lower than in the Ibiza Cupra.

The rear view mirror clips into the top of the dashboard in a slot that can also be occupied by a removable sat-nav. The dials and switchgear are otherwise familiar, functions such as the air-con and radio also work properly.

Concept cars can often be rather crude and excruciating to drive, such is their nature as predominantly visual statements meaning engineering work is not necessary. But Seat has decided to do “a first phase of engineering” on the Cupster according to Lahoz to allow it to be driven.

Read the full Seat Leon Cupra review

To drive, it’s actually rather impressive for a concept car. The steering is too light and the chassis doesn’t feel stiff enough for road compliance, but a few low-speed laps (low speed as it’s a one-off, insured for 200,000 euros) of a handling circuit at Castelloli are enough to raise a smile.

The exhaust note sounds great, the 1.4 TSI’s performance isn’t compromised and the interior is quality and suitably sporty.

What’s most memorable is the proper wind-in-your-hair feeling driving it. The screen looks too low, as if you’re going to get a face full of air driving it, but it’s not the case. It’s a true speedster experience.

Will Seat build it in? Lahoz admits a concept car like this is something “Seat designers have always wanted to do”. He says it could be feasibly be put into production as it is now despite its extreme looks, and the team is keen to keep progressing with engineering work on it. 

“A little series could be possible,” he says. “Small projects like this get noticed by the management. We’re showing the car’s design and making a statement.”

But at present, a business case doesn’t exist for any kind of production run, limited or otherwise, for the Cupster. Indeed, Mesonero said an Ibiza convertible was not in the plan for either this generation of the car or the next at present.

Still, as a fun styling and engineering exercise, it’s hard not to giggle along with the Cupster. We rather like it.

Driving Seat's other historic Ibiza models

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