Volkswagen Group's Spanish division, SEAT, chose the Barcelona International Auto Show to debut the road-ready version of its sporty Ibiza Bocanegra that was first shown as a concept at the 2007 Geneva Motor Show a little over 12 months ago. In essence, the Bocanegra is a more dramatic-looking version of the Ibiza Cupra and it will be offered with a 1.4-liter twin-charged TSI engine in 150HP and 180HP guises, as found in the Ibiza FR and Ibiza Cupra respectively.
The new sporty variant of the Ibiza pays homage to the Spaniards' original Bocanegra, the 1200 Sport, which debuted in its home country back in 1975. Just like the Geneva Show concept, the production model boasts several unique black styling elements at its nose – hence the Bocanegra name which translates as 'black mouth' in Spanish.
Other styling tweaks on the exterior include a broader grille, a new treatment for the fog light surroundings, black door mirror housings, a dark tinted sunroof and newly designed 17-inch alloy wheels. At the back, the Bocanegra features honeycomb mesh on the side grids, a roof spoiler and a tinted rear window plus a prominent "Bocanegra" badge centred on the rear hatch.
The hot hatch's interior has also been upgraded with sport seats upholstered in a special fabric made up of rhomboids stitched together in red, a three-spoke flatt-bottomed steering wheel, gloss black trim, aluminum-clad pedals and a Bocanegra logo on the instrument panel.
The Ibiza Bocanegra in both 150HP and 180HP versions will hit European showrooms this summer.
