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2012 Fiat 500c drops its top in New York

Filed under: New York Auto Show, Convertible, Budget, Fiat

2012 Fiat 500c

2012 Fiat 500c – Click above for high-res image gallery

Fiat will unveil the brand’s newest take on the tiny 500 at the 2011 New York Auto Show later today. The 2012 500c delivers a unique power-operated dual-layer panoramic folding top that leaves the vehicle’s roof arches in place, and Fiat says that the design protects vehicle occupants from wind noise and buffeting unlike any other convertible on the market. The design also keeps the roof from impeding on rear passenger and cargo room, which is a nice touch on vehicle about the size of a ballet slipper.

The drophead can lose its canvas cover at speeds up to 60 miles perh our, and the roof can be partially closed to serve as a large sunroof should the driver so desire. The 500c also makes use of a slightly taller windshield compared to its hatchback brethren – a trait designed to give occupants a little more outward visibility.

Inside, the back seats can still be folded down to offer up to 23.4 cubic feet of cargo area. With the rear thrones in place, that number drops to a scant 5.4 cubes.

The 2012 500c will get its pep from a Multiair 1.4-liter four-cylinder engine when it goes on sale later this spring. Buyers can expect to play with 101 horsepower and 98 pound-feet of torque. When coupled to a five-speed manual transmission, the engine is also good for up to 38 miles per gallon, and a six-speed automatic is also available. Follow the jump for Fiat’s full press release.

Gallery: 2012 Fiat 500C

[Source: Chrysler]

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2012 Fiat 500c drops its top in New York originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 21 Apr 2011 00:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Video: Fiat 500 does 360-degree vertical loop at AutoRAI

Filed under: Coupe, Etc., Videos, Fiat

Fiat 500 vertical loop

Stunt driver Steve Truglia loops a Fiat 500 – Click above to watch the video after the break

If there’s an automotive spectacle that rivals the jump in sheer visual excitement, it’s got to be the classic vertical loop (aka loop-de-loop or loop-the-loop). There’s just something special about seeing a car go vertical, then upside-down and back all in one swift motion that makes the crowds go bonkers… and Shell (purveyors of gasoline that they are) used such a stunt to good effect at the 2011 AutoRAI show in The Netherlands.

Waiting for you past the jump are a trio of videos that include different angles (in-car and out, plus a bonus behind-the-scenes look) of a specially prepared Fiat 500 coupe tackling the famed vertical loop, which looks like a giant spoked bicycle rim more than anything else. Most of the videos are in Dutch, but the stunt driver, Steve Truglia, speaks English… so you won’t be completely lost.

Click past the break to see it all go down for yourself.

[Source: Youtube]

Continue reading Video: Fiat 500 does 360-degree vertical loop at AutoRAI

Video: Fiat 500 does 360-degree vertical loop at AutoRAI originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 15 Apr 2011 14:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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2012 Fiat 500 Cabrio released in U.S. “just in time for spring”

Filed under: Convertible, Chrysler, Fiat

2012 Fiat 500 Cabrio

2012 Fiat 500 Cabrio – Click above for high-res image gallery

Good news, lovers of open-air motoring: Fiat has just announced that its diminutive little 500 Cabrio will be hitting the U.S. market “just in time for spring” as a 2012 model. That’s a little nebulous, mind you, as the announcement doesn’t specifically say when we should expect the droptop 500c to actually hit a dealership near you.

In any case, the North American 500 Cabrio mimics its European cousin with an electrically powered fabric roof that can be opened while driving at any speed up to 60 miles per hour. Unlike most convertibles, the 500 Cabrio keeps its fully-framed side windows, as the top slides back and forth on roof rails instead of folding down into a pile at the rear of the car.

Fiat will offer the 500 Cabrio with three different soft top colors, 14 exterior colors and 12 combinations of interior colors and fabrics. Customization is a good thing, no? We’ll get our first live impressions of the 500c at the New York Auto Show next week. Hit the jump for the official press release and be sure to check out some fun-in-the-sun motoring in our high-res image gallery below.

Gallery: 2012 Fiat 500c

2012 Fiat 500c

[Source: Fiat]

Continue reading 2012 Fiat 500 Cabrio released in U.S. “just in time for spring”

2012 Fiat 500 Cabrio released in U.S. “just in time for spring” originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 14 Apr 2011 12:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Fiat to up stake in Chrysler to 30 percent

Filed under: Chrysler, Earnings/Financials, Fiat

Fiat badged Dodge Journey

Fiat currently owns 25 percent of Chrysler, but that stake will reportedly jump to 30 percent in the next couple weeks. Automotive News reports that the Italian automaker is weeks away from satisfying additional requirements needed to bump the ownership stake by another five percent.

Unnamed sources claim that Fiat has already met a requirement that states that Chrysler receives $1.5 billion of its revenue outside of North America. The next step is to offer Chrysler vehicles to 90 percent of Fiat’s Latin American dealers. Fiat will reportedly meet that goal by rebadging Chrysler vehicles as Fiats at Latin American dealerships. One vehicle that will reportedly receive the rebadge treatment is the Dodge Journey, which will be built in Mexico and renamed the Fiat Freemont. Fiat currently holds the largest share of the emerging Brazil market, with a substantial 22.3 percent share.

Fiat will receive another five percent of Chrysler by building a Fiat-based product in the U.S. that hits 40 miles per gallon or better. If Fiat wants to increase its share to an absolute majority of 51 percent, the automaker will need to fork over $1.14 billion by the end of the year. If the automaker waits until 2012, that number will jump to $1.37 billion.

[Source: Automotive News – sub. req.]

Report: Fiat to up stake in Chrysler to 30 percent originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Is there a link between Fiat and Gaddafi?

Filed under: Etc., Government/Legal, Fiat

Muammar Gaddafi of Libya

Muammar Gaddafi has been running the show in Libya for the last 42 years. During that time, he’s also been behind the investment maneuvers of the Libyan Arab Foreign Bank. In 1976, he reportedly instructed that $415 million be used to buy a stake in Fiat. Over time, that investment has turned into a 14 percent ownership stake in the Italian automaker.

Fast-forward a bit to the 1980s and Fiat was looking to do business around the globe. That included the United States, but, due to our sanctions against Libya, any attempts to work with the U.S. were quickly shot down. This led Fiat to buy out Libya’s 14 percent ownership stake, and it wound up costing them $3.1 billion to do so.

According to Fiat, the connection to Libya ended when it cut that massive check. However, according to information obtained by Wikileaks, Libya may still own a small portion of the company. That information is supplied courtesy of the U.S. State Department, which maintains that the Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company (LAFICO) owns a two percent stake in Fiat.

Head over to The Truth About Cars for a detailed breakdown of the possibly-still-existing relationship between Fiat and besieged dictator Gaddafi.

[Source: The Truth About Cars | Image: Franco Origlia/Getty]

Is there a link between Fiat and Gaddafi? originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 31 Mar 2011 15:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Fiat 500 Cabrio to drop its top in New York

Filed under: New York Auto Show, Convertible, Fiat

fiat 500c

Fiat 500C – Click above for high-res image gallery

Fiat is getting ready to bring 500 Cabrio to the States. According to fresh reports, the top will drop on the 500C at the upcoming 2011 New York Auto Show. Shortly after making its U.S. debut, the Fiat 500C will head to dealer showrooms in time for spring to actually appear (nevermind what the calendar says).

Click through the gallery below for a glimpse of what we can expect to see on stage at the 2011 NYIAS. After that, be sure to check out the Abarth version for what we hope will eventually come over.

Gallery: Fiat 500C

[Source: Kicking Tires]

Report: Fiat 500 Cabrio to drop its top in New York originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 22 Mar 2011 18:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Report: Fiat 500 Zagato Coupe go for production

Filed under: Coupe, Geneva Motor Show, Europe, Specialty, Fiat

2012 Fiat 500 Zagato

2012 Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato – Click above for high-res image gallery

Among the Fiat 500 concepts that Fiat took to Geneva, the most interesting was probably the Coupe Zagato,which got the design firm’s famous low, double-bubble roof and teardrop-shaped windows. According to Fiat brass, the 500 Coupe Zagato is go for production in Mexico and in very limited numbers in Europe.

No word yet on pricing, but it looks like the Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato will come with your choice of the standard 500’s engine options, including the brand-new 105-horsepower turbo two banger. Whether Fiat plans to bring the Zag here remains a mystery, but we aren’t getting our hopes up.

Gallery: Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato concept: Geneva 2011

Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato concept: Geneva 2011

[Source: Autoblog Spanish]

Report: Fiat 500 Zagato Coupe go for production originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 12 Mar 2011 11:04:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Geneva 2011: 1908 Fiat SB4 “Mephistoles” land speed record car baffles the mind

Filed under: Motorsports, Classics, Geneva Motor Show, Racing, Fiat

1908 Fiat SB4 Eldridge

1908 Fiat SB4 Eldridge “Mephistoles” – Click above for high-res image gallery

Way in the back of the Fiat booth at this year’s Geneva Motor Show, behind all of the shiny modern machinery with their tiny, fuel-sipping engines, sat a car that looks like one of those wood-carved models you see at every knick-knack store. Curious though it was, we knew right off the bat there is something far more significant to this car than met the eye. And indeed there is.

Nicknamed “Mephistoles” by the French public in the 1920s, this 1908 Fiat SB4 racer was, at the time, the fastest car in the world. Sir Ernest Eldridge bought it on the cheap after it crashed in a race at Brooklands in the UK, thereafter setting about turning it into a land speed record car. To get there, Sir Ernest and company replaced the engine with a 22-liter(!) inline six-cylinder aircraft engine that delivered 320 horsepower to the rear wheels via chain drive – a combination (hardly) kept in check by a single brake on the rear differential.

Mephistoles set a top speed of 143.26 miles per hour over a flying kilometer in Arpajob, France in 1924, but was later disqualified because the regulations stipulated the necessity of a reverse gear, which the Fiat lacked. Sir Ernest developed a system and came back, regulations satisfied, just days later to set a new record of 146 mph… the last such record achieved on a public road. To this day, according to the lore, nobody knows how Eldridge got the thing to go in reverse, but after over three years of restoration, Fiat is proudly exhibiting Mephistoles in Geneva, and we snapped a few photos to help you ponder the mystery and majesty for yourself.

Gallery: 1908 Fiat SB4 Eldridge “Mephistoles”: Geneva 2011

Geneva 2011: 1908 Fiat SB4 “Mephistoles” land speed record car baffles the mind originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 03 Mar 2011 19:20:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Geneva 2011: Fiat 500 by Gucci will match your fake purse

Filed under: Geneva Motor Show, Hatchback, Design/Style, Luxury, Fiat

Fiat 500 by Gucci

Fiat 500 by Gucci – Click above for high-res image gallery

A company like Fiat has proven itself eager to take on new challenges. Dominate Italian industry? Done. Undertake a partnership with the world’s largest automaker, then extract billions after pulling out? Done. Take over one of the Detroit Three and complain about the terms of a government bailout? Done. Making the 500 even more fashionable and quintessentially Italian may have seemed undoable, but as with those challenges before, it has risen to the occasion.

The latest version of its designer hatchback has been tweaked by Gucci and features all of its hallmarks, from the red and green stripes to the logos on the seats and wheel hubs. The Fiat chairman’s stylish kid brother, Lapo Elkann, saw the project through to completion, displaying it in a dedicated boutique section of the automaker’s show stand. And while it may not be as exciting as Zagato’s coupe version, for those who (like the model standing next to the car) prefer to match their car to their purse, it very well may be the best thing since artisanal sliced bread.

Gallery: Fiat 500 by Gucci: Geneva 2011

Geneva 2011: Fiat 500 by Gucci will match your fake purse originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 02 Mar 2011 18:00:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Fiat 500 by Gucci celebrates Italian style

Filed under: Geneva Motor Show, Hatchback, Design/Style, Luxury, Fiat

Fiat 500 by Gucci

Fiat 500 by Gucci – Click above for high-res image gallery

Chic, stylish and Italian, a car like the Fiat 500 is a natural fit for the Gucci set. But in case that wasn’t obvious enough, the two Italian firms have teamed up on a special line. Spearheaded by Lapo Elkann – the rakish playboy brother of Fiat chairman John Elkann and grandson of his late predecessor Gianni Agnelli – the Fiat 500 by Gucci is a joint effort between Gucci’s creative director Frida Giannini and Fiat’s Centro Stile in this, Italy’s 150th year of ndependence.

The car itself follows in the footsteps of the Diesel edition – not to mention the myriad of similar initiatives involving the Citroën DS3 and the Mini – and is available in either black or white. Gucci’s signature red and green stripe runs down the flank, with the Double-G logo on the wheel hubs and in the pattern on the leather seats.

Naturally, Gucci has also introduced a range of clothing and accessories to mark the occasion. The car and collection were launched by Milan Fashion Week and will be displayed at a dedicated stand at the Geneva Motor Show next week. Trend-setters needn’t wait to check out the details in the press release after the jump and the high-resolution images in the gallery below.

Gallery: Fiat 500 by Gucci

[Source: Fiat]

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Fiat 500 by Gucci celebrates Italian style originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 23 Feb 2011 14:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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