We had enjoyed good weather for much of the week leading up to the Fiat Chrysler Alfa driving event in Cardiff in late January but it was all about to change. A selection of 13 cars, Jeep, Fiat and Alfa, were lined up in front of the St. David’s Hotel, Cardiff, ready to be put through their paces. Because of weather conditions and early fading light, we only got a couple of … [Read more...]
Fiat 124 Sport Spider
The Fiat 124 Sport Spider was an attractive front-engine, rear drive 2+2 convertible sports car, manufactured by FIAT between 1966-1982 and by Pininfarina between 1983-1985. The Fiat 124 Sport Spider was designed initially by Pininfarina’s Tom Tjaarda, and debuted at the Turin Auto Show in November 1966. The 124 Sport Spider replaced the 1500S Cabriolet which had proved a … [Read more...]
Fiat 500
Remembered with fondness by those who were there when it was launched in 1957, the original Fiat 500 is today adored by most who see her. The little rear-engined two-door car could accommodate four people and is widely regarded as the first proper city car and was initially powered by a 479cc two-cylinder air-cooled engine. Launched as the Nuova 500, no less than … [Read more...]
The European motor museum tour continues…
Having already journeyed through 1,380km of their European motor museum tour, the three Dutch friends – Dik Boosman, Jan Mol and Pim van der Veer – were now on the fourth day of the tour. And the challenge for the day... To visit three museums in 24 hours. Admittedly there were only 160km of driving involved, but it was an exciting challenge nonetheless. Collezione Mario … [Read more...]
Pocket Rockets of Yesteryear
After Word War II smaller passenger cars of unitary construction became increasingly popular, and in the 1950s it was common place to find highly tuned but conventional family cars racing in competition. This had an extraordinarily positive effect on sales as the car-buying public could identify with the cars seen on the track and it was possible to go out and buy street … [Read more...]