Are you bored of your Fiat 500? Is not enought agressive?

500 Marcia Corta is the answer for your cutie 500.

In the era we live in where the design is a important item on every car, even the smallest,  you can ensure that the level of customizing a car is such that you can significantly alter the character and the final appearance of  your vehicle.

In a jungle of body kits that range from exhaust to ugly spoilers , check out a kit with a strong  and sporty taste, capable of radically transforming the look of the most common of modern cars, Kit “500 Marcia Corta” .

Designed by CAMAL (http://www.camalstudio.com/) , design & 3D modelling study in Torino, this work aims to find consent form the enthusiasts and new investors to bring it to the road, the final price at  the  moment is unknown.

Got Enough ? no !

Let’s follow the link for more tasty shots of the body kit: www.500-marcia-corta.com

I.de.a. Institute Era for the Geneva Motor Show.

 All mouths are kept shout in Turin about what the Italian coachbuilder will be showing at the Geneva Motor Show, early next month, but it is already clear that Fioravanti, Italdesign and Zagato will be showing a world-première whereas Idea and Pininfarina will be displaying something “deja vu” but further developed. Pininfarina will take its ultimate development of the Bolloré Zero electric four door, four seater, all-round-city- sedan in new colour scheme and with a more sophisticated interior design.

On their turn, I.de.a Institute (owned by a Swiss industrial group) will be participating to the Geneva Show for the first time in many years. They will exhibit a number of project, the main one being the running prototype of their light-weight, two-seater, open-air ERA sport car, which has been rumoured to be the basis for a all-new Abarth.

Italdesign-Giugiaro is expected to surprise in one-way or the other with a stunning proposal of a high performance but green Supercar banking on the latest hybrid technology that would show Ferrari the direction for the sport car of the future. It is certainly non a Ferrari but according to early rumours it might bear the badge of a carmaker that operates in the vicinity. Other sources report of a retrodesign inspired to cars designed in the mid-sixties. Although rather unexpected the move would be rather intriguing and would certainly produce a lot of discussions if not controversy.

Fioravanti is reportedly committed to make a strong statement of what Italian car design stands for, with a new design that bank on extreme and sophisticated simplicity.

Zagato will celebrate their 90th anniversary this year and they want to do it in grand style, also to reassure that – with their new Indian partner – they are committed to keep the tradition of typically Italian high performance GT. In Geneva they will be showing a powerful two-seater-coupé of impression dimensions and with a very generous powerplant. According to my sources it is a big V8 and from a brand the company has never worked on. If I match the news that several offers have been presented to Chrysler for their Viper project, we might well see a all-newViper in “Zagato Style”. Let me stress this is only my assumption, nothing more.

Wondering about Bertone? Come back tomorrow at this time and I shall be able to update you.

Ciao.

Never before I have seen so many dream and concept cars in the same place ad the same time. This unique opportunity is offered by Torino 2008 World Design Capital and you must visit it before it closes on November 23.

For all details and a comprehensive introduction, go to http://www.torinoworlddesigncapital.it/portale/en/content_1.php?sezioneID=291&testoCompleto=1

Beware and please do not shoot the messenger: strangely enough, the exhibition closes at 6.20 p.m.

You also should not miss to get a copy of the Exhibition Catalogue currently on sale only in Italian but soon to be available also in English.

In fact, one of the many oddities of this exhibition is that the Catalogue does not exactly reflect the exhibition but also has a little bit more here and a little bit less there.

Take your time and take your camera with you. There is a lot to see, to study and to register. Through the day, the lighting of the wonderful hall designed and engineered by the famous Italian architect Luigi Nervi, which used to host the Turin Motor Show, is excellent. There is a lot of space, air and light so that one can fully enjoy seeing more than 50 prototypes created by the Turin carmakers, coachbuilders and enthusiasts.

Unfortunately the exhibition is not complete, with some works remarkable for their past and current trends, such as the Spada Coda Tronca or the first “fuoriserie” of the latest decade not present and often not even mentioned. We are3 talking here oif the “dreams for the road” presented by Stola and Studiotorino, which have anticipated the new vague of “fuoriserie”. Typical dream cars actually designed and built for the road, such as the Pininfarina Ferrari P4/5 and Hyperion. Not to mention many Zagatos of yesterday and today.

In this respect, the exhibition reflects the traditional culture of the Turinese coachbuilders.

As of today, we offer you a glance at the exhibits. Later on, we shall come back with additional information, naming of cars on show and update,

Click on this image for our exclusive photo gallery.

By Giancarlo Perini © – Photo Source: Archivio Perini©

In a couple of days I shall be test driving the new Fiat 500 Abarth, a dream cars for many young enthusiasts, those who are in their twenties today, or have kept being twenty -years-old for the past forty years.

The new Fiat 5OO Abarth promises a lot of fun. Its turbocharged Fire engine in the 1.4 litre 16 valves configuration has been tuned to deliver 99kW of power (135 bph) and as much as 206 Nm of torque at 3000 rpm. This is far from being the upper limit of the engine potential. The engine is rather tamed to create a nice and safe overall balance between the chassis and tyres capability and any driver who may sits at the sexy steering wheel. There is substance under the skin but there is more for the eye and the hearth. The wheel rims come both in 16 or 17 inches sizes, and in different styles: from multi spokes rims to rims bordered by holes (the reference to the forged wheel motifs of the 1970s is clear).

The out-and-out racing interiors on the ‘500 Abarth’ feature specific instruments and an analogue pressure gauge used to measure the turbo pressure. The main gauge, with sporting graphics, is lipped on top to offer further protection against glare while the three-spoke steering wheel incorporates moulded grips for the thumbs and is levelled off at the base to ensure increased passenger room and space for adjustment. The aluminium pedals with rubber inserts also reveal a clear racing vocation, as does the gear knob (leather trimmed with a more ergonomic grip for sporty use) and unified seats with the head restraints incorporated in the backrest. Lastly, the roof trim and side inserts are black to give the passenger compartment a hi-tech, sporty look. No doubt this unique combination of neo-classic and very nostalgic design plus a number of Abarth icons and the sporting declination of component and graphic will appeal many enthusiasts. The more today, when gasoline prices call for reduced fuel consumption. The Fiat 500 Abarth is there to deliver the agility, zipping power and fun of a miniature supercar, at the cost of a compact hatchback.

Click on the image to see the complete Photo Gallery.

Engine

• 4 cylinders in line, 4 valves per cylinder, 1368 cc.

• Power output: 200 bhp (147 KW) at 6500 rpm.

• Peak torque 300 Nm at 3000 rpm.

• Garrett GT 1446 fixed geometry turbocharger.

• Special reinforced water and air sleeves.

Transmission

• M32 6-speed gearbox

Suspension

• McPherson layout at front, special racing shock absorbers,

coaxial spring with nut for adjusting height of car.

• Rear : inter-connected arms, special racing shock absorbers,

springs with nut for adjusting height of car.

Steering

• Electric power steering with racing tuning.

Brakes

• Brembo radial front calliper with four pistons M4X40.

• Perforated, self-ventilating front brake disc, ø 305 mm x 28 mm.

• Rear calliper with ø 36 mm piston.

• Rear brake disc, ø 264 mm x 11 mm.

• High-performance Racing brake pads.

Body

• Rear spoiler and front bumper splitter.

Chassis

• Reinforced cage structure, welded to the bodyshell.

• Lightened interiors, Sabelt Racing safety setup.

• Optimised driving position, shifted towards the centre of the car.

Wheels

• Painted, forged aluminium wheels, 7” x 17”.

• Tyres:205/50 ZR17.t

Weight

• 930 Kg.

see my first report

Complete Photo Gallery

By Giancarlo Perini © Photo: Archivio Perini©.

As the new Fiat 500 Abarth is getting ready for the first test-drives on the Balocco test-track, by a selected number of motoring writers, ABARTH is ready to start a limited production run of a racing development that will revive the epic times, when our fathers were furiously racing a smallish metal box with a small two-cylinder 595 cc. engine in the back. Almost five decades later the concept is basically the same but the outcome and the car is radically different. It is called Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corse (Italian for racing tuned).

So far Abarth has released only virtual images of the car but we are happy to delight you with pictures of the real thing. The number 49 on the first unit exhibited within the enclosed circle of the latest 1000 Miglia says that only 49 units will be built and they all will be legal only on tracks. I assume, though, that some tuners will soon find the way of converting some of them for the road.
The “Assetto Corse” added to the Fiat 500 Abarth says it all. Indeed it is obvious that the turbocharged engine of the street-legal 500 Abarth can deliver a lot more. The question is to design and develop a chassis, brakes and tires that can stand as much as 147 kW (just 200 bhp) and some 300 Nm of torque.

This is what the “Assetto Corse” comes with. First you have to deliver all the storming potential to the front wheels. Than the wheels and steering ability must meet with that potential and the chassis must ensure that the car stick to roads with the proper suspensions, aerodynamics and tyres.

In short the car must get the treatment of a very serious racing car, and this is exactly what Abarth specialist have done.Waiting for the first races (and perhaps a test-drive) to entertain all of us, let’s have a look to what the Fat 500 Abarth “Assetto Corse” look alike.
Technical Specifications.

Click on the image to see the complete Photo Gallery.