2013 Fiat 500 Abarth on 2040-cars

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Chrysler's Woodward Dream Cruise festivities include Ram concept truck debut

The streets will be crowded next weekend along Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak, Michigan for the 19th Annual Woodward Dream Cruise. As part of the run-up to the festivities, Chrysler has announced that all of its brands - Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, Fiat, SRT and Mopar - will bring along their latest vehicles. Also included will be a collection of classic American cars and various activities for attendees at the official Chrysler location on the corner of Woodward and 13 Mile Road.
Special to this year, Ram brand director Bob Hegbloom and head of design John Dehner will unveil a Ram concept truck on Saturday. Chrysler will also bring Ryan Friedlinghaus of West Coast Customs fame along to show off a few custom Chrysler-made vehicles of his own. Fans of the brand on Facebook will get the chance to virtually customize a vehicle from the automaker's portfolio, with the winner getting their dream car built for them by Chrysler. Pretty cool stuff, no?
As in past years, Ford and General Motors will have an official presence at the event as well, and you can expect to see plenty of cars of all makes and models from all parts of the globe. The madness starts this Friday, August 16, from 4:30 PM to 10 PM, with the main event taking place on Saturday, from 9 AM to 9 PM. For more details on the show, including events and their times, check out the press release below.

Abarth considering performance versions of Fiat 500L, Panda

As far as product portfolios go, Abarth is about as small as they come. The performance arm of Fiat, Abarth bases its entire line on two models: the 500 and the Punto. And even within that, only the 500 is offered Stateside. But that could change.
Speaking with MSN Cars UK, Abarth boss Marco Magnanini indicates that the Scorpion marque is preparing to expand beyond its current two-car lineup. That could include the Panda (at right), a model we don't get here, and the 500L shown above, which we do. Unlike the 500C (which is essentially a 500 hatchback with a cloth roof panel), the 500L is an entirely different model on a different platform.
If Abarth applies its go-fast treatment to the 500L, Fiat could have a challenger to the Mini Countryman Cooper S and JCW on its hands. The last time Fiat offered an enthusiast-focused Panda, meanwhile, was with the Panda 100HP, widely rated as a blast to drive far beyond its humble output.

Fiat Chrysler Automobiles: The next five years

Unless you've been living under a rock for the past 24 hours, you've no doubt read about all of the big future product news coming out of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles today. We had individual brand reports from Chrysler, Dodge, Jeep, Ram, Alfa Romeo, Fiat, Maserati and even Ferrari, but in the interest of simplifying and summarizing, we're going to list out the hard facts once more. Of course, with all of this still off in the future, there's still the possibility that a few changes will be made. But as of what we know right now, here's what's coming, and what's going away.
Chrysler
2014: Refreshed 300/300C, debuting at Los Angeles Auto Show