Fiat 500 Rotisserie Restored As New ! (shipping Cost Included In Bidding Price) on 2040-cars

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2015 Fiat 500 Abarth automatic targets broader appeal

There aren't many manual-transmission-only offerings on the US market, and now there's one fewer. The 2015 Fiat 500 Abarth has just gone into production with a newly available automatic option.
We've known that the hair-raising, high-performance Cinquecento has been scheduled to get a two-pedal setup for some time, but now we have more specifics on the gearbox itself. According to Fiat, the six-speed automatic is derived from the same Aisin unit used in the standard 500, but it's been substantially reengineered to cope with the 1.4-liter MultiAir turbo engine's added power. Allison Singer, a vehicle integration engineer on the 500 Abarth's development program tells Autoblog that the modifications to the gearbox include "gears that have been reinforced and a few extra clutch plates," among other changes. Unfortunately, there are no paddle shifters, as the 500's steering wheel was not designed to accommodate them, but at least there's a +/- manual gate on the gearshift lever.
Interestingly, the automatic brings with it substantially different power numbers than its manual counterpart. The new model receives 157 horsepower and 183 pound-feet of torque, which is 3 horsepower less than the manual, yet it packs a whopping 13 pound-feet more torque, which should aid drivability. By comparison, the five-speed manual 2015 Abarth registers 160 hp and up to 170 lb-ft. New features that come with the auto include a dedicated sport mode, rev-matched downshifts, fuel-cut upshifts, shift logic that holds gears in corners and 'fast-off' situations, along with sharper throttle tuning. Despite the added torque, Singer admits that "The manual will probably be a tiny bit quicker as far as performance goes," but she is confident that the transmission's availability will open the car up to a much broader market of buyers.

Chrysler highlights Mopar lineup for SEMA

SEMA is all about aftermarket parts, and in Auburn Hills that all comes down to one name: Mopar. After having previewed its lineup for this year's Vegas tuner expo earlier this month, Chrysler has now revealed what may not quite be its full dossier of modified show cars, but a good portion of them.
All told Mopar is preparing 20 vehicles for display at SEMA this year. Among them you'll find the Ram Sun Chaser, a 1500 Quad Cab show truck kitted out in two-tone orange and black paint, a roof rack for surfboards, onboard shower and convertible tailgate. The white Fiat 500L is called the Adventurer and is modified for a more rugged look that could hint at the upcoming crossover version. The Jeep Cherokee Trail Carver upgrades on the Trailhawk package with everything from roof basket to rock rails. To counterbalance the off-roaders, there's also a modified Chrysler 300S with a deep black paint job, special grille, Varvatos-edition wheels and more.
All four concepts details so far have Katzkin interiors as well, and there's also an unspecified Dodge Durango with a storm-trooper look in the gallery above. But for more details on what Mopar has installed on the Ram, 500L, Cherokee and 300, you'll want to delve into the press release below.

Renault wants to merge with Nissan, then go after Fiat Chrysler

The late Sergio Marchionne used to say consolidation would be the only way to compete against the biggest global carmakers. The company looks certain to fulfill that goal, but perhaps not in the way he intended. The Financial Times reports that Renault wants to begin merger talks with Nissan in the next 12 months. Assuming a merger gets completed, the plan is for the combined company to then pursue another merger, with Fiat Chrysler a prime target. Renault, Nissan, and Mitsubishi have been busy since cutting ties with ex-alliance boss Carlos Ghosn. They formed a new alliance board with Renault chairman Jean-Dominique Senard at the helm, Renault has shrunk the size of its board while Nissan added more outside directors, and the two agreed to a new governance structure to ease operational decision making. All three automakers have walked away from Ghosn-era goals to sell 14 million cars and find 10 billion euros in savings by 2022. New strategic plans for all three car companies are in the works. With stability in sight, it's said Senard wants to succeed where Ghosn failed — a full-fledged merger between Renault and Nissan with talks to begin "as soon as possible." Ghosn's pursuit of a merger last year in attempt to make the 20-year-old alliance "irreversible" is part of what led to his downfall, with Nissan executives including CEO Hiroto Saikawa against the push. The new effort is presented as larger scale being the only way for the alliance to take on companies like Volkswagen and Toyota. But the Nissan-Renault-Mitsubishi trio sold 10.76 million cars around the world last year, second to Volkswagen with 10.83 million sales, ahead of Toyota with 10.39 million. If Nissan hadn't suffered a 2.8 percent dip in sales, the alliance would have taken the top spot. If a little scale is good that means more is better, right? Pulling Fiat Chrysler into the alliance would add around 5 million annual sales, and would be another move in Ghosn's footsteps. The former honcho is said to have "held talks with FCA" about some kind of union within the past three years. The French government, which has a 15 percent stake in Renault and double voting rights, shut down the initiative. It's not clear if FCA will be an independent company by the time a potential Nissan-Renault merger closed, though.