Fiat Abarth 500 2012 - Gray With Red Seats & Accents 5800 Miles on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Junkyard Gem: 1974 Fiat 124 Sport Spider

Fiat sold the Pininfarina-designed 124 Sport Spider in North America for the 1966 through 1980 model years, followed by a few years of importation by Malcolm Bricklin as the Pininfarina Spider. During the 1970s, these cheap and lightweight sports cars sold well, and enough of them still await oft-postponed restorations that plenty of them still show up in wrecking yards to this day. Here's a rusty but complete '74 in a Denver-area self-service yard. This wouldn't even count as real rust in Maine or Michigan, but it's a death sentence for a Denver Spider. According to the emissions-test sticker, it was driving in Colorado as recently as 1994. The inherent coolness of an Italian convertible keeps these cars around even after they break (which happens with great frequency), but their affordability makes owners reluctant to spend real money on fixing problems. This means that many thousands of 124 Sport Spiders sit in driveways, yards, and garages around the continent, awaiting repairs that (in most cases) will never come. Eventually, a spouse or landlord or homeowners' association has had enough, and the old Fiat project takes that final, sad tow-truck trip to the graveyard. The 1,756cc Twin Cam engine in this car was rated at 92.5 horsepower, which was decent power for a 2,128-pound car in 1974. The current Miata-based 124 Spider has 160-164 horses and weighs just a few hundred pounds more, but expectations have changed since the dark days of the Malaise Era. The 124 Sport Spider's main rival in North America was the venerable MGB. Both cars were notorious for reliability problems, but so what? Commuting in an affordable little European convertible was way more fun than chugging around town in a Corolla or Pinto. In 1974, the 124 Spider had a $4,395 price tag (about 23 grand today), and the MGB cost a mere $3,925. The MGB was heavier and had just 78.5 horsepower from its sturdy-but-primitive pushrod engine (yes, British Leyland claimed the half-horse instead of rounding down), but was much more solidly built; if not for the flaky electrical system made by The Prince of Darkness, the MGB would have obliterated the 124 Spider in the dependability department. I always grab these beautiful metal-and-glass warning lights when I find them in junked Fiats; I have installed them in everything from Impala instrument panels to homemade car-parts boomboxes. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Fiat 500e EV starts rolling off the line for the American market

Unveiled in 2020, and announced for the American market in 2023, the electric Fiat 500e is headed to our shores. The first American-spec examples of the pocket-sized, retro-styled hatchback have rolled off the Mirafiori Assembly Plant located near the heart of Turin, Italy. At launch, the 500e range will include a single trim called (RED) Edition. It stands out with red-painted door mirror caps, LED headlights, 17-inch diamond-cut alloy wheels, and a red dashboard. While it's available in red, of course, buyers can also choose Tuxedo Black and Glacier White. It's reasonable to assume other trim levels will join the range later in the production run, but Fiat hasn't revealed its future plans yet. Although we haven't driven the American-market 500e yet, we took a spin in a European-spec model in 2023 and walked away impressed with the interior. It feels much nicer overall than the last-generation 500 (which retired from the American market in 2019 but remains available new in Europe), and it's packed with fun little design details such as the Turin skyline etched into the wireless charging pad's mat. Power for the 500e comes from a front-mounted electric motor linked to a 42-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack. The motor sends 118 horsepower and 162 pound-feet of torque to the front wheels, and the battery holds enough electricity to deliver up to 149 miles of driving range. That's not much, but Fiat notes the 500e was developed for urban buyers and says the model can charge to 80% in 35 minutes. Alternatively, a full charge takes 4 hours and 15 minutes when using a Level 2 charger; that's an advantage of using a small battery. The first examples of the 2024 Fiat 500e are scheduled to reach our shores by the end of the first quarter of 2024, and the first batch of dealer-allocated cars sold out in less than a week, though a specific number hasn't been revealed. Pricing starts at $34,095 including a $1,595 destination charge and excluding incentives. Every 500e will come with a Level 2 charger or charging credits at public stations.

Scandal-rocked UAW extends Ford, FCA contracts, prepares to strike GM

DETROIT — Leaders of the United Auto Workers union have extended contracts with Ford and Fiat Chrysler indefinitely, but the pact with General Motors is still set to expire Saturday night. The move puts added pressure on bargainers for both sides as they approach the contract deadline and the union starts to make preparations for a strike. The contract extension was confirmed Friday by UAW spokesman Brian Rothenberg, who declined further comment on the talks. The union has picked GM as the target company, meaning it is the focus of bargaining and would be the first company to face a walkout. GMÂ’s contract with the union is scheduled to expire at 11:59 p.m. Saturday. ItÂ’s possible that the four-year GM contract also could be extended or a deal could be reached, but itÂ’s more likely that 49,200 UAW members could walk out of GM plants as early as Sunday because union and company demands are so far apart. Picket line schedules already have been posted near the entrance to one local UAW office in Detroit. Art Wheaton, an auto industry expert at the Worker Institute at Cornell University, expects the GM contract to be extended for a time, but he says the gulf between both sides is wide. “GM is looking through the windshield ahead, and it looks like nothing but land mines,” he said of a possible recession, trade disputes and the expense of developing electric and autonomous vehicles. “I think thereÂ’s really going to be a big problem down the road in matching the expectations of the union and the willingness of General Motors to be able to give the membership what it wants.” Plant-level union leaders from all over the country will be in Detroit on Sunday to talk about the next steps, and after that, the union likely will make an announcement. But leaders are likely to face questions about an expanding federal corruption probe that snared a top official on Thursday. Vance Pearson, head of a regional office based near St. Louis, was charged with corruption in an alleged scheme to embezzle union money and spend cash on premium booze, golf clubs, cigars and swanky stays in California. ItÂ’s the same region that UAW President Gary Jones led before taking the unionÂ’s top office last year. Jones and other union executives met privately at a hotel at Detroit Metropolitan Airport on Friday. After the meeting broke up, JonesÂ’ driver and others physically blocked an AP reporter from trying to approach him to ask questions.