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Say hi to our new long-term 2016 Fiat 500X

We always get pretty excited when a new long-term car shows up. This Fiat 500X was a very welcome addition, as it was immediately put into the summer road-trip rotation. Since it arrived a few weeks back, it has already been to "Up North" Michigan (what we call the northern part of the lower peninsula – don't ask) three times. There's an unboxing video above with the highlights, and below we'll explain in a little more detail which options we chose and why. What we got The collective brain trust here chose the top trim level, Trekking Plus. While we tend to try and avoid the fanciest model, it was cheaper to go with a Trekking Plus rather than option up a Lounge model to get everything we were really interested in. (It's confusing – check out the "Compare Packages" link on the 500X configurator to see what we mean.) The color is called Verde Toscana – that's Tuscan Green for us Americans, and we chose the brown leather instead of black. The Trekking Plus has the 2.4-liter Tigershark four-cylinder and a nine-speed automatic transmission. (More on that soon.) It also has nearly everything you can put in one of these small crossovers, including Uconnect infotainment with navigation, a separate color screen between the gauges, blind-spot monitoring, rear parking sensors with cross-traffic detection, a rearview camera, selectable driving modes, remote start, and 18-inch wheels. We also happen to think the Trekking Plus has the most attractive exterior package among the 500X lineup. The trim names (Pop, Easy, Trekking, Lounge, Trekking Plus) could use some work, though – but hey, it's Italian. What we skipped We bucked the Michigan trend and went with front-wheel drive instead of all-wheel, saving us a theoretical $1,900. We'll put winter tires on it when the snow comes, which should be all we need to get through that six-month season of bleakness. There are some extra-cost paint options, all of which add $1,000, but we decided green looked best and had a price of $0. There are two packages available on the Trekking Plus – the imaginatively named Collection 1 and Collection 2 – but neither really appealed to us, so we skipped them. So you know what we're missing out on, Collection 1 is a big dual-pane sunroof and Beats audio, while Collection 2 is the same dual-pane sunroof packaged with auto high-beams, automatic wipers, lane departure with lane-keeping, and forward-collision braking.

1960s Fiat 500F becomes 960-piece Lego Creator Expert kit

Properly restored, the rear-engined Fiat 500 released in 1957 is worth more than most late-model front-engined examples. Lego is making it more accessible by adding a 1960s 500F model to its Creator Expert line of kits. This isn't the first Lego Fiat 500 we've seen, but we're not sure if this official one is related to the unofficial one we last saw back in 2018. The 960-piece set measures about four inches high, nine inches long, and four inches wide, meaning it will take up quite a bit of space on your desk. Lego recreated the 500's proportions with surprising accuracy, and its designers included details like the round headlights, the chromed emblem on the front fascia, the dish-shaped hubcaps, and the vented rear decklid. It's not as realistic as a die-cast model, but it's recognizable as a 500. Opening the hood reveals the gas tank and the spare tire — just like on the real car. Lego has thankfully left out the rust that tends to develop in the battery tray, which is right behind the front fascia. Both doors open to reveal a three-spoke steering wheel with a Fiat logo, a moving gear selector, a handbrake lever you can raise and lower, as well as a folding soft top — again, just like on the actual 500F. Lower the decklid to find the Danish firm's best rendition of Fiat's air-cooled twin, which in real life develops 18 horsepower and 22 pound-feet of torque in the 500F. Zero to 60 mph (its top speed) optimistically takes about a minute if you're on flat ground with a favorable tail wind. The replica's zero-to-60-mph time depends on what you're carrying it in. It totes a suitcase on its back everywhere it goes, and the kit includes a painting of a 500 in front of the Coliseum propped up on an easel. Lego will release its Fiat 500 on March 1. Sold online and through authorized retailers, it's priced at $89.99, which makes it a bargain compared to a vintage one. The catch is that you can't take it out for gelato. If you'd rather invest in one you can drive to cars and coffee, there's a 1967 500F just like the one Lego offers in its kit listed in the Hemmings classifieds for the princely sum of $29,500, or about $27 per pound — yikes. Related Video: Featured Gallery Fiat 500F Lego kit View 14 Photos Toys/Games Fiat

Junkyard Gem: 1978 Fiat 124 Sport Spider

Before the Fiat 124 Spider was a Mazda, it was the 124 Sport Spider, the two-seat convertible version of the huge-selling (in Europe) 124 sedan. Sold in the United States from the 1968 through 1985 model years (with the final few years sporting Pininfarina badges, courtesy of Malcolm Bricklin), these fan and affordable cars were once everywhere on our roads and owners have tried to hang onto them even after they break down. As a result, I see about as many 124 Sport Spiders in junkyards these days as I did 40 years ago, when you could still buy them new. Here's a little red devil of a '78 Sport Spider, found in a San Francisco Bay Area car graveyard a few years back. This car's main sales rival in the United States was the similarly fun and affordable MGB, and I still find plenty of those in the boneyards to this day. The MGB was sturdier but a bit more primitive than the Sport Spider, and both suffered from maddeningly unpredictable electrical systems. The price tag on this car was $6,495, or about $30,780 in 2022 dollars. The 1978 MGB cost $5,649 ($26,770 now) that year. If you wanted the much quicker Alfa Romeo Spider in 1978, you had to shell out $9,195 ($43,570 today). While the MGB's antiquated pushrod straight-four made just 62.5 horsepower in 1978 (yes, British Leyland claimed that half-horse), the '78 Sport Spider put out 86 horsepower from its DOHC engine. The curb weight of the Spider was lower, too (2,180 pounds versus the Brit's 2,338 pounds). This one has a much-faded 1990 San Francisco residential parking permit, for Zone C. That's the upscale Nob Hill neighborhood, where this car must have seemed a little too much on the proletariat side. These cars tend to spend decades sitting in a driveway or yard, awaiting repairs that may never come. Eventually, reality comes calling and they take that final tow-truck ride to a place like this. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Motorcars in the great European tradition.