Nero Abarth! Serviced! New Clutch! Eibach Lowering Springs! on 2040-cars

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Officine Abarth Classiche dedicated to Scorpion heritage

It was only nine years ago that Fiat launched the Abarth brand as its dedicated performance division. But it didn't pull the name and logo out of thin air. Though it was essentially dormant for years, the Scorpion marque has a long history of tuning Italian pocket rockets for both road and race. And now it's launched a dedicated heritage division to manage its considerable history. Opening this week, the new Officine Abarth Classiche program will be responsible, among other things, for the restoration of vintage Abarth vehicles and the certification of their mechanical authenticity. Similar to the Ferrari Classiche department, private owners of classic Abarths will be able to send their pride and joy to the factory for service, maintenance, and restoration at the hands of factory technicians and with the benefit of the company's own archives. Work will be undertaken in a dedicated, thousand-square-foot workshop at the Mirafiori Abarth factory in Turin, and will of course include Abarth-tuned Fiats. But the program is also open to all the various Lancias, Alfa Romeos, Autobianchis, and Cisitalias fettled over the years by the Italian performance studio - to say nothing of the Zagato and Ghia prototypes. Beyond restoration, Officine Abarth Classiche will also organize special events for owners of vintage Abarth machinery, and undertake a comprehensive Abarth registry. It has also commissioned a book on the history of the marque, recreated company founder Carlo Abarth's office at the Mirafiori workshop, and even signed on Carlo's widow Anneliese Abarth to serve as a brand ambassador. It's an ambitious undertaking, and you can read about it in full – along with some history of the name – in the full press release below. Related Video: 18 November 2015 The Great Abarth Classiche Project - The great story of the performances and sporting grandeur of the Scorpion and the records it has broken is celebrated through the ambitious Abarth Classiche initiative.

Fiat trademarks '124', '124 Spider'

On December 18 Fiat submitted two trademark applications to the US Patent Trade Office, one for "Fiat 124," the other for "Fiat 124 Spider." AutoGuide suspects these are the names that will be applied to the Fiat version of the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata. The new Miata was at one time going to provide a new roadster platform for Alfa Romeo. Then Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne said that Alfas had to be built in Italy, which, in terms of production ease, put the kibosh on using the Mazda platform. That led to the expectation that the vehicle would move to another brand in the Fiat stable, and recently Alfa Romeo CEO Harald Wester told Car that "The Far East import will probably find a new home with Fiat-Abarth." This would be a redux of the 124 name, last used from 1966 to 1974 on a dowdy but much praised sedan, and from 1966 to 1985 on a convertible known as the 124 Sport Spider (pictured). Having trademarked both names - assuming the company uses them - hardtop and convertible versions of a new 124 are expected, but we're unsure about a variant with four doors.

Marchionne recruiting activist investors to prompt GM merger

Sergio Marchionne may have been rebuffed in his previous advances at General Motors, but he's not about to give up that easily. According to The Wall Street Journal, the Fiat Chrysler chief is now turning to activist investors to help coax GM into joining forces. Marchionne has been a staunch and ceaseless advocate of the need for consolidation, arguing that the industry needs to amalgamate into larger groups that will share resources and reduce overhead. Under his leadership, the Fiat group consolidated its own operations, and officially merged with Chrysler last year. But he's also been pursuing additional mergers with the likes of Volkswagen, Peugeot, Ford, and Opel (to name just a few). Now he's pursuing a merger with GM, which has not shown much enthusiasm towards the idea. For one thing, GM is a much larger company, and probably doesn't need FCA as much as FCA needs it. For another, it has a troubled past with Marchionne, who in 2005 dissolved an agreed merger (of sorts) with GM, yet still managed to get the General to pay Fiat some $2 billion in the process. However, Marchionne is evidently hoping that the intervention of activist investors could compel GM CEO Mary Barra and company to proceed with a merger anyway. For precedent, he's looking at the recent negotiation between GM and some of its stakeholders that prompted the company to buy back $5 billion of its own shares, demonstrating Barra's willingness to deal with investors. The more compelling precedent, however, may have been set in 2006, when activist investor Kirk Kerkorian locked arms with Carlos Ghosn to get GM to consider joining the alliance between Renault and Nissan. GM ultimately declined, and Ghosn turned instead of Daimler (which of course has its own history of having merged with Chrysler). Only time will tell if this initiative will prove more successful, but one thing's for sure, and that's that Marchionne isn't about to relent in his pursuit of a major merger partner.