#Italy
Rare Rides: A Micro Machine, the Off-roading 1967 Ferves Ranger
Ever wanted a microscopic multipurpose off-road car that’s not much larger than a lawnmower? Well have we got a truck for you. It’s a Ferves Ranger from 1967.
FCA Putting $788 Million Behind New 500 EV, Small Battery Platform
Fiat Chrysler will invest $788 million to build a production line for the new 500 electric, according to the company’s European CFO Pietro Gorlier. An extension of automaker’s plan to to dump 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) into Italy, the deal makes good on earlier promises that the automaker would establish a dedicated small battery-electric vehicle platform.
Rare Rides: A Vintage Zagato-bodied Ferrari 330 From 1967
Rare Rides: The 1978 Innocenti Mini Is Both De Tomaso and Bertone
Rare Rides returns again to De Tomaso, shortly after it covered the obscure Guarà Barchetta. This time, the subject vehicle is a British-designed Mini, rebodied by Bertone, then sported up by De Tomaso. Quite a pedigree.
Presenting the 1978 Innocenti Mini De Tomaso:
Rare Rides: A Very Rare De Tomaso Guar Barchetta From 1995
The Rare Rides series has broached the subject of De Tomaso a few times before. The luxurious Longchamp coupe was accompanied by the Qvale-branded Mangusta, and the tangentially related Chrysler TC.
But today’s De Tomaso takes the cake for rarity over any of those previous Rare Rides. It’s a Guarà Barchetta, from 1995.
Rare Rides: This 1987 Fiat Is Ritmo, Abarth, 130, and TC
Today’s Rare Ride wears a lot of different badges. The most important ones are Fiat, Ritmo, and Abarth. Come and check out the sportiest version of the final evolution of Fiat’s replacement for the long-lived 128.
Rare Rides: A 1979 Alfa Romeo Alfetta, Styled Like a BMW
Which sedan has the looks of a BMW, but without all the tedious reliability that comes standard from the Bavarian offering? Why, it’s the Alfa Romeo Alfetta, from 1979.
Buy/Drive/Burn: Super Expensive Convertibles From 2001
The Buy/Drive/Burn series has been all about convertibles lately. We started with some $40,000 luxury entries from 2010, then upped the dollar figure with three more from 2009 that asked over $90,000 for the pleasure of their company.
Today we step back in time to the year 2001, and spend even more money. The cheapest drop-top here is over $120,000. Let’s go.
Fiat Chrysler Substituting Fiat Production, Adding More Jeeps in Italy
During Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne’s final days, he said his company would begin prioritizing Jeep production in Europe. This of course comes at the expense of the Fiat brand, which lost a sizable hunk of the European market after 2009 and appears to be outright failing in the United States.
While the brand gained back some of that lost ground east of the Atlantic over the past two years, Fiat’s Jeep stablemate took off like a rocket after 2013 — effectively tripling its share of the European market. Eager to cater to the ever-changing tastes of consumers, FCA is going to stick with Jeep and make some money. As a byproduct, the company thinks it may be able to revitalize Italy’s manufacturing industry, bolster overall volume, and get some laid-off employees back onto the factory floor.
However, it’s not just Jeep that’s getting special treatment. FCA intends to do the same for Alfa Romeo and Maserati, as their products boast higher margins than anything Fiat builds.
Buy/Drive/Burn: Supercar Failures of the 1990s
Our recent Rare Rides entry on the Bugatti EB110 quickly sussed out a couple of mid-90s competitors in the comments section. Today, we’ll visit the trio and pick one to take home.
An entrant each from France, England, and Italy; all of them failures in their own right. Which big money flop will it be?
Rare Rides: The Forgotten Force of the 1993 Bugatti EB110
Long before Bugatti released the record breaking Veyron, it produced a slightly less famous supercar. It’s the angular two-door which was simultaneously the beginning and end of an era in Bugatti’s history.
It’s the EB110, from 1993.
Severe Weather Obliterates Hundreds of New Maseratis in Italy
Mother Nature took out her anger on Fiat Chrysler earlier this week, using floodwaters to set hundreds of new vehicles ablaze at the Port of Savona. Italy has been subjected to savage weather this week, putting just about all of Venice underwater and blasting the rest of northern region of with extreme winds and precipitation.
According to local reports from Savona News, it was initially believed a nearby warehouse caught fire after storms caused an electrical short. However, follow-up reports claimed the fires likely broke out in the port after rising sea water caused vehicle batteries to explode.
Rare Rides: A Very Rare De Tomaso Longchamp From 1979
The De Tomaso name keeps surfacing in the Rare Rides series, almost as often as BMW. The honorary first mention came via the Chrysler TC by Maserati, followed by the Qvale Mangusta that initially bore the De Tomaso name. Most recently, we featured the Maserati Ghibli, which was the very last new Maserati presented by the man himself, De Tomaso.
Today we step back in time, back to an era before any of those aforementioned Rare Rides were ever considered. Let’s have a look at the very luxurious De Tomaso Longchamp.
Rare Rides: A 1993 Fiat Tempra, the Practical Sedan for America
The looks of an old Volkswagen Jetta, the reliability of an old Italian car, and the inconvenience of right-hand drive. All of your dreams can come true in today’s Rare Ride — a Fiat Tempra. It made its way from 1990s Italy to England, then stormed up the banks of Rhode Island.
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