Autobianchi Primula: The Car That Won the Engineering War the Mini Took Credit For Look under the hood of almost any front-wheel-drive car built in the last fifty years and you’ll find the gearbox in the same place: beside the engine, in line with the crankshaft, with its own oil and its own housing. It’s … Read more
Dante Giacosa: the man who fit Italy inside a three-metre car Someone at Top Gear should have made a documentary about him. Someone at Netflix. Someone at Amazon. Someone at any of the outlets that pumped out hagiographies of Alec Issigonis (the Mini) or Ferdinand Porsche (the Beetle) in the last twenty years. Because the … Read more
Fiat 500 Topolino: the car Mussolini asked for and Hitler copied Every car has a story. This one starts with two dictators eyeing each other in 1930. Benito Mussolini calls Giovanni Agnelli to Rome and tells him — with that particular flavour of authoritarian politeness that comes when the answer isn’t optional — that Italy … Read more
Lancia Fulvia HF Coupé: the car that taught Lancia how to win championships Some cars win championships by brute force. They have more horsepower than their rivals, more displacement, more torque in the right places. They show up, run over everything, win. That’s one way to win. There’s another way. Cars that win by doing … Read more
