Fiat X1/9: the industrial mid-engine Bertone was hiding in a corner In 1971, Gianni Agnelli is making an informal visit to the Bertone factory in Grugliasco, on the outskirts of Turin. Nuccio Bertone walks him through the production halls, shows him models, talks him through current projects. And in a corner, between development cars and … Read more
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
Autobianchi: The Brand Fiat Used to Take Risks It Wouldn’t Sign Its Name To Almost nothing you drive today would exist in its current form without a company most Americans have never heard of. That’s not hyperbole and it isn’t nostalgia. If your car has its engine mounted sideways, driving the front wheels, with the … Read more
Fiat 500: when a car was actually a platform in disguise Chris Harris once said the best small cars are the ones that feel honest about what they are. He was talking about a modern hot hatch. He could have been talking about the original Fiat 500, except the 500 takes that idea further than … Read more
