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
Mercedes-Benz T80: The Six-Wheeled Nazi Speed Machine Porsche Designed That Never Turned a Wheel Walk into the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart and you’ll find a black car nearly 27 feet long. Three axles, six wheels, two small stubby wings, an aluminum body built by an aircraft plant. No engine in the bay. No odometer to … Read more
Volkswagen Beetle: The Käfer That Motorized the World and Survived Everything Twenty-one million five hundred thousand units. 21,529,464, to be exact. The Volkswagen Käfer, known worldwide as the Beetle or Bug, isn’t just the most produced car in history on a single platform. It’s the vehicle that defined mass motorization, survived Europe’s darkest regime, symbolized … Read more
Porsche 911: The Most Overrated Great Car Ever Made? Let’s get something out of the way immediately: the Porsche 911 is a great car. It has always been a great car. It will probably always be a great car. But is it the greatest sports car ever made? Is it the benchmark against which all … Read more
Porsche 356: The Car That Started a Religion Before the 911 became the centre of the Porsche universe, before the Turbo became a status symbol and the GT3 became a track day weapon, there was a small, rounded, Beetle-derived sports car that looked like it had been sculpted by the wind itself. The Porsche 356 … Read more
