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
LAMBORGHINI COUNTACH: WHY THE MOST FAMOUS SUPERCAR IN HISTORY WAS ALSO THE WORST Let’s start with what the Countach actually was. Not what it looked like — what it was. It was a car with no rear visibility. Literally none. The V12 and its intake scoops occupied the space where a rear window should have … Read more
LANCIA STRATOS: THE CAR THAT ONLY KNEW HOW TO WIN Here is the shortest version of the Lancia Stratos story: a small Italian company begged Ferrari for an engine, built the minimum number of cars required by the regulations, and won three consecutive World Rally Championships. Then its parent company killed it — not because … Read more
MARCELLO GANDINI: THE GENIUS BERTONE NEVER LET SIGN HIS OWN CARS At sixteen, they gave him money to buy a Latin textbook. He bought a combustion engine manual written by Dante Giacosa instead. That act of rebellion defines everything that followed. Because Marcello Gandini wasn’t born to study what he was told. He was born … Read more
