A biweekly roundup of automotive news, good, bad and just plain weird:
Fiat leaves Italy after 115 years
While Fiat never enjoyed a stellar reputation in Canada in its early years, the return has been somewhat more successful.
No longer plagued by Fix-It-Again-Tonyism, the company now does a bustling trade in its happy little cinquecento city cars. If only the 500L didn't look like it had crawled out of a swamp.
Part of that success comes from decades of European sales and development, but part is due to the successful merger of Fiat and Chrysler, the latter of which has been on it's own positive kick of late. However, just as the Fiat/Chrysler merger has meant change for the pentastar, it marks the end of an era for the Italians too. No longer will Fiat be based out of Turin, moving instead to Slough, U.K. Slough, if it's famous for anything, was the site of the first fictional The Office series, although it's worth noting that other automakers have used it as a base — Citroën had a factory there once, for instance. However, it's entirely less romantic. You're much less likely to find a gang of gold-stealing Mini Coopers invading Slough than you are Turin. The Slough Job? Sounds like derma-abrasion.
It's a sad day as Fiat has been producing cars in Italy since 1899, and in its glory days was an essential part of Italian culture. With the Italian economy in trouble, the move makes fiscal sense, but hopefully some of that European charm isn't lost in the move.
The family Hellcat approacheth
You know what makes a good family pet? A golden retriever. Or, perhaps, a nice goldfish. Or a demure tortoiseshell tabby. Or a Bengal tiger with rabies. Wait, hang on a moment.
That rumbling noise you hear on the horizon like approaching artillery fire is the incoming Charger Hellcat. Rumours are swiftly coalescing into fact that Dodge's four-door family sedan is getting a heart transplant, with mules spotted in shakedown testing and patent applications caught in flagranto delicto.
The Challenger Hellcat is still causing echoes throughout the musclecar end of the market with its outrageous 707 horsepower supercharged V-8. It might not actually be any faster than the loony-tunes Shelby Mustangs, but it's got bragging rights aplenty and is a frankly shocking car to drive with the traction control off.
The Charger, having taken a little stick from Mopar lovers for having the same name as the General Lee but quad-doors instead of welded ones, is boasting a new facelift this year; if a 707 h.p. version drops, it'll be the most powerful sedan on the market by a long shot. Don't give dad socks for Christmas, he's going to need one of these and a lifetime supply of tires.
Hennessy Venom F5 aims for 290 m.p.h. Is 700 h.p. not enough? How about double that? A new version of the Elise-based Hennessy Venom is coming, and it's bringing 1,400 h.p. to the table to help crack on to 290 miles per hour (466 kilometres per hour).
Power will come from a tactical nuke. Well, no actually, the powerplant is a relatively uncomplicated twin-turbo seven-litre V-8 engine; this has been crammed into a lightweight and slippery stretched Lotus chassis in the hopes of cracking the Bugatti Veyron's official speed record and, one presumes, not dying horribly in the process.
Interesting stuff, if not particularly of any use to anyone who needs to drive a car on a public road where the fastest legal speeds are about one-quarter that. However, it does mean that at some point a road car is going to surpass the once-unthinkable 300 m.p.h. mark. I'm not sure what happens then. Everybody gets free Stig-shaped air fresheners or something.
General Motors unveils Chinese minivan
There's a good reason that GM no longer sells a seven-seater minivan in this market: previous efforts were ugly, they weren't particularly reliable or safe, and the company can make more money selling enormous crossovers. Wait, that's three reasons.
Well, whatever. The point is, in foreign markets, GM has to adapt to local pressures and that means building a car like the Baojun 730. Seating seven and styled with that highsided, tall-but-skinny look that Chinese and Japanese home-market vehicles seem to always have, the Baojun 730 isn't about to set anyone's heart aflame.
And, with a 1.5-litre engine as the base offering, it's not going to be scorching up the streets either.
However, it supplies basic, economical transportation for multiple passengers and has a surprising level of connectivity onboard thanks to a version of Chevy's MyLink technology. And it's manual-transmission-only — what a world!
Return of the rear-drive rally car
It's pretty well known that the underpinnings of the Toyota GT86, better known as the Scion FR-S in our market, are pure Subaru. As if we needed any more proof, here comes a rally-ready version.
Dubbed the GT86 CSR3, this new version will be available to customers who want to run a privateer team, and comes with beefed-up brakes and suspension, a six-speed sequential racing gearbox and a power bump to somewhere in the 240-250 h.p. range.
It all sounds pretty good, as does the potential to see sideways-sliding rear-drive rally cars again, just like the good old days. Moreover, some real racing competition for the FRS could see its character getting honed a little, making it an even better car and taking some of the current rough edges off.
