Like us you probably haven’t had a chance to duck over to Europe to check out the Geneva Motor Show. So here’s the first of a two part series bringing you a selection of the cars on show. Here we start with Alfa Romeo and go through to Lexus.
Tag: Fiat 500
This feisty looking Fiat will be racing at the 2014 Bathurst 12 Hour. Pretty cool, huh! The car’s full name is the Abarth 695 Assetto Corse. It was first announced in 2011 and Fiat will be competing with a pair of them in the Mount Panorama endurance race.
The Abarths will race in Category F when the action starts on 9 February and will be lead by Luke Youlden and Paul Stokell. The driving roster will be complemented by motoring journos Josh Dowling, Toby Hagon, Paul Gover and Mike Sinclair.
Alan Heaphy from Performance Parts and Engineering will prepare the cars and Fiat says the Italian pocket rockets have already “proven their potential by setting competitive times in the wet during track testing at Phillip Island.”
When first revealed the 695 Assetto Corse boasted 152kW (205hp) thanks to a 1368cm3 turbocharged engine. We’re not sure if Heaphy and his crew will be able to liberate more power, but at least the Assetto Corse should be fairly light. That’s due to its very small size, of course, but also measures such as using Lexan panels to replace the glass windows.
Fiat will reveal the livery of the cars later this year and we’re expecting to see something pretty cool.
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Top Gear – Series 12, Episode 2
This week the lads drove from San Francisco to the Bonneville Salt Flats so they could drive very,very fast. Jeremy Clarkson was in a Corvette ZR1 and topped 176mph (283km/h). James May, aka Captain Slow, in a Cadillac CTS-V was anything but, reaching 163mph (262km/h). Richard Hammond, behind the wheel of a Dodge Challenger, managed a respectable 150mph (241km/h). All the while managing to show that Americans have made three cracking cars. More amazingly, they actually go around corners very competently as well. Okay, maybe the Challenger doesn’t, but the ZR1 and the CTS-V most certainly do.
Also featured was the Fiat 500 Abarth SS. Looks like a funky little pocket rocket. Jeremy gave it a good thrashing around the track and reckons it comes up trumps.
Will Young was the Star in a Reasonably Priced Car. He won UK Pop Idol a while back and has managed to maintain his celebrity since. A rare feat indeed. Not knowing much about him before tonight’s show he’s a lieable enough chap and seems to be abel to steer a car quite well, so he’s alright by me.