The new Jeep that's secretly a small Fiat

GREAT THINGS happen when America and Italy get into bed together.

How else do you explain Spaghetti Westerns, deep pan pizzas and The Godfather Part II? It gets even more special as soon as cars are involved – how else do you explain the Ferrari 250 GT Spyder California – so it was probably only a matter of time before Fiat’s transatlantic tie-up with Chrysler finally came up with the goods.

That’s because the latest unbelievably rugged offering from Jeep is, if you peel away all the Action Man packaging, basically the four-wheel-drive Fiat 500X unveiled earlier this year.

In fact, it’s more than that; because it’s built around the underpinnings developed by Fiat for its small cars (the company’s imaginatively-titled ‘Small’ platform) the new Jeep Renegade is also a distant relation to the Fiat Punto, the Alfa Romeo MiTo and – by virtue of the firm’s previous infatuations with General Motors  - the Vauxhall Adam.

The fact the Jeep Renegade manages to do the motoring equivalent melting down a Barbie doll, putting it back together and flogging it on a second time as a G.I Joe action figure is all down what the car industry called platform sharing. Ever wondered why a Volkswagen Golf and a SEAT Leon feel strangely similar to drive, or why the Toyota Aygo and the Peugeot 108 have the same vigour for small, twisty roads? It’s because under the skin they’re basically the same.

In the new Renegade’s case, it’s a bit like Fiat taking two pizzas and lavishing them with radically different toppings – olives and pineapples for the Fiat 500X, and every red meat imaginable for the muscular, macho Jeep. It’s great news for the car makers because they can sell the same basic product to two completely different sets of people.

Would I ever buy a slightly bloated version of the Fiat 500 that’s then been given four-wheel-drive to remove it even further from the 1950s micro marvel it roughly apes? No. Chances are, however, that I would buy something that looks a bit like the Jeep Cherokees which were all the rage here a decade or so ago, but shrunk down to make it more manageable in a Britain where petrol costs £1.30 a litre.

After what feels like an eternity of being treated to blobbily-proportioned family hatchbacks which only vaguely resemble off-roaders, it’s great that Fiat’s small car know-how has finally given Jeep the chance to make something which actually looks the part.

Fingers crossed it’s as good off the road as it’s Fiat-developed siblings are on it.

Fiat beefs up the Panda 4x4

A MORE hardcore version of the UK’s smallest off-roader has just been launched by Fiat.

The Panda Cross is based on the existing four-wheel-drive Panda but adds a stack of gadgets you’d normally only find on much larger off-roaders – including oversized tyres, hill descent control, a sump guard, and a terrain control stability system – to the package.

It's also got a six speed gearbox with a shortened first gear designed with 'crawling' through challenging conditions in mind - admittedly, it's not the low ratio 'box you'll get on a Land Rover Defender, but this will squeeze through many a gap and gulley which the bigger, 'proper' off-roader can't.

Fiat said its sheer versatility has come from more than 30 years of making some of Europe's smallest 4x4s. A spokesman for the company said: "In 2006 SUVs accounted for around seven percent of the total car market in Europe whereas today they account for approximately 20 percent.

"Yet despite the proliferation of models in the past decade the new Fiat Panda Cross remains a truly unique offering, by combining the genuine capabilities of a proper off-road vehicle with the efficiency and practicality of a versatile city car."

Prices start at £15,945 for the TwinAir-engined version, while the 1.3 litre version will set you back £16,945. Both go on sale here towards the end of the year.

Fiat 500 range gets freshened up

A BLINK-and-you’ll-miss-it update of the Fiat 500 range has just gone on sale across the UK.

Sensibly, Fiat has chosen not to mess with the city car’s biggest selling point – its retro styling inspired by the original Nuova 500 of the 1950s – but it has treated the range to some new technology instead, including a digital instrument display and a new version of the company’s award-winning TwinAir engine.

The updated Fiat 500, which starts at £10,600, is available to buy now.

Most car interiors are still in the dark ages

THAT demented artist of Fast Show Fame, Johnny Nice Painter, would have had a field day with the latest hatchback I’ve driven.

My abiding memory of the Audi A1 a colleague and I had the pleasure of piloting wasn’t that we had the delicious irony of driving an A1 car along the A1 road, or that it suffered from having a particularly dim-witted automatic which forever wanted to change up. No, it was that once you’d clambered inside absolutely everything – dashboard, floors, seats, even the headling along the roof – was black. Black! Black! Black like the dark that envelopes us all!

Comically challenged painters aside, the A1’s unrelenting sea of blackness does raise a question which has longed irked me about today’s cars. Why are almost all of them various shades of black and grey?

Ingolstadt’s smallest offering is by no means the worst offender – I’ve driven countless cars, usually German hatchbacks, which offer the owner an interior which is virtually indestructible but with all the flair and colour of a prison cell in Dresden. It’s as though the VW Group’s chief designers invited Joy Division, Morrissey and LS Lowry to create a car interior which would perfectly encapsulate the steely industrial feel of Manchester on a grey Monday morning, and have – save for a few chrome flourishes in recent years – stuck with it.

Is there some unwritten rule that car interiors have to be crushingly dull, so that drivers are forced to look at the (equally grey) road instead? It’s got to stop. There are a few rare flickers of light in the car cabin world – step forward, Fiat 500 – but it seems ludicrous that you can specify pretty much any interior colour you like at B&Q and fifty shades of grey at BMW.

Surely, in today’s era of Grand Designs and trendy hotel rooms, we deserve to be able to go into a car showroom and pick out whichever pastel shades please us most? For what it’s worth, I reckon it would make us happier drivers, and a happy driver is a safe one.

I know lots of people – including one chap who enjoyed a four hour commute every day - who spend very nearly as much time in the car as they do in the house. Would you decorate your living room to look like the inside of the new Volkswagen Golf?

Nope, neither would I.

Left hand drive opens you to a world of motoring gems

IT was on the rain-lashed lanes of the Ribble Valley that I had a bit of a motoring epiphany the other day.

Normally, the schlep along the A59 from Harrogate, through the Pennines and over the border into the Red Rose County isn’t exactly the most insurmountable of motoring challenges, even on a drizzly Tuesday afternoon when the grey skies make you feel like you’re driving through an old Joy Division record. This particular trip, however, was different.

For the first time ever I’ve been out on British roads in a left-hand-drive car. Not only have the good people of Clitheroe and Skipton survived, but it’s opened me up to a whole new world of automotive opportunity!

Up until now, I’ve always been just a little bit apprehensive about left-hookers. For starters, if a car company simply can’t be bothered to move the steering wheel to the right hand side, it indicates they’re not all that confidently we Brits would have wanted it anyway.

Take, for instance, all those Cadillacs and Corvettes which are relaunched here every couple of years, and always rack up sales figures you can count using your fingers. Surely, if the Americans were that confident in the cars, they’d offer it to us with right hand drive? The other thing is that while I’m happy at the wheel of everything from a Smart ForTwo to a Jeep Grand Cherokee, the idea of being sat on the wrong side of the road, in real world conditions, scared me a bit.

After trying out a left-hand-drive Suzuki on a test track a couple of years back and finding the experience strangely alienating, I really wasn’t sure I’d want to try it out on real British roads. It turns out, however, that the perfect treatment for my mild phobia of left-hand-drive proved to be a dash across the Pennines in a Chevrolet Corvette.

Not only is it more of a four-wheeled-event than a car, thanks largely to its easygoing V8 and cartoonish styling, but being on the wrong side of the cockpit wasn’t as nerve-racking as some armchair critics might have you suggest.

Embracing cars with left-hand-drive opens you up to potential ownership of everything from the original Renault Twingo to the Ferrari F40. It means the BMW E30 M3 and the Lancia Delta Integrale are not fiendishly inaccessible. Perhaps, most pertinently, it means the car the Mazda MX-5 should have been – the beautiful Fiat Barchetta – could be on your driveway for less than two grand.

If you can drive a car, you can definitely drive a leftie. It really isn’t as hard as it might look.

The Fiat 500 MPW is a stretch too far

By unveiling a seven-seater version of the 500, Fiat has finally solved one of the world’s great ongoing mysteries. Finally, the question of who ate all the pies has been answered!

The 500 MPW got my automotive gag reflex going when I first clocked eyes on it a couple of weeks ago. Since then, I’ve seen it through increasingly squinty, curious eyes, trying to make sense of where it’s coming from. I’m a huge fan of the 500 and understand it’s been the biggest Italian success story since that chap finished painting the roof of the Sistine Chapel. I also understand that BMW put the MINI through the Supersize Me treatment and the bloated result, the Countryman, was a sales hit.

Naturally, the bosses in Turin have put two and two together… and ended up with seven. While I was already struggling with the recently inflated version of Fiat’s city slicker, the 500L, the new MPW really is a stretch too far. To my mind at least, it’s the ugliest automotive offering since Ford put the Scorpio out of its misery.

Which is a shame, because I’ve always had a soft spot for the 500 (and pretty much every other tiny Fiat, for that matter). In fact, a glorious hour at the helm of an Abarth 500C Essesse, enjoying the sunshine through its open roof, reveling in its handling and listening to its little four-pots sing as you headed up through the gears, is among my most treasured motoring memories. The 500 is a car whose sole reason for existence is to make being small into something fun. A seven-seater family bus it is not.

Chances are the 500L MPW will be keenly priced, comfortable, spacious and reliable, but then so is a Skoda Yeti, or a Nissan Qashqai, neither of which look like a smaller car that’s spent a month eating nothing but Melton Mowbrays. I’m also fairly confident that people, even ones with a vague sense of aesthetics, will buy it, just as they did with the MINI Countryman.

All of that I understand, but what I don’t is that someone, at the same company which gave you the beautiful Barchetta, the challenging Coupe and the chic, original reinvention of the 500 clearly looked at it and thought “Mmmm, that’s nice.”

Slightly bloated beauty, in this case, is definitely in the eye of the beholder.

Future classics - my top ten tips

SUPPOSE you’ve got motoring’s equivalent of Mystic Meg’s crystal ball. What do you reckon it’d reveal as being the classic car stars of tomorrow?

One of the most fascinating pieces I’ve written for Classic Car Weekly so far is a rundown of what the secondhand experts at CAP have chosen as their candidates for automotive investments, which is as intriguing for what didn’t make the cut as the 20 modern motors which did. Everyone’s got their opinion as to what’ll be the stars of shows up and down the land in 10 or 15 years’ time, and with the article done and dusted I can finally get a few of my own favourites off my chest...

1) MAZDA MX-5 (1989 – 1998) The fact no less than four of the Classic Car Weekly team have owned one – including Yours Truly – speaks volumes about this ultra-reliable, ultra-fun and, for the time being at least, ultra-cheap rear-drive ragtop. Consider my shoes eaten if this isn’t a mainstay of the classic movement in 15 years time.

 2) PEUGEOT 106 GTI/RALLYE (1997 – 2004)Brilliant fun, perfectly packaged and already becoming increasingly sought after by hot hatch hunters. In fact, it’s looking increasingly likely the MX-5-shaped void in my life might get filled by a 106 GTI. Should I? Shouldn’t I?

3) ROVER 75 (1999 - 2005) I’ve already written that Rover’s swansong is tomorrow’s P6, and I still reckon a well-looked example – or its sportier sister, the MG ZT – is as cheap as it’s ever going to be. There’s plenty on offer right now for under a grand, but give it a decade and good examples of these gentle giants will be sought after.

4) FORD RACING PUMA (2000) You could argue the little Puma is tomorrow’s Capri, in which case this is the ultra-rare Tickford (in fact, just like its turbocharged Capri ancestor, the Racing Puma is a Tickford creation). Prices are already much higher than the standard Pumas, but with the rarity of the Racing Puma and the loyal following it’s already attracting, there’s only one way prices will go.

5) RENAULT WIND (2010 - 2011)  I might have enjoyed the French firm’s Twingo-based two seater when it was new but the Great British Public didn’t, so while it’s a bit of a flop now its rarity should count in its favour. Quirky styling and fantastically simple flipping metal roof are bonus points on a car that, even now, you don’t see every day.

6) PEUGEOT 406 COUPE (1997 - 2004)Italian styling house Pininfarina worked wonders with the Parisian repmobile favourite to create a striking beautiful coupe. Best spec is the 3.0 V6 but 2.2 HDi versions are already proving popular with fuel-conscious enthusiasts.

7) FIAT COUPE 20V TURBO (1995 - 2000)As above, but with added Italian flair and loopy amounts of punch from the five-cylinder turbo beneath the bonnet. Any car that manages to make Fiat Tipo underpinnings look this good has got to be in with a shout.

 8) SUBARU IMPREZA TURBO (1994 - 2000) The original, four-door versions of the Scooby Pretzel are cheap now – you can, if you look carefully, pick them up for less than £1,500 – but it won’t be long before they’re being coveted as classics. Escort RS2000s, remember, were cheap and plentiful a long time ago...

9) BMW 8-SERIES (1990 - 1999) CAP’s list included no less than three BMWs, but they missed out this one, which price-wise is where the original 6-Series was 15 years ago. Not that I could afford to run around in a secondhand 850CSi, of course.

10) VOLKSWAGEN POLO G40 (1990 - 1994)  Only 600 imported into the UK originally and they’re rare, characterful pocket rockets now. Worth seeking one out for the addictive whine the supercharger makes. Plus, they go like stink.

Feel free, however, to disagree...

The full feature on CAP’s tips for future classic investments can be found in this week’s edition of Classic Car Weekly, published Wednesday, April 24.

Prepare to fire up the... Fiat 500L

FIAT'S taken a leaf out of the fashion world's book when it came to labelling an upscaled version of its retro-styled 500.

Regulars at Topshop, Primark et all will be more than familiar with the thinking behind this new version's name - it is, quite simply, the 500L, L being for Large. Think MINI Countryman, then, but inspired by Italian chic rather than British bravado.

Behind the plus-sized outfit there's a blend of familiar Fiat technology - including the award-winning, eco-friendly TwinAir engine which has already proven a bit of a hit in the smaller 500 - and an interior which pitches the new arrival straight into mini MPV, with a higher roofline than a Vauxhall Meriva and more interior space than Volkswagen's new Golf. It's also being priced aggressively to undercut the Countryman, with £14,990 getting you either into a Pop Star or an Easy version, which are identically priced but kitted out to appeal to two very different kinds of customer.

It's got all the sensible boxes ticked and - if the smaller Panda and 500 are anything to go by - be grin-inducingly pleasant from the driver's perspective, but this sector of the market is as much about style as substance and to truly be in with a chance of stealing the march on MINI it'll have to look the part too.

That's where I worry for the 500L's chances, because to my eyes at least the new arrival looks like a 500 that's spent a few weeks gorging itself on the Melton Mowbrays. That's a criticism I'd level at the MINI Countryman too, but then a revisit to the cute lines of Italy's original people carrier, the 600 Multipla, the new Fiat is not.

This 500's extra girth means there's more to love, but the attraction, if you fell for its smaller sister, probably won't be as instant.

Always look on the bright side of life when you're buying a car

ANYONE remember that scene out of Monty Python's Life of Brian? You know, the one where poor Brian, in his escape from the Romans, is forced to indulge in a spot of haggling with a market trader?

That's what I always reckon buying or selling a car - admittedly, something I haven't done for a while - is like. As the guy in biblical Judea put it, you gotta haggle. Well, at least that's what I told my sister to do on her spot of car buying over Christmas.

Regular readers might recall that on this blog a couple of weeks ago I threw a couple of small car suggestions her way, and reckoned her final choice, Fiat's 500, wasn't a bad shout for someone seeking something practical, cheap to run and stylish enough to tootle around the Scottish towns she frequents. The story should have ended with her proudly clutching the keys to her very own 500 and driving into the sunset, but it didn't.

Her small car of choice was in fact Toyota's Aygo for one simple reason; Fiat's dealers wouldn't play ball and Toyota's would.

My sister strolled into showroom after showroom and, in a time-honoured tradition of car flogging going back further than anyone cares to remember, was keen to indulge in a spot of Life of Brian-esque haggling. I'd told her, in the pep talk I'd given to her earlier, that it's just plain rude for people selling or buying a motor not to indulge in a bit of price banter, but the ones she'd spoken to were having none of it. Not one she visited was prepared to move so much as a pound on the price of the 500 she wanted.

Slightly deflated, she went to Plan B - her second choice, not the rapper - and asked a Toyota showroom of her choice if they'd be prepared to talk turkey over an Aygo. They obliged, and sold her a very nice ex demonstrator in a whiter shade of pale for a whisker under eight grand.

I suppose it's just a reflection of the way we buy and sell cars - whether they're new or secondhand - that I've always thought a deal where someone's not prepared to negotiate is a deal to walk away from. Being able to ask “Can I make you an offer?” and not have someone take immediate offence is one of the most important things in automotive retail. That and asking as many questions as you like about the deal, even if the buyer/seller whinges about your enquiries becoming a sort of Spanish Inquisition.

Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition.

Fiat 500: The brilliant small car I completely forgot about

WORD reaches me from north of the border that my sister’s looking to treat herself to a festive gift of the four-wheeled variety

.

It’s a straightforward enough challenge; she’s looking for something small, good looking, reliable and easy to run, for around the four grand mark. Not that she’s going to take any advice off her car nut brother – it’s Life On Cars tradition that whenever someone actually asks me for advice on cars, they listen dutifully to whatever considered opinion I can come up with, pause reflectively for a moment, and then ignore it and buy the car they had their heart set on anyway. This explains why so many people I know own a Vauxhall Corsa.

Then again, my suggestions were slightly more sensible than my sister’s other half’s, who being even more of a petrolhead than I am pointed me in the direction of a Lancia Beta Spider (Google it) which could be under your Christmas tree for just £1,650. A beautiful Italian roadster which would be fine for a classic car bore like me, but hardly the sort of thing you’d rely on to get you in and out of Glasgow on a daily basis!

Trying to keep things as sensible as possible, I went for the original Ford Ka, Toyota’s Aygo, the Citroen C1 and – whisper it softly – the new MINI, with the Peugeot 106 GTi as the wildcard I secretly hoped my sister would go for.  All of which are reliable enough to survive life tooling around a city centre for days on end, small enough to squeeze into even the tightest parking spaces and – most importantly for my sister, someone who’s far more stylish than I am – blessed with the sort of chic and sense of fun that, say, a Nissan Micra just isn’t.

I was quietly pleased with my carefully selected shortlist, right up until the point when my sister mentioned the one small car I’d forgotten about; the Fiat 500. Her argument is that it’s far cuter than just about any other small car on the second-hand market (as long as it’s bought in the right colour), it’s got perfectly good underpinnings (which is true, given it’s a former European Car of the Year), and there’s enough of them around for her to pick up a decent one. For what it’s worth, I think the mechanically identical Panda is the better small Fiat, but for what my sister wants the 500’s perfect. I’m just annoyed I didn’t think of it earlier.

To be fair, I agree with her. If you can think of a better suggestion, feel free to send them in to the usual Champion address. Although – in true Life On Cars tradition – she’ll only ignore it anyway. Merry Christmas.

Fire up the... Chrysler Ypsilon

YOU'D be forgiven for thinking the fine lines of this city slicker have come from the delicately held pencils of an Italian artist. In fact, you'd be right, because while this new Chrysler's might have an all-American badge pretty much everything else is more Turin than Detroit.

That's because Chrysler, troubled by the credit crunch, sought solace in the support of Fiat, Italy's biggest car company, and the two have been sending each other's cars on a sort of automotive foreign exchange trip. That's why on the continent you can buy a Chrysler 300C with Lancia badges and why in Britain, the car known everywhere else as the Lancia Ypsilon is now - wait for it - the Chrysler Ypsilon.

Forget the badges though, because this supermini contender is one quirky looking little car no matter which company sells it to you. It's a riot of interesting angles and curves, with everything from the concealed door handles, the rear lights which creep into the side pillars and that imposing grille competing for your attention. Never let it be said that a small hatchback can't be a treat to look at.

The TwinAir engine, to my mind at least, isn't quite so endearing - it sounded gruff when I tried it in the Fiat 500 last year, and it sounds even more strained in this. It's award-winningly frugal and there are plenty of people who enjoy the offbeat patter the two-cylinder engine produces, but it's not one I enjoy. Luckily, if you loathe the TwinAir rather than love it, there are plenty of more conventional powerplants on offer.

In fact, the biggest problem with the £13,140 Ypsilon is that as a package it just doesn't quite gel - it's an interesting offering, but you can't help feel that in terms of interior quality, handling and ease of ownership a Fiesta or Polo would run rings around it.

Not that Chrysler and Lancia should hang their heads in shame, because I've driven another of their hatchback offerings and it's an absolute belter. Click here to find out why...

Fire up the.... Fiat Panda

IF FIAT'S 500 is Kylie Minogue then the Panda is Dannii. Attractive for all sorts of reasons but sadly overshadowed by a more famous sibling.

Which is a shame, because Fiat's funky little city car has always been a big hit in its own right. It might not have the cute retro charm of the 500, but the Panda, a former European Car of the Year, has always held its own because it's roomier, just as much fun to drive and - crucially - cheaper.

It's much the same story with this new model, which is a little curvier and a little weightier than the outgoing version, but otherwise it's a case of meet the new boss, same as the old boss. It's got the same high rise stance - which is why it's roomier inside than the 500 - and styling that's evolutionary rather than revolutionary, but stay with me a little longer before you reach for that 500 brochure.

With the 1.2, eight valve engine in the one I tested offering up just 69bhp it's emphatically not a fast car - worry not, other powerplants are available - but I love is not the power, but the way it uses what it's got to its advantage. It's light on its toes, easy to drive and always feels a bit frantic - but that's a good thing. It is a loveable little car in the finest Italian tradition, being a whole lot of fun in a simple, unpretentious sort of way.

But while the interior seems a little cheaper in the quality of its materials than say, VW's new Up, it's in here that the Panda scores its biggest trump card over the 500 - what you lose in looks you gain in room, and because it's a five door it's also far easier for your friends to get in and out of.

It's not as polished as the Up but think about this way; if you reckon you'd find a holiday in Milan a little bit more memorable than one in Berlin, than go for the Panda because its sense of mischief will prevail over the Veedub's sturdiness.

Keep it to yourself - given the choice of a 500 and a Panda, I'd go for the latter.

SMMT Test Day 2012 at Millbrook Proving Ground - a flavour of what's on the way

 

THE slightly guttural cough that accompanies the bellow of Jaguar’s supercharged V8, fitted to the frantic XKR-S someone had foolishly lent me, was worth the trip alone.

The sun has been shining on the nation’s road testers today – literally, as temperatures soared into the high twenties – at this year’s SMMT Test Day. Even though it meant setting the alarm clock for a depressingly early 4am it’s always worth the journey to the Millbrook Proving Ground in Bedfordshire, partly because it’s an incredible automotive playground in any car, but also because it’s a chance to find out more about some of 2012’s most important new arrivals.

I’ve put no less than 20 different cars through their paces and there’ll be more on here and in The Champion over the next couple of weeks, but to whet your appetite I can offer you a few snippets of automotive enlightenment I’ve picked up:

• The Jaguar XKR-S doesn’t need to have a supercharged 5.3 litre V8 pumping out 542bhp, but boy am I glad it does... 

• The electric entrants are getting better each year – in 2010 I was, er, shocked by what I drove, in 2011 I found a car that I would’ve liked if it hadn’t been cripplingly expensive, but this year I’ve found two that I’d actually buy. With money and everything! 

• I just couldn’t warm to one of this year’s most eagerly-awaited motors, no matter how hard I tried. Clue: it’s got three doors (or is it four?).

• It was a choice of testing 20 cars or queuing, Alton Towers style, to try just one; Subaru’s BRZ, which attracted queues of salivating journalists throughout the day. I’ve no doubt it could be the driver’s hit of the decade but the Life On Cars treatment will have to wait until another day... 

• ...as will a review of Vauxhall’s loopy Maloo pick-up (pictured above, next to the rather fetching vintage Vauxhall) which broke down and got withdrawn from the event just minutes before I was due to have a go. What a rotten bit of luck! Chances are, though, it'll be an awful lot like the VXR8 saloon I tested at Millbrook last year.

• The rebadged batch of Lancias that Chrysler’s taken into its showrooms are a bit of mixed bunch – but the good news is there’s an absolute gem among ‘em.
  
• Nobody I spoke to agreed on their winner of the great city car battle of 2012: Fiat Panda vs Up/Citigo/Mii. I’ll let you know my verdict in the next few weeks.

• It’s still possible to make a bad car, even in this day and age. I know, because I drove at least one today. 

• Chevrolet really ought to make the Camaro in right-hand-drive – it’s a great car for cruising around Wild West Lancashire! 

With variety being the spice of life I was keen to make sure that I didn't just stick to the shiny supercars (tempting though it was), and try and test a broad variety of cars that are significant in one way or other this year. That's why the 19 cars I drove included a Fiat, two VWs, two Chryslers, two Jaguars, a Land Rover, a Suzuki, a SEAT, a Ssangyong, two Vauxhalls, a Renault, a MINI, a BMW, two Hyundais and a Chevrolet. 

I’ll keep you posted...

Alfa Romeo and Mazda announce sports car tie-up

THE successor to Alfa Romeo's achingly beautiful Spider could be one of the most mouthwatering sports cars ever created.

Fiat, the Italian automotive giant which owns the Milanese motor makers, has announced that not only is it working on a new two-seater roadster, but that it's joined forces with Mazda, the makers of the best-selling sports car of all time, to create it. In three years' time, if the two companies play to their strengths, you'll be able to buy a car with classic Italian styling and the fun-to-drive factor of the MX-5.

I saw a mid-nineties Spider being driven along Southport's seafront on a sunny summer afternoon the other day and really, really wanted to be the chap behind the wheel. It never really took off with Brit buyers in the same way the Mazda did, because while the MX-5 had a rear-wheel-drive set up singlehandedly designed for being sporty, all Spider's since the model's '94 reinvention have relied on front-wheel-drive bits from the Fiat Group parts bin. Not that any of that mattered with the savvy souls who did take the plunge, because the reason why you bought any Spider was because of the way they looked. They were and still are, a delight to behold.

So the news that Fiat and Mazda are planning to join forces is brilliant news if you care about simple, small, two-seater sports cars (and, let's face it, chances are if you read Life On Cars you almost certainly do).

Mazda president Takashi Yamanouchi, knows this full well, and said this week: "Establishing technology and product development alliances is one of Mazda's corporate objectives and this announcement with Fiat is an important first step in that direction.

"It is especially exciting to be collaborating with such a prestigious marque as Alfa Romeo on a new roadster based on the next-generation MX-5, which is such an iconic vehicle for Mazda and recognized as the best-selling roadster of all time."

 

The two companies plan to develop two different, distinctly styled, iconic and brand-specific light weight, rear-wheel-drive roadsters. The Mazda and Alfa Romeo variants will each be powered by specific proprietary engines unique to each brand, although both are expected to be built at Mazda's factory in Hiroshima, where it's made the MX-5 in its various iterations for more than 20 years.

The deal, which is expected to be finalised later this year, also includes the scope for further tie-ups between Mazda and Fiat. Does that mean we can have finally have a follow up to one of the best-looking sports cars of all time, the Fiat Barchetta?

Italy's cars help brighten up our rainy British landscapes

THE spaghetti bolognese came served with a question. Why don't I feature more Italian cars in this column?

Well, Mr Waiter at my favourite Italian restaurant, this one's for you. I'm as much a fan of Italy's cars as I am of its food. Which means I like them a lot!

I could be obvious and spend the next 300 words explaining the appeal of expensive exotics which all have a million horsepower and names ending with “i” but that'd be doing a disservice to all those wonderfully Italian cars you and I can actually afford, which help to make Britain's rain-lashed roads a slightly brighter place.

Take the Fiat 500, or specifically the glorious Abarth version I tested for Life On Cars. With its cheeky, slightly reto styling and its mini-Ferrari soundtrack it is the perfect embodiment of all that's good with Italy's automotive industry; maybe not as well rounded as its German, French or Japanese counterparts but somehow all the more engaging for it. If it's a city slicker, clearly Rome was the city its creators had in mind.

The traditional ripposte, of course, is that the cars coming off the production lines in Turin and Milan aren't as sturdy as the ones from Stuttgart and Wolfsburg, which when you look at how Fiat and Alfa do in the reliability surveys you can tell is at least partly true. But it's also true that one of the country's biggest successes isn't even built there - the aforementioned 500 is in fact screwed together in a Polish factory - and that last time I drove an Alfa Giulietta not one of its many components broke or stopped working in any way.

Besides, getting hung up about build quality would deny you what I reckon is one of the greatest car designs ever to come out of Italy, and I'm not talking about the Ferrari Dino, the Maserati Ghibli or the Lancia Stratos. They're all masterpieces but they're almost always consigned to museums and shows these days. The Alfa Romeo 156 Sportwagon, on the other hand, is still making supermarket car parks prettier places to this day.

The 156 saloon is a stunner in its own right and no bad place to start, but the Sportwagon I think is a true design classic because it's the only estate I can think of which significantly improves the styling of the car it's based on.

Just don't mention that it's less - not more - spacious than the saloon and therefore useless as an estate. What's losing an argument when you're doing it with style?

Fire up the... Abarth 500C Essesse

NEVER, so the old saying goes, judge a book by its cover. Especially not if the book in question is in fact Fiat's 500.

The 500's stylish retro shape is surely the Courtney Cox of the car world - in automotive terms it's getting on a bit, but it seems to have defied the ageing process and doesn't look a day older than it did five years ago. Cutesy it might be, but dated it definitely isn't.

Stranger still is that Fiat have somehow managed to create entirely different cars underneath those pretty curves, because while the Abarth 500C looks strikingly similar to its small car sisters, it couldn't feel more different. While the TwinAir 500 came across as a nostalgic nod to the original 1957 Fiat 500 and a generation of Italian scooters thanks to its natty engine noise, the Abarth feels as though Fiat's tried to sqeeze an entire Ferrari underneath the 500's skin!

This is immediately obvious when you start it up, because - unlike the TwinAir - the Abarth's blessed with one of motoring's great engine notes, a rally car warble at low revs which builds up to a Pavarotti-esque bellow when you put your foot down. It's a note that comes courtesy of an engine very similar to the one Life On Cars tested in the Abarth Punto last year, only in the smaller 500 you can really make the most of its 160bhp.

The particular Abarth I tried also came fitted with the company's Essesse kit, which is a must because it provides not only more in the way of straight-line punch but also upgrades in the ride and handling department, which transform the 500 from being a slightly soft city slicker to something which really inspires your confidence. You can also opt for some very Italian colour schemes to finish it all off, but it's hardly the last word in subtlety and if it were my money I'd go for the metallic grey of the particular car I tested.

Is it worth the £16,000 asking price? That depends on how much space you want with your pace, because the likes of Citroen's DS3 will offer you a similarly fun drive but with plenty more room for your luggage and rear seat passengers. If, however, you want something with an endlessly engaging personality and sense of style than the Abarth will prove a characterful companion.

It might be completely different from the last Fiat 500 you tried, but it's still a great book behind its appealing cover.

Battling the Welsh weather? Choose your weapon...

A FAST Ford, a classic Mini, a regal old Rover and a vivacious Italian supermini. Given the choice and a wet weekend in the wilds of Wales, which would you take?

It's not a question you've ever needed to answer before but - in the noble interests of Life On Cars research - a few friends and I have ventured over the border and battled with flash flooding, high winds and twisty roads strewn with rocks and tree branches, so you won't have to. Oh, and sampled a few of the best roads in Britain while we were at it.

Our mission for the weekend was to head to Llandudno to meet up with an annual parade of old Minis which meet up on the town's promenade for a special display, but given only one of our party was actually in one we decided to give the official route a miss and head over the mountains and through the valleys. If you fancy giving it a go yourself tap some of the following phrases into your computer; Horseshoe Pass, Evo Triangle, Llanberis Pass, accident recovery.

I've always enjoyed a good road as much as a good car, making the route we'd chosen a sort of petrolhead's paradise; twisty, challenging, and blessed with stunning scenery instead of traffic. Thanks to the miracle of Google Street View you can even check out these captivating roads long before you reach them.

The four machines we'd brought along, I wager, were all brilliant in their own particular way and yet none were really perfect either for the job of providing hours of fun and frolics on narrow, twisty lanes while surviving torrential rain and battering gales.

The Ford Mondeo ST Estate, for instance, was the fastest and comfiest, but more than once it struggled to get round some of the tighter bends on account of it being so big. The Fiat Punto a friend had brought along and the Rover 214 I was travelling in could, but you always got the sense they were designed for stages smaller than the testing terrain of a really, really challenging road in the middle of nowhere.

In fact, the one car I was coveting the entire trip was the Mini in my mirrors, because having owned one I know its pin-sharp steering and bouncy suspension would easily have made up for the shortfall in the engine department. Well, I coveted it right up until it refused to start the following morning, helping me to remember that they don't make 'em like they used to. They make 'em better.

The answer is that doesn't matter which of our unlikely foursome you take to the thrilling mountain passes in this captivating corner of Wales. You'll be enjoying yourself so much, it won't matter.

The only person who knows whether you'll like a new car is you

AN ADMISSION. I actually know very little about the thorough business of test driving cars.

Every week, provided you actually make it past the news, the entertainment, the classifieds and the dating ads to The Champion's motoring page - and haven't end up there by mistake because you're actually looking for the sport section - you're greeted not only with this column, but on increasing occasions by a road test of something new and flashy I've just driven.

Unfortunately, I think it's given off the impression I actually know a thing or two about new cars.

I was a bit embarrassed when a high-ranking member of Lancashire County Council rang up the other day and asked for advice on which of the current crop of the superminis she should invest her hard-earned into. I suggested Ford's Fiesta (this column's car of the year, 2009) and Suzuki's sprightly Swift (runner up, 2010), with the likes of the Fabia, Panda and Jazz worth looking into. But could I reccomend the Polo, the Yaris or the current Clio? Nope, because I haven't test driven any of them.

Nor is my own patchy record of cars I've actually owned anything to go by, unless you're particularly partial to the more rot-prone motors produced decades ago by the long-gone British Leyland empire. The only car I've ever owned that was totally reliable was a £100 Renault 5, which I had to scrap in the end after discovering its main construction material was rust.

While I can tell you fairly confidently that the new Ford Focus will be one of 2011's biggest hits and what a 414bhp Lexus IS-F feels like under full throttle, the only way to make an informed decision about what new car to buy is still to try it out for yourself. It's as much about taste as it is technology, and the only person who knows whether you'll like the revamped Vauxhall Corsa is you.

Don't get me wrong; there's some cracking corkers of cars on sale right now, and as long as I'm allowed to drive them I'll let you know what I think. But the best bet's to ring up your friendly local dealer and ask to have a go.

Fire up the... Abarth Punto

WHAT'S red and white and travels around Britain at breakneck speed? Nope, it's not Father Christmas, but Abarth's go-faster treatment of one of Fiat's best sellers.

This pimped-out Punto isn't, the marketing men insist, a Fiat at all, but an exciting and sporty hot hatch from Abarth, who if you reach for the history books have actually notched up quite a bit of motorsport heritage. It's just a shame that Fiat, who took over the motorsport outfit, then squandered its significance by using the name for sad cosmetic kits for Seicentos and Stilos, but since then it's made a bit of a comeback with the near-universally praised Abarth 500.

The question for this racy-looking road rocket, then, is really rather simple; is it the perfect Christmas present for the hot hatch fan, or is it an Abarth in name only?

The good news starts even before you step inside; like the little 500, it has one of the best bodykits I've seen on any of today's sportier superminis, having go-faster stripes where you'd want them, black alloy wheels, and nothing at all in the way of silly spoilers or big wings. There's something very Seventies about the big ABARTH logos running down the side, and the company's famed Scorpion badge will allow at least some bragging rights in the pub car park.

But even that doesn't get you past this car's biggest problem; whichever way you look at it the Fiat Punto, which the Abarth's based on, it's a car that's showing its age. Sure, it's still stylish, roomy and practical, but you get the sense, particularly when you're inside, that it's lost the edge to newer rivals.

It's also something you sense behind the wheel, because while the Abarth has a delightful scrabbly feel off the line, you always get the suspicion that its 180bhp isn't quite enough in a hot hatch market obsessed with horsepower. I'd buy it over the Abarth offerings of old, but over a Citroen DS3 or Renaultsport Clio? Sadly, I suspect I probably wouldn't.

And anyway; Abarth already makes a hatchback that really is worth every penny. The Abarth 500.

As published in The Champion on December 22, 2010

Twice the price of what you need

FIAT'S 500 range has been boosted by two new arrivals this week - but one costs more than twice the price of the other!

Dedicated fans of the Italian icon will be delighted to know they can now pay tribute to the Ferrari F1 team with the Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari, above, which boosts not only 180bhp, lots of luxuries and a limited production run of just 152 cars, but an eyewatering pricetag of £29,600. That's £5,000 more than the bigger and faster Golf GTi, though it's also the cheapest new car you can buy with a Ferrari badge on it.

Alternatively you can spend less than half that to get a limited edition 500, with the Fiat 500 Black, below, costing a rather more reasonable £12,165 for the 1.2 version. This sequel to the Fiat 500 Pink introduced earlier this year won't be as fast or as exclusive as the Tributo Ferrari, but you will at least stand out from the crowd.

And with the £17,435 you'll have saved by going for the cheaper car, you could always buy another.