After a hearty breakfast and a last minute dip into the onsen, the second day of the Marronier Run was going to be all about admiration. I headed out to the front of the Hotel nice and early so that I could make full use of the beautiful morning light that was just breaking over [...]
Mirroring Nostalgic 2 Days over in Japan, the UK has also just held its own vintage racecar event. Race Retro is the UK’s premier meeting for historic racing and rallying: it’s the pre-season gathering place for the vintage racing community – the time-travel version of January’s Autosport International show, if you will. Like Autosport, it [...]
I can’t quite explain it, but I’ve always been fascinated with turbocharged engines. I have always found the idea or harnessing exhaust gasses to help force-feed the intake side of the engine such an ingenious solution. While we are currently living through a massive comeback of the turbocharger as more and more modern engines, big [...]
The Auto Italia show at Brooklands was a treasure-trove of all things automotive and Italian – the first thing you were greeted at when entering the legendary circuit via the old Campbell Circuit hill was the Abarth stand: snapping scorpion versions of Fiat originals. Carlo Abarth started breathing on Fiats in 1952, so the name [...]
One of the biggest car events of the year at the legendary Brooklands oval track to the west of London is the Auto Italia show, a celebration of all things Italian deep in England’s leafy suburbia. Arriving by car and parking on site only had just one simple rule. Ticked that box? Then you’re in, [...]
?Standing shoulder to shoulder with the supercars, stylists and mainstream car companies at the 2012 Geneva Salon International de l'Auto are the tuners. Here in Switzerland the order of the day is to take an already hot car – and turn the heat up even further. Bigger engines, more extreme body styling, lower stances… Some [...]
When I heard that there would be a Hillclimb race not far from where I live, I knew I had to be there. It has been on the to-do list for a while now so this was the perfect opportunity to get that one off the list. After seeing several videos from different races around [...]
While roaming the paddock at the recent 24hrs Spa event, I came across several special, spotlight worthy cars. One of them was this limited edition Fiat 500. It is called the Abarth 695 Tributo Ferrari and is obviously a tribute to the prancing horse. The car is painted in Ferrari red with two silver stripes [...]
Ever since driving the Abarth 500 esseesse last year I have always wondered what its bigger brother the Punto would be like. Well I finally got a chance to sample the performance of one when I dropped by Tremauto last month in Italy. Moreno took me out for a ride in a customer's car he had [...]
A couple of days ago when I dropped by a local tyre shop here in Italy where I'm currently staying, I ran across a pretty rare classic Fiat. With the current success the redesigned Fiat 500 is enjoying around the world, people a lot of the time forget some of the other great cars that [...]
The new 500 we saw last week might be the retro car of the moment but let's not forget the real car it is "based" on. No sooner had I picked up the little Esseesse a car collector friend of mine dropped over my place with his original 500 F along Shimizu-san of T.C. Garage, [...]
I'm spending this week driving around Tokyo in a brand new Fiat 500 Abarth esseesse. I haven't had a chance to drive it much but I'm already getting used to its tiny dimensions and massive fun factor. It reminded me of the great cars that have worn the Abarth badge in the past and I [...]
The Fiat 500 is a popular car with the Speedhunter’s Editorial team so it is about time we featured it and its predecessor in more detail. Unfortunately for me, the car is not available in North America, although rumours continue to stir that Fiat may re-enter the US (and hopefully Canada) in the near future. [...]
An Italian flavour to our 'new cars' posts in the early part of this week The Fiat 500 was launched earlier this year and evokes memories of the old classic Fiat 500. Abarth is the tuning arm of Fiat. The Abarth is powered by a 1.4 Litre 16v Turbo engine giving out 135 bhp. As a small city [...]
