Like the Mini Cooper the Fiat 500 is a reworking of an old classic that stays very true to the heritage from which it comes. A side-by-side comparison to the old Fiat that battled the Mini years ago on the market shows two Fiat’s with very similar lines. However, did Fiat achieve the same kind of modernization in their Fiat 500 that BMW achieved when they revitalized the Mini Cooper brand not too long ago?
For those of us in the states we will just have to go to the video evidence to find out. Take a look at these:
First up is the boys from Fifth Gear who take the Fiat 500 out for city tour.
Ever look at those car company logo’s and wonder where they came from? Well there is a convenient listing out there that provides some of the background for the some of the worlds most recognized symbols.
Take for example the Volvo logo. In Latin the word Volvo means “i roll”. The circle with arrow of the Volvo logo is the symbol for iron, which was used to make Sweden’s main industrial product of the country back in the day: steel.
With the launch of the Fiat 500, things have begun to take for changes to take place, the most significant being the re-introduction of the Abarth branding for the little car and the Punto. But now it would appear that the chiefs at the Fiat Company are thinking of launching Abarth as a single stand alone business.
For fans of Fiat and Abarth this is truly a great move and it does only stop with the 500 and Punto models, there has been a clear indication that there is a real possibility that Abarth will be getting their own exclusive models which is really going to be something special.
If this does actually come through, the new business can be vaguely compared with Lexus, but instead of going down the luxury route, Abarth will take the sports route.
For Fiat this would herald a new era of car technology and styling, creating a new sports marque under the Abarth banner will attract many people who would not have normally even given Fiat another look, which is good for business and more importantly offers the market place a new a sports brand.
Abarth was founded by Karl Abarth in Turin in 1949, the company developed racing cars which competed in many different classes during the 1960’s, but it was when they started to build parts for road cars that Fiat took an interest, taking the brand over in 1971.
Could this be the return of Abarth in its own right, nearly sixty years after the company was first formed?
It was back in 2004 when the factory doors closed for the last time in Modena, Italy for the super car design and builders De Tomaso. In fact it was shortly after the founder, former racing driver Alejandro de Tomaso died, it was most definitely the end of an era.
However it would appear that there may be a De Tomaso revival on the cards, and as this marque is probably one of the best sports car ever built, this is hardly a surprise.
The backing for the new company is to be coming from a consortium of both American and Chinese business people, who clearly have a love for high octane car building, and a feeling that there is a place for another super car company.
The most famous model was the Pantera, this car was at one time one the fastest production road cars of its time, and still has an iconic position in the history of auto manufacturing. This was powered by a Ford engine and yet, this was not enough, the company tried to compete with the luxury high end cars, by producing the Deauville and the Long champ.
De Tomaso has had it fair share of owners too, which include, Citroen, MG Rover, Fiat and Maserati, but it was just not enough to keep the company going and it was just a matter of time before the inevitable happened.
If this happens it will be one the greatest come backs in auto history, we shall have to wait for more news though.
