2012 Fiat 500 C Convertible. White With Black Top 8300 Miles Excellent Shape on 2040-cars

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Junkyard Gem: 1980 Fiat 124 Spider with slushbox

The original Fiat 124 Sport Spider sold like crazy in the United States, with its cheap price tag, raucous-sounding Fiat Twin Cam engine, cool Pininfarina lines, and happy convertible top. They were finicky and fragile, and they broke frequently, so most of them ended up under tarps in driveways and back yards. I have been crawling around in wrecking yards for 34 years now, and the numbers of discarded, never-going-to-get-around-to-this-project 124 Spiders in those yards have remained pretty constant; I see a half-dozen or so junked examples every year, year after year. What I had never seen before now, however, is a Fiat 124 Sport Spider with an automatic transmission. Sure, this car had an optional GM-sourced slushbox available, just as the MGB had a Borg-Warner automatic option, but a car buyer during the Malaise Era generally understood that the only reason to get a flaky, impractical European sports car was for the joy of driving something so lightweight and nimble. Bolting an automatic to one was like chaining a urine-soaked phone book to a jackrabbit. I never believed that anyone actually got the automatic, but here's proof that at least one buyer did. Actually, 80 horsepower in a Fiat with an automatic would be slightly less miserable than 62.5 horsepower in an MGB with an automatic. So there's that. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1980 Fiat 124 Sport Spider in Denver junkyard View 15 Photos Auto News Fiat fiat 124 spider

Fiat 500L ad gets saucy with Paul Revere

At new vehicle first drives, there's a pretty set series of events before an automaker throws you the keys to their new baby. Predictably, there's a design presentation, a mechanical deep dive, and increasingly, an infotainment system walkthrough. Less known but just as common, however, are the marketing presentations, wherein execs talk about target customers and periodically show print and video 'creative' for their campaigns. Usually, we assembled media dutifully watch, nod and smile when shown commercials, but that's about it. Laugher - let alone universal gales of the stuff - is rare. But that's exactly what Fiat got when it showed us this not-yet-approved ad for its new 500L.
This minute-long Italian Invasion spot has gone on to hit television screens already, largely in a less-effective 30-second form, but we like this full-length director's cut best. It riffs off the historical vibe of some of Chrysler's best efforts over the last few years (the Dodge Challenger Freedom spot comes to mind) with a humorous and sexy play on the Paul Revere "The British Are Coming!" folk tale. If you haven't seen it already (it's just now going viral), scroll down to check it out. And if you already have, well, it's still worth a second look.

All eyes on Detroit as automakers prepare for slow, careful reopening of plants

DETROIT — The U.S. factories that make Fords, Chevys and Jeeps are coming back to life this week as workers install new safety equipment and wake up machines ahead of the high-stakes restart the Detroit automakers plan to launch on Monday. Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler Automobiles all plan to reopen North American factories on May 18. The reopening of the U.S. auto sector will be a closely watched test of whether workers across a range of industries can return to factories in large numbers without a resurgence of COVID-19 infections. How well the automakers do will be significant for the U.S. economy, as nearly 1 million workers are employed in the sector. Executives at Ford and GM said separately this week the companies have not recorded any cases of COVID-19 transmission in plants outside the United States since adopting new safety protocols. Those procedures include mandatory face masks, separation of workers on assembly lines, frequent cleaning of work areas and requirements that workers pass through temperature monitors and report any symptoms before entering a plant. The Detroit Three have taken unprecedented steps to share information about coronavirus safety practices and develop a common set of workplace standards for their restarts, working with the United Auto Workers union, executives said. "We thought it was critical that we did it together," Ford manufacturing and labor chief Gary Johnson told Reuters. "We've never done this as an industry." The Detroit automakers will restart U.S. plants without regular testing of workers, because they do not have access to sufficient testing capacity, executives and UAW officials said. They will test workers who report COVID-19 symptoms or have fevers discovered by temperature scanners installed at factory entrances. "We have to continue to push for this testing," United Auto Workers union Vice President Cindy Estrada told Reuters on Wednesday. "Unless we have testing weekly to keep sick people out of the plant there is always a risk." Adopting new safety practices is just part of the work the companies must do to reopen after an extraordinary shutdown that has lasted two months.   Wave zero At Ford, workers going in to ready factories are part of what Chief Operating Officer Jim Farley calls "wave zero." The work of wave zero employees "is really important for success of the startup," he said in an interview.