2012 Fiat 500 Pop on 2040-cars

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2014 Fiat 500L Trekking takes the hatchback into the big leagues

Didn't think it was possible to pull and pry at the diminutive Fiat 500 with enough gumption to make the Italian hatchback qualify as a large car (according to the EPA, at least)? Witness the Fiat 500L Trekking, seen above. It's a full 26-inches longer than the regular 500, and it's grown six-inches taller and wider.
All that stretching means there is 42 percent more interior room in the 500L than the standard car, which means it's a good thing the only engine available is Fiat's 1.4-liter MultiAir turbo four-cylinder engine, as seen in the Abarth, with 160-horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque. A manual gearbox is standard, and a dual-clutch automatic is optional, each with six gears.
The Trekking model features unique front and rear fascias and 17-inch alloy wheels to set it apart from the base 500L, and the black wheel arch and body-side sill moldings make it look more aggressive. Want to know more? Check out the high-res gallery above and scroll down below for the press release.

Ferrari families have 'agreement' to prevent takeover

With its initial public offering already a massive success, Ferrari is now officially a publicly traded company on the New York Stock Exchange. While anyone can buy those shares, don't expect investors to take control away from some of the top owners of the Prancing Horse anytime soon. To maintain their power, Enzo Ferrari's son, Piero, and Exor chairman John Elkann will sign a deal guaranteeing themselves nearly half of the automaker's voting rights, Bloomberg reports. As part of this arrangement, shareholders that agree to hang onto Ferrari stock for at least three years would receive additional voting rights in the company, and that would give Piero and Elkann a combined 48.7 percent of the automaker by banding together. While not quite complete control, the move should be enough to prevent a takeover of the business. "We have an agreement among the families to protect our interests in Ferrari," Piero said to Bloomberg. This agreement won't really become a concern until next year because only 10 percent of Ferrari will be traded for now. FCA will distribute another 80 percent to its shareholders in early 2016, and Elkann's Exor will be getting the largest portion of the Prancing Horse in the spin-off. Meanwhile, Piero holds the remaining 10 percent but has absolutely no intention to sell his stake in his father's business. The newly public Ferrari will push to grow volume with a goal of moving 9,000 vehicles annually by 2019. To reach that 30-percent boost, expect to see a new model every year, and some of them might use a new, modular platform that's reportedly under development. Related Video:

Junkyard Gem: 1979 Fiat Brava Sedan

Ever since I started spending too much time crawling around in junkyards, about 40 years ago, one thing has been constant: a steady supply of Fiat 124 Sport Spiders and X1/9s scattered among the dullsville econoboxes. These cars were shinier in the early 1980s, but they remain just about as easy to find today in your local Ewe Pullet. Of course, the current generation of Fiat 500 has been with us for a decade and so the days of shiny junkyard Fiats have returned for us. But what about the other Fiat models sold here prior to the company's departure from our shores in 1982? I've found the occasional discarded 128 and even a couple of 850s, but the rear-wheel-drive Fiat sedans of the 1970s and 1980s have become all but extinct. I'm not expecting to find a junkyard 130, ever, but this year I have managed to spot a pair of 131s (which were badged as Bravas during their last couple of years in North America). Here's one of those cars, now residing in a Denver yard. Unusually in the case of a Junkyard Gem, I know something about this Brava's history. Back in 2019, the owner of a beloved Fiat repair shop passed away and all 75 Fiats (plus some Alfa Romeos and Lancias) in the shop's storage yard went up for auction, cheap. I did my best to spread the word about these cars, and some got rescued. You can see our subject in this photo above, awaiting its new home. It had a lot of surface rust from sitting outside for decades, but not a lot of genuinely alarming corrosion. Along with a white '79 Brava sedan nearby, it was purchased for a couple of hundred bucks— at most— and towed out of there. Perhaps the buyer or buyers of those two Bravas planned to flip them for a profit, or maybe the intent was to fix them up and drive them. Two years later, both are parked in the same boneyard just north of downtown Denver. I'm guessing that everybody in Front Range Colorado who wanted an old Fiat sedan already has a half-dozen, and the 20-hour tow to places like Chicago or San Francisco is just too daunting for Fiat fanatics in those places to come here and buy a car. The 131/Brava could be bought new in the United States from the 1976 through 1981 model years. In 1979, the list price of a carbureted Brava sedan was $7,583 (about $30,860 in 2021 dollars). That was a lot cheaper than its similarly-sized BMW 320i rival, which cost $11,810, though the plusher and more powerful $8,129 Datsun 810 sedan must have stolen some sales from both types that year.