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Wish you had a world-famous auto exec give your commencement speech? Watch this

We've seen some pretty great commencement speeches over the years. There was Steve Jobs' incredibly inspiring Stanford address in 2005, John Stewart's insightful speech to the graduating class of William and Mary in 2004 and Steven Colbert's hilarious 2011 address at Northwestern, but automotive executives aren't strangers to honorary degrees. Former General Motors CEO Rick Wagoner spoke at Virginia Commonwealth University in 2011, and Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne recently gave the keynote at Walsh College's 100th Commencement Ceremony. The executive knows a thing or two about success and following one's beliefs to fulfillment.
"I constantly encourage my co-workers at Fiat and Chrysler to go beyond the cliche and the conventional to try new approaches and change perspective each and every day," Marchionne said. "I exhort them not to repeat the same things, the same approaches, and I remind them they are indeed free. The freedom I am talking about is something inside you. It is determined by how open minded you remain, how receptive you are to the new and to the different, to the infinite possibilities that present themselves even if you don't go looking for them or could never have imagined. Being free means that you have the strength not to be conditioned by what others want you to do or by what may seem to be the easiest choice."
Amen to that. You can check out the brief press release on the address below as well as a video of a few highlights from the speech.

2017 Fiat 124 Spider Elaborazione Abarth is lacking its sting

After seeing the 2017 Fiat 124 Spider Elaborazione Abarth at the New York Auto Show, we're starting to understand the convertible is essentially Fiat's take on the 2016 Mazda MX-5 Miata Club trim. Thing is, the Abarth name is synonymous with big performance out of tiny engines, and that's exactly what the latest Fiat 124 Abarth gets in Europe. We want it here, too. Despite the scorpion badge on the fender, this model makes the same 160 horsepower and 184 pound-feet as the standard 124 Spider. By way of comparison, the 1.4-liter turbocharged four-cylinder makes 170 horsepower in Europe. Customers here can choose between a six-speed manual or automatic to route power to the rear wheels through a limited slip differential. The Elaborazione Abarth isn't completely without improvements, though. The droptop gets a stiffer suspension with Bilstein shocks, and a Sport Mode button adds an extra edge when drivers want it. Brembo four-piston calipers are optional, and the US model keeps the European Abarth's retro touches like the black hood. Unfortunately, Abarth's performance legacy holds the Elaborazione Abarth back, rather than helping it. The Mazda MX-5 Miata Club gets most of the same upgrades, including a limited-slip differential, Bilstein shocks, and optional Brembo brakes. However, the Miata's sporty trim is easy to accept because it's just part of the regular lineup; Mazda doesn't attach a brand name with racing history to the sharper model. In contrast, the scorpion badge on this 124 Spider makes the convertible hard to accept as a real Abarth. Related Video:

Junkyard Gem: 1985 Bertone X1/9

Sales of the Fiat X1/9 began in the United States in 1974, and the price tag was very reasonable for a mid-engined Italian two-seater. For a time, these cars were common sights on American streets, at least in non-rusty areas. Then Americans became disillusioned with the Fiat brand, and the company folded its tent and departed the continent after 1982, not returning until 2010. Automotive dealmaker Malcolm Bricklin saw an opportunity at that point, and his company began bringing in 124 Sport Spiders badged as Pininfarinas and X1/9s badged as Bertones. Here's an '85 Bertone in a California wrecking yard. Fiat had hired Bertone to design the X1/9 in the first place, so the badging change wasn't so jarring to those Americans familiar with the car's history. Bricklin introduced Subaru cars to the United States in the late 1960s, started his own car company in the middle 1970s, then went on to bring a Yugoslavian-built Fiat 127 variant to these shores, via the same company that was already bringing in the X1/9. Power came from what amounted to a Fiat 128 engine/transaxle assembly, mounted just behind the rear window. In 1985, the Bertone X1/9 had 75 horsepower and weighed just over a ton. This car still has the allegedly valuable hardtop. I'm pretty sure that every American X1/9 owner has several of these stashed away by now. Optimistically, Bertone used a six-digit odometer in this car. 188,285 miles would have been pretty respectable in a 1985 Corolla, never mind a Fiat known for shaky electrical systems and poor build quality. I still see quite a few X1/9s in the big self-service wrecking yards, and even more 124 Sport Spiders. The seat upholstery is very stylish. I checked this car's VIN on the California smog-check database, which shows that it last passed the emissions test in 2009. Perhaps something broke soon after that and the car awaited repairs that never came. It has both a trunk and a frunk. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings. Just a thing for a nice leisurely drive on a salt flat.