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Junkyard Gem: 1974 Fiat 124 Sport Spider

Fiat sold the Pininfarina-designed 124 Sport Spider in North America for the 1966 through 1980 model years, followed by a few years of importation by Malcolm Bricklin as the Pininfarina Spider. During the 1970s, these cheap and lightweight sports cars sold well, and enough of them still await oft-postponed restorations that plenty of them still show up in wrecking yards to this day. Here's a rusty but complete '74 in a Denver-area self-service yard. This wouldn't even count as real rust in Maine or Michigan, but it's a death sentence for a Denver Spider. According to the emissions-test sticker, it was driving in Colorado as recently as 1994. The inherent coolness of an Italian convertible keeps these cars around even after they break (which happens with great frequency), but their affordability makes owners reluctant to spend real money on fixing problems. This means that many thousands of 124 Sport Spiders sit in driveways, yards, and garages around the continent, awaiting repairs that (in most cases) will never come. Eventually, a spouse or landlord or homeowners' association has had enough, and the old Fiat project takes that final, sad tow-truck trip to the graveyard. The 1,756cc Twin Cam engine in this car was rated at 92.5 horsepower, which was decent power for a 2,128-pound car in 1974. The current Miata-based 124 Spider has 160-164 horses and weighs just a few hundred pounds more, but expectations have changed since the dark days of the Malaise Era. The 124 Sport Spider's main rival in North America was the venerable MGB. Both cars were notorious for reliability problems, but so what? Commuting in an affordable little European convertible was way more fun than chugging around town in a Corolla or Pinto. In 1974, the 124 Spider had a $4,395 price tag (about 23 grand today), and the MGB cost a mere $3,925. The MGB was heavier and had just 78.5 horsepower from its sturdy-but-primitive pushrod engine (yes, British Leyland claimed the half-horse instead of rounding down), but was much more solidly built; if not for the flaky electrical system made by The Prince of Darkness, the MGB would have obliterated the 124 Spider in the dependability department. I always grab these beautiful metal-and-glass warning lights when I find them in junked Fiats; I have installed them in everything from Impala instrument panels to homemade car-parts boomboxes. This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Towing with the 2016 Ram lineup [w/video]

I do not tow things. Ever. Yet I recently found myself at the Fiat Chrysler Automobiles proving grounds in Chelsea, MI, where I'd be testing the hauling capabilities of Ram's current product range. This experience was not only a perfect education for a towing novice like me, but allowed me to tow far more weight than I'd ever consider hauling the real world, and all within the safe confines of the Chelsea Proving Grounds. There was an extremely diverse array of vehicles at my disposal, including Ram's gasoline- and diesel-powered offerings with trucks ranging from the 1500 on up through the 5500 Chassis Cab, as well ProMaster vans. Beyond that, FCA brought out a number of vintage Dodge pickups for me to play with, while also working with Case IH to provide a track-loader I could test. I put together a range of videos covering everything from the classics to the production trucks to the construction equipment. And despite some technical difficulties – you'll notice a distinct lack of in-car videos, with blame going to a corrupted micro SD card – I've assembled ten videos that give an up-close look at Ram's offerings. 2015 Ram ProMaster City Let's start small. The ProMaster City only has a towing capacity of 2,000 pounds. That's a reasonably impressive figure for a van that uses the same powertrain as a Chrysler 200. The 2.4-liter four-cylinder and nine-speed automatic weren't really bothered with the extra weight added by the trailer. Even when accelerating at freeway speeds, the ProMaster City didn't feel out of breath or hampered by its load. That said, the rear of the van was unloaded, which probably wouldn't be the case for most consumers. It's unclear how the City would feel if its driver were taking advantage of the max payload (1,883 pounds) and towing. 2015 Ram ProMaster 1500 To be polite, the Ram ProMaster is a difficult vehicle to like. Its awkward seating position is bus-like and lacks the visibility enjoyed by the Ford Transit or the utter driving comfort of the Mercedes-Benz Sprinter. Its 3.0-liter, four-cylinder turbodiesel engine, meanwhile, is something of an anomaly. While it's potent for a four-cylinder diesel, producing 295 pound-feet of torque and 174 horsepower, those numbers don't feel all that impressive when loaded down. The model I tested was barely using half of its 5,100-pound maximum towing weight and was loaded down with just 500 of its 3,620-pound payload. Yet it lacked the pluckiness of the smaller City.

Fiat 500e will be Stellantis' EV test run in the U.S.

LOS ANGELES – While we're excited for the Fiat 500e's arrival in the U.S., and we think there's a clear niche for it, we still had loads of questions about what models were coming, if any changes would be made and what else might be coming for the Italian brand. And in a roundtable interview with Fiat Brand CEO Olivier Francois, we learned all that and more. So let's go over the fascinating electric future of Fiat in the U.S. The Future is 500 And when we say that it's 500, we mean only 500e. Francois revealed that, although it's not going away immediately, the 500X crossover will be discontinued when this generation reaches the end of its lifecycle. His reasoning for this move is that only one model really struck a chord with American buyers: the regular 500. He pointed out that it had, at once point, 60% of the ultra-small segment ahead of Mini. And it was successful because it was an iconic car that met a very specific niche for a very specific buyer: something small and stylish that worked well as a commuter and city car. He noted that the 500L, with a focus on practicality, wasn't something that a mainstream buyer was looking for, nor that niche buyer. And it's a similar case for the 500X. So the brand is shifting back to its most popular, core model, and it has no plans in the near term to expand beyond that. Exactly which 500e variants will be offered here is still being decided. There are three versions in Europe right now, the hatchback, soft-top and quirky three-door (with a half-door on the passenger side a la Mazda MX-30). They will be joined by a sporty Abarth version soon. Francois noted that they could start with one version and offer others later, or perhaps the hatch and convertible simultaneously. The three-door seems unlikely, as there isn't much demand for such a small car with a marginally easier-to-access rear seat. The Abarth is something Francois said he would like to offer here (and we would love to accept), but that will likely be determined by how well this new Fiat strategy works. He did say that any of them could be offered, but it depends on the brand's success and strategy. One interesting tidbit that could complicate the convertible is that the most successful states for the 500 were California and Florida, which are both states were convertibles don't do great.