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Marchionne offers belated apology for 'wop engine' comment

Automotive News reports Fiat-Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne has issued a written apology for his comments regarding his decision to stick with an Italian engine for the upcoming Alfa Romeo 4C. As you may recall, back in January, Marchionne was quoted as saying, "I cannot come up with a schlock product, I just won't. I won't put an American engine into that car. With all due respect to my American friends, it has to be a wop engine." The CEO penned an apology to the Italian American ONE VOICE Coalition for using the racial epithet, saying that he made the comment in jest. Marchionne also said he realizes his remarks were unacceptable.
ONE VOICE, an organization aimed at fighting discrimination and stereotyping of Italian Americans, thanked Marchionne, Chrysler and Fiat for the apology. Marchionne is an Italian-born Canadian citizen, and he's gotten in trouble for other comments in the past. In 2011, he called high interest rates Chrysler was paying to the Canadian government "shyster rates." He apologized a day later.

These 'blind' automotive world record stunts have to stop

Drivers setting world records "blind" – wearing a blindfold or with something obscuring the windshield – is the new thing for some reason. First it was an Alfa Romeo Giulia setting a blind lap at Silverstone with help from a spotter trailing behind, and now this: a stunt man doing a J-turn within a narrow path with nothing but a Nissan Juke's cameras guiding him. He matched the "sighted" J-turn record, flipping the car around in a space about 7 inches longer than the car. I have two issues with these stunts. First, there are just too many world records. Yeah, I said it. Are these meaningful? Is someone else likely to ever attempt this feat? No, because it's just marketing, both for the manufacturer and whoever's still trying to sell those annual books. Stuff like the fastest production car is fine with me. Heck, I'll even take unofficial Nurburgring times – the kind where the drivers can actually see. Second, I'm all for stunts, but do something cool! And preferably something that could only be performed with that particular car, if you're going to make an ad out of it. Yes, the Juke has an Around View Monitor system, which stitches together feeds from four cameras to make it look like the car is being filmed by a drone hovering overhead. I happen to love 360-degree cameras – they let you see things that are just not visible from the driver's seat and make parking and low-speed maneuvering really easy. But the Juke isn't the first car to offer one, and the feature isn't even new to the car. Nissan was at least forthright enough to admit that this professional driver (on a closed course!) had a bunch of practice. But this really says more about his precision driving skills than about the car, or the camera. And just so we're clear, you really shouldn't try to park a car without looking out the windows, even if you have fancy cameras. So what's next? Pretty soon there will be a record for blindest blind stunt. Let me know when someone actually does something interesting. Related Video:

Alfa Romeo Giulia, Stelvio Quadrifoglio NRING Editions come with scale models and jackets

Alfa Romeo's Quadrifoglio models, both the Giulia and Stelvio, have set some quick laps at the Nurburgring. The latter holds the SUV record, while the former was recently dethroned by the Jaguar XE Project 8. To celebrate, the company has created the NRING Edition for the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio and the Alfa Romeo Stelvio Quadrifoglio. In typical special edition tradition, it features a unique color, a matte, metallic gray, and a few other other basic upgrades, plus numbering for all 108 examples of each model. But the really special parts of these vehicles aren't actually part of the vehicles, but rather they're bonus accessories and experiences. Each car comes with a "welcome kit." It includes Sparco racing gloves, an Alfa Romeo jacket, cufflinks, shoes and a bag in which to carry everything. The last car we remember coming with its own jacket is the Mercury Marauder. On top of that, each car comes with its own 1:18 scale model. Once you've found a place for your model and are ready with your Alfa gear, you can head to Germany to participate a driving school course at the Nurburgring with your NRING Edition car. All of this makes a somewhat average special edition car something far more exciting, and as such we're not surprised it won't be available in America. All 216 cars will be sold in Europe, the Middle East and Asia. But hey, if you're a wealthy car enthusiast who has been looking at Alfas, one of these could be the way to go. Related Video: