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Ferrari, Fiat, McLaren, Nissan join coronavirus ventilator efforts

Siare Engineering, Italy's largest manufacturer of hospital ventilators, has turned to Italian automakers Ferrari and Fiat to investigate the possibility that the automakers might help produce more of the live-saving machines that are urgently needed to fight the coronavirus pandemic. The Italian government has asked Siare to increase ventilator production from 160 per month to 500 as the country's death toll has surpassed 3,400 and is climbing rapidly.  "We're talking to Fiat Chrysler, Ferrari and Marelli to try to understand if they can lend us a hand in this process for the electronics part," Gianluca Preziosa, Siare's chief executive said in an interview quoted by Reuters, adding that the car companies' expertise in electronics and pneumatics could make them ideal partners. Preziosa said that another advantage of partnering with carmakers was their purchasing power, making them more likely to obtain parts that his small firm was struggling to secure amid coronavirus-related disruption to global supply chains. A spokesman for Exor, parent of both FCA and Ferrari, said that meetings with Siare had taken place on Thursday to study the feasibility of the idea and that a decision was expected in the coming hours. Two main options were being considered: either to help Siare engineer a capacity increase at its plant, with the support of technicians provided by FCA and Ferrari, or outsource production of ventilator parts to the carmakers' facilities. A source familiar with the matter told Reuters that Ferrari would be ready to start manufacturing ventilator parts in its famous Maranello headquarters, which lies close to the Siare factory, but that the luxury carmaker had yet to make a final decision. Automakers worldwide are being drafted for ventilator duty. In addition to Ford and GM making plans with the U.S. government; British Prime Minister Boris Johnson reaching out to Ford, Honda and Rolls-Royce; and an Elon Musk tweeted offer to build ventilators "if there is a shortage," other automakers and aerospace companies are joining in. In Europe, three groups have formed. Meggitt, which builds components including oxygen systems for civil aerospace and military fighter programs, is leading one consortium alongside engineers GKN, Thales and Renishaw. The other two teams are being led by carmakers McLaren, which is looking at how to design a simple version of a ventilator, and Nissan, which is working with others to support existing ventilator producers.

Fiat Chrysler shares get a boost after revised Stellantis merger deal with PSA

MILAN — Shares in Fiat Chrysler (FCA) rose sharply in Milan on Tuesday after the car maker and French partner PSA revised the terms of their merger deal, with FCA's shareholders getting a smaller cash payout but a stake in another business. FCA and PSA, which last year agreed to merge to give birth to Stellantis, the world's fourth largest car manufacturer, said late on Monday they had amended the accord to conserve cash and better face the COVID-19 challenge to the auto sector. Milan-listed shares in Fiat Chrysler rose almost 8% by 1000 GMT, while PSA gained 1.5%. Under the revised terms, FCA will cut from 5.5 billion euros ($6.5 billion) to 2.9 billion euros the cash portion of a special dividend its shareholders are set to receive on conclusion of the merger. However, PSA will for its part delay the planned spinoff of its 46% stake in car parts maker Faurecia until after the deal is finalized. That means all Stellantis shareholders — and not just the current PSA investors - will get shares in a company which has a market value of 5.8 billion euros. Based on Stellantis' 50-50 ownership structure, FCA and PSA respective shareholders will each receive a 23% stake in Faurecia. Analysts welcomed the 2.6 billion euros in additional liquidity for Stellantis' balance sheet as well as the increase in projected synergies to more than 5 billion euros from 3.7 billion. There was also further reassurance as the two companies confirmed they expected the deal to close by the end of the first quarter of 2021. "All told, the two players emerge as winners," broker ODDO BHF said in a note. "Of the two, FCA might be a bit more of a winner in the short term given the structure of the deal and the numerous payouts to shareholders to come in the quarters ahead (potentially close to 5 billion euros versus the current capitalization of around 16 billion euros)." The special dividend for FCA shareholders had proved contentious after Italy offered state guarantees for a 6.3 billion euro loan to the company's Italian business. "These announcements should, at last, end the debate over the financial terms of the merger, which had become a big topic and was still penalizing the two groups' share performances," ODDO BHF said. PSA and FCA said they would consider paying out 500 million euros to shareholders in each firm before closing or else a 1 billion euro payout to Stellantis shareholders afterwards, depending on market conditions and company performance and outlook.

The Plymouth Prowler was so cool you could get a Prowler-shaped trailer for it

Like many car enthusiasts, we at Autoblog have a tendency to spend our free time browsing online car listings for unusual vehicles. One of our editors' latest finds is this 1997 Plymouth Prowler with less than 300 miles on the clock. And as we looked at it and discussed it in our work chat room, we were reminded just how cool the Prowler was. It was one of the rare automobiles to go from concept to reality almost unchanged. It was even more remarkable Chrysler pulled it off considering its open wheels, aluminum chassis and dramatic body work. The 1997 model year was the very first for the Prowler, and it was only offered in the metallic purple that the show car wore. That show car made its debut in Detroit in 1993. You can see it in the photo above. Besides some tweaked bumpers and reworked headlights, they're hard to tell apart. The Prowler, inspired by hot rods like custom 1932 Fords, helped kick off the retro craze of the late 1990s and early 2000s, leading to Chrysler's own PT Cruiser and other vehicles such as the VW New Beetle, BMW-built Mini Cooper and Ford Thunderbird. The production car boasted some impressive technology, but it also had a number of drawbacks. It featured an aluminum chassis, and it had a rear-mounted transmission connected to the engine via a torque tube similar to the contemporary C5 Corvette. On the flip side, this hot rod-inspired roadster ended up with a 3.5-liter V6 making 214 horsepower, rather than a rumbly V8. This was because there wasn't room in the narrow nose for a V8. It was also saddled with a four-speed automatic, the only available transmission. The interior, while having cool hot rod touches like the body-color instrument panel, AutoMeter tachometer on the steering column and stylish hoops on the seats, was plasticky and sourced heavily from the Chrysler parts bin. These were issues on a car that cost the equivalent of nearly $60,000 in today's money. Chrysler did make efforts to improve the Prowler over time. The most significant improvement was the introduction of a high-output V6 for 1999 making 253 horsepower, which actually resulted in acceleration appropriate for a performance car at the time. Then again, it still had that four-speed automatic. Plymouth also offered the car in a variety of colors and some special editions with two-tone paint. The one sad thing about the Prowler is that Chrysler recognized some of the shortcomings of the car, and it even built a show car that fixed the issues.