2013 Fiat "ferrari Themed" Abarth-rare Red On Red-tributo 695 Badging on 2040-cars

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This airship-engined 1905 Fiat has 3,000 lb-ft of torque

Mike Vardy's 1905 Fiat may be over a hundred years old, but it can hit 127 miles per hour thanks to a massive Isotta Fraschini engine from a World War I airship. It makes just 250 horsepower, but Vardy figures it has 3,000 pound-feet of torque. With such a prodigious amount of twist, this beast can spin the skinny rear tires with absolutely no problem. Vardy claims that a set of rubber can last him just 6 minutes, although it's hard to tell if he's joking. Vardy doesn't baby this massive Fiat, though. Watch the video to see him hanging the tail out and smoking those flimsy tires.

Fiat to return to rallying with 124 Spider?

It may sound strange at first, but you might see an Abarth-tuned Fiat 124 Spider caked in dirt and sliding around rally stages in just a few years. The Scorpion-emblazoned company will reportedly enter the World Rally Championship with a version of the recently unveiled, Miata-based convertible, according to PistonHeads citing "a source close to the tuning company." The racecar will allegedly arrive in 2017 in time for a new sports car class in the WRC. Spy shots already show a road-going Abarth 124 Spider likely under development. According to PistonHeads, the company would offer the model with multiple tunes of the 1.4-liter turbo four-cylinder, including 160 horsepower (like the US example), 190 hp, and over 200 hp for a special rally-inspired version. In a nod to high-performance 124 convertibles from the '70s, it would sell the new examples with an optional matte black hood and hardtop. Maria Conti from Fiat's press department in Turin told Autoblog that a WRC entry is "just speculation" for now. "There are no plans for Fiat 124 Spider in motorsport," she said. We'll take PistonHeads' claim with a gargantuan grain of salt for now, but it might not be entirely preposterous. Abarth-branded rally cars already exist for lower competition classes, and rumors from 2009 and 2011 indicate the earlier possibility of a WRC entry from the company. The series also has an influx of new vehicles in 2017 like the Toyota Yaris and an upcoming Citroen model. Related Video:

VW, Fiat, Mercedes could be CNG winners in Europe

Fiat ads in the US try to play up the exotic, sexy side of Italian culture. On the home front in Italy, however, passenger-vehicle sales are marked by something less edgy and quite a bit more practical: the growth of compressed-natural-gas (CNG) powered car sales. In fact, Italy is leading a group of European countries where CNG sales are on the upswing and may be benefiting automakers like VW, Fiat and Mercedes-Benz, according to Automotive News. VW started sales of its Golf TGI natural-gas vehicle this year – the company's fourth in Europe – while Mercedes-Benz added a natural-gas B-class model. Fiat accounts for about 50 percent of CNG vehicles sold on the continent. In all, Europe's CNG sales through September totaled about 67,000, up seven percent from a year earlier, Automotive News Europe says, citing research firm JATO Dynamics. And the number of CNG vehicles on Europe's roads could jump tenfold within the next decade. The draw is a combination of lower refueling prices and a CNG drivetrain that typically emits less CO2 than diesel vehicles. As for Italy, about five percent of new-vehicle sales are CNG. To put that into perspective, hybrids, battery-electric vehicles, plug-in hybrids and diesels combined to account for about 4.2 percent of US vehicle sales last year. News Source: Automotive News - sub. req.Image Credit: Volkswagen Green Fiat Mercedes-Benz Volkswagen Natural Gas Vehicles CNG