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Junkyard Gem: 1980 Fiat 124 Spider with slushbox

The original Fiat 124 Sport Spider sold like crazy in the United States, with its cheap price tag, raucous-sounding Fiat Twin Cam engine, cool Pininfarina lines, and happy convertible top. They were finicky and fragile, and they broke frequently, so most of them ended up under tarps in driveways and back yards. I have been crawling around in wrecking yards for 34 years now, and the numbers of discarded, never-going-to-get-around-to-this-project 124 Spiders in those yards have remained pretty constant; I see a half-dozen or so junked examples every year, year after year. What I had never seen before now, however, is a Fiat 124 Sport Spider with an automatic transmission. Sure, this car had an optional GM-sourced slushbox available, just as the MGB had a Borg-Warner automatic option, but a car buyer during the Malaise Era generally understood that the only reason to get a flaky, impractical European sports car was for the joy of driving something so lightweight and nimble. Bolting an automatic to one was like chaining a urine-soaked phone book to a jackrabbit. I never believed that anyone actually got the automatic, but here's proof that at least one buyer did. Actually, 80 horsepower in a Fiat with an automatic would be slightly less miserable than 62.5 horsepower in an MGB with an automatic. So there's that. Related Video: Featured Gallery Junked 1980 Fiat 124 Sport Spider in Denver junkyard View 15 Photos Auto News Fiat fiat 124 spider

FCA's profit rises ahead of Peugeot merger

MILAN — Fiat Chrysler (FCA) posted a 7% rise in fourth-quarter profit on Thursday, boosted by strong business in North America and better results in Latin America as it heads into a merger with France's PSA. The Italian-American carmaker said adjusted earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose to 2.12 billion euros ($2.3 billion), in line with a 2.11 billion forecast in Reuters poll of analysts. That left its adjusted operating profit for the year at 6.67 billion euros ($7.34 billion), just shy of its target of over 6.7 billion euros. Its adjusted EBITDA margin came in at 6.2%, in line with its target of more than 6.1%. A trader said Fiat Chrysler results were "a touch above" expectations and the carmaker's shares in Milan were up 3.4% at 1300 GMT following the results. Fiat Chrysler and Peugeot maker PSA agreed in December to combine forces in a $50 billion deal to create the world's No. 4 carmaker, in response to slower global demand and the mounting cost of making cleaner cars amid tighter emissions rules. Chief Executive Mike Manley said last month that talks with PSA were progressing well and that he hoped to complete the deal by early 2021. FCA reiterated its plan to boost adjusted EBIT to above 7 billion euros ($7.7 billion) this year. In slides prepared for an analyst call, FCA said it was monitoring the global impact of coronavirus in China. FCA operates in the country through a loss-making joint venture with Guangzhou Automobile Group (GAC) and has a 0.35% share of the Chinese passenger car market. Reporting by Giulio Piovaccari; Additional reporting by Danilo Masoni; Editing by Stephen Jewkes, Jason Neely and David Clarke. Related Video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Strains between France and Italy risk Renault-FCA merger

PARIS/ROME — Fiat Chrysler's proposed $35 billion merger with Renault has cheered investors, won conditional support from Paris and Rome and even earned cautious backing from trade unions. Beneath this veneer, however, the bold attempt to create the world's third-largest carmaker risks becoming rapidly embroiled in the fraught relationship between France's europhile President Emmanuel Macron and Italy's euroskeptic leaders. For while Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini hailed the proposal as a "brilliant operation," Italy's creaking, state-subsidized Fiat factories are likely to bear the brunt of any production-related cost savings. FCA and Renault said this week that more than 5 billion euros ($5.6 billion) of annual savings would come mainly from combining platforms, consolidating powertrain and electrification investments and the benefits of increased scale. Salvini and France's Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire, who called the deal a "good opportunity" to build a European industrial champion able to compete with China and the United States, have both said they want guarantees on local jobs. "It's not every day that I agree with Salvini," said Le Maire, whose government appears to hold the trump cards. When it comes to where any job cuts fall, France will be helped by its existing 15 percent holding in Renault, whose superior efficiency at its five French plants makes it better placed to handle a supply glut, the demise of the petrol engine and the investments needed for electric and autonomous vehicles. "It will take many, many years to find real savings, and ugly political and operational realities can often swamp the potential of such new entities," Bernstein analyst Max Warburton said of the FCA-Renault plan to rival Japan's Toyota and Germany's Volkswagen. Advantage France? As well as Italy's government having to cope with the aftermath of European elections, which coincided with news of the FCA-Renault plans, political leaders in Rome were only informed shortly before the deal was made public, an FCA source said. This contrasted with the way the French government was treated, with Fiat Chrysler Chairman John Elkann, a fluent French speaker, letting it know of his merger proposal to Renault weeks ago, a French government official said.