The Fiat Panda - Cute Italian car

 

The phrase “little cars, little profits” is the blunt retort credited to Edsel Ford when presented with the the primary proposals for the Fiesta. Within the even more Lilliputian world of sub-B cars like the Panda, or its new rivals Volkswagen’s Up or Kia’s Picanto, you need to get the production right or otherwise you can lose money on every car you sell.


Perhaps that explains why some early products in this sector were so lacklustre to drive and to possess. The first Panda in the 1980's was plain, but much like automotive Lego that Fiat produced it in three Italian factories; Mirafiori, Desio and Tremini, and one Sicilian, Imerese. In 23 years, Fiat sold 4.5 million Pandas and it achieved a sort of cult status, although the joke was that the last examples were 40 per cent larger than the firsts because the press tools were so worn.


Fiat was strangely ambivalent towards reusing that name for its 2003 replacement, which was built in Tychy, Poland. The Italian giant preferred Gingo, which Renault contested, reasoning it was too close to Twingo. So Panda stuck and the Nuova Panda won the 2004 Car of the Year title and sold just over two million in eight years. 

Assembly  Pomigliano d'Arco, Naples, Italy
Body style 5-door hatchback
                van
Platform    Fiat Mini platform
Engine       0.9L TwinAir I2 petrol
                1.2L Fire I4 petrol
                1.3L Multijet I4 diesel
Transmission 5-speed manual
                    6-speed manual
                    5-speed semi-auto

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The Ferrari Enzo - Italian car legend

You expect an Enzo to be fast; a "slow supercar" is really an oxymoron. You also expect an Enzo to be fiery; Ferrari actually admits that post-delivery mechanical malfunctions are an integral part of the development process. But most of all, you expect it to be pretty. Think of it this way: if the $650k Enzo wasn't pretty, everyone who saw one would consider its owner an idiot.

Benny Caiola Jr. is no idiot. Saying that, would you lend your Enzo to a stranger? Before you answer that question, think of this: the New York property developer owns two of them. And an F40, F40LM, F50, 333SP, 512BB, 575M, 456, 355, Dino, four 360s, a Lamborghini Diablo and Murcielago, Pagani Zonda, Porsche GT2 and Aston Martin Vanquish. So even if a visiting journalist somehow carved his place in automotive infamy, Benny wouldn't be taking the bus…



Anyway, as I approach Benny's Ferrari Enzo, I respect his taste. With the exception of its circular tail lights and the horse emblem in the rear mesh, the Enzo doesn't share any design cue with its predecessors. Yet it's Ferrari. The F1-style nose gets all the press, but it's the Enzo's blend of exquisite details and balanced proportions that creates its brand-specific charisma. To say the end result is aesthetically appealing is like saying Enrico Caruso could carry a tune.


Production 2002–2004
                 400 produced
Predecessor Ferrari F50
Successor    Ferrari F70
Class          Supercar
                  Racing car
Body style   2-seat Berlinetta
Layout        RMR layout
Engine        6.0 L Tipo F140B V12
Transmission 6-speed semi-automatic

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The Lamborghini Countach - Italian car beauty

The first issue making Countach so exotic was its look. The wedge-shape style combined with sharp edges and distinctive features like scissors doors, NACA ducts and sq. pop-up headlamps, not only caught eyes but additionally looked futuristic.

Whenever a Countach flashed pass a viewer, it'd immediately give a pair of impressions. The primary was that it was extremely low, lower than any other car in the world. In fact, standing at forty two inches in height, The Countach was the lowest car in history besides the Ford GT40 and Lotus Esprit. However, its aggressive lines created it subjectively appeared even lower than it was.The second impression was: it must be very powerful and electric fast. Race version of GT40, with 425 bhp 7-litre V8, actually out-powered the Countach, but its soft profile prevented one from believing its real speed. On the contrary, the original Countach had 50 hp less but looked like 40 mph faster. Therefore, when Lamborghini made a wild claimed of "in-excess of 200 mph top speed" in the Geneva show, most journalists believed it really could!

Production    1974–1990
                        (2,042 produced)
Assembly       Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy
Predecessor Lamborghini Miura
Successor    Lamborghini Diablo
Class             Sports Car
Body style     2-door coupé
Layout          Rear mid-engine, rear-wheel drive
Engine          4.0 L (3929 cc) V12
                       4.8 L (4754 cc) V12
                      5.2 L (5167 cc) V12
Transmission 5-speed manual

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The Fiat 500 - Retro modern flashback

If you think that you understand the Italians, think about the take of Roberto Giolito, the director of Fiat design. He compares the first 500 with the Michelin logo, in his words, The Fiat 500 is “a fat man made from tires.” He says this without a touch of irony and without the slightest thought that a fat man made from tires may not be the perfect design goal for any car. And it is not just about the old Fiat 500. He sees the identical thing in the new 500. We really don't know what he is talking about. The 500 is super retro-adorable inside. There is even an option that changes the black interior for white plastic. If you check this option you also get a white steering wheel. In the middle there is a digital display telling the engine temperature, fuel level, date, time, and exterior temperature. Wrapped around that is the tachymeter, and around that the speedometer. It is really awesome. So if you want a taste of awesome buy the Fiat 500.

Production  1957-1975

Assembly   Turin, Italy

Predecessor Fiat 500 "Topolino"

Successor    Fiat 126

Class           City car

Body style    2-door sedan

                      3-door estate

Layout          RR layout

Engine         479 cc I2

                     499 cc I2

                    594 cc I2

Transmission 4-speed manual

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The Ferrari GTO 250 - Sold for only $31,856,726

If there is a car that looks absolutely perfect in every way it's the Ferrari GTO 250 . The plunging valley between those humpy front wings, the little mouth pouting at the tip of its hood, the subtle flip-up on the boot. Don't care that the nose is a bit long and the tail too short and don't care that there are vents and slots everywhere to break up the flow and smoothness of the car's body. The GtTO still looks balanced in every aspect.

Two things instantly capture your attention inside. The gear-shifter lever, which stands like some mystical sword from the transmission tunnel so high that you can rest your elbow on it, with a polished aluminium knob the size of a tennis ball. From its centre, there are spokes polished enough to dazzle support a thin wooden rim and if you simply let go of this and keep the arms bent, your hand falls instantly to the gear knob. It's created in way that is so natural for the driver. Further down and to the left of the gate which guides the metal mast beneath your shifting hand, there's a enormous speedometer in a plastic-covered cardboard box. Only road legality demands its presence; the all-important rev counter with its wide plastic needle and bold but pale white numbers is dead ahead in the main instrument panel.



Production 1962–1964
                     (39 produced)
Successor Ferrari 288 GTO
Class          Sports car
Body           Berlinetta
Layout       FR layout
Engine        3.0 L V12
                   300 PS (220 kW; 300 hp)
Transmission 5-speed manual

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The lamborghini Murcielago Lp640 - Italian car bully

There exist only a number of vehicles that will stop streets like a Murcielago . Supercars like the Murcielago are now getting rare so we should enjoy in the insanity while we can.

Even though the seating position of the LP640 has come a long way from the ‘long arms, short legs' Old Lambo's , the Murcielago is still a big, noisy, tiring supercar.

The performance can be described in one in a word: mind-blowing . Four-wheel drive and 630bhp, combined with a torque figure of 487lb ft mean that you can take the Murcielago to 62mph in just 3.4 seconds. You're looking at 211mph of pure speeeeeed. It's Amazing.

When you think about how cool the Murcielago is, it is as all  things outrageous equipped with a little bubble of cool all around them.

Now let's talk about handling. Reverse parking is possible, but not recomendable. Similarly there is enough space to store a weekend's worth of dirty laundry, but you'd probably be better off sending them on. Scissor doors become necessary when you consider just how wide the Murcielago really is - if you parked next to other cars with normal doors, you'd never get out. Solution is to never park next to other cars.


Production       2001-2010
                           4,099 built
Assembly          Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy
Predecessor    Lamborghini Diablo
Successor        Lamborghini Aventador
Engine               Mid-engine, four-wheel drive
                            6.2&L V12(572 HP)
                            6.5;L V12(630 HP)
Transmission  6-speed manual
                            6-speed e-Gear semi-automatic

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The Lancia Stratos - Italian car blast from the past

Wearing a Italian Lancia Stratos is like wearing a bell helmet – as Stig Blomqvist noted a few years back : ‘The car is like my clotheses,’ he said, ‘it’s got smaller.’
The men behind its rising to stardom were Cesare Fiorio, Lancia’s team manager, Italian designers Gianpaolo Dallara, Marcello Gandini, Danielle Audetto and ace driver Sandro Munari.

The Lancia Stratos was so small that the two crew members almost didn't fit inside , but it soon became the car other teams had to beat from the heat of Africa to the snows of Scandinavia.
Only 492 were built. But the Stratos captured the imagination like none other.
Infamously twitchy down to that crazy-short wheelbase, the Stratos had to have a special kind of driver to get the best out of it. Markku Alen adored it. Sandro Munari is considered a  deity today, but Bernard Darniche won more rallies than anyone else with the Stratos. He is the most successful Stratos driver ever, with 33 victories to Munari’s 13.

The glassfibre front and rear flip front fit where they touch, it wears a truly terrifying pair of megaphones and it’s almost too wide to fit in the trailer. But nobody ever said a world-beater had to be practical.



Engine
2444cc 65 deg transverse iron-block alloy heads V6
& carbs
265bhp@7800rpm
28kg/m@ 4500rpm

Transmission
five-speed driving rear wheels

Dimensions
3710x1750-1810x1114mm
790 kg

Performance
0-60mph 4.1-5.8 secs
top speed 95-140mph depending on gearing

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The Ferrari 308 GTB - Italian car classic

If the world of Italian carmaker Ferrari was turned upside down when Bertone’s angular Ferrari 308 GT4 in 1973 appeared, things were righted when Pininfarina’s beautiful two-seat Ferrari 308 GTB made its debut couple years later.

“Based on the 308 Dino GT4 with only two seats is regarded by many as the more natural successor to the much-loved Dino 246,” England’s Motor summed up for many. “The styling is the best to come out of Ferrari for a long time.”

“Like the 206/246 Dino,” acknowledged Sergio Pininfarina, “the inspiration for the 308’s lines came from the Dino Berlinetta Speciale we exhibited at Paris in 1965.” The Ferrari 308 GTB was important because it was the first non-12-cylinder Ferrari to wear the prancing horse sign. And it was the first Ferrari with a fiberglass body. Its underpinnings were identical to the Ferrari 308 GT4’s, but its wheelbase was shortened about eight inches (210mm) to 92.1 inches (2340mm). As with that 2+2, horsepower was quoted at 255, and the European version used a dry-sump oiling system. Emissions regulations limited the first GTBs in America to 240 horsepower.

Production: 1975–1977 Fiberglass, 1977–1985 steel

Assembly: Maranello, Italy

Predecessor: Dino 246

Class: Sports car

Body style: Berlinetta

Layout: RMR layout

Engine: 3.0 L Tipo F105A V8
3.0&L FI V8 (GTBi/GTSi)
3.0L 4v V8 (QV)

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The Maserati Bora - Icon, Legend, Superstar

The mid-engined Maserati Bora was the absolute epitomy of Modena exotic, a rare animal, a production car in which the stylist was given absolute freedom to design anything he wanted, and he ended up designing one of the most iconic car of all time.

The shape of the Bora is as good as it can get when talking about passenger car aerodynamics, a maximum speed of more than 170 mph combined with grip and handling ensured there was hardly an equal off the racing circuit.

There was a scary amount of engineering fines sitting above the four wheels of the Maserati. In addition to the abundance of attributes the Bora has, was the fact that it was also one of the most practical mid-engined production cars  in terms of luggage capacity. Unfortunately though the front passenger's foot well-being was a bit compromised.

Somehow the designer acquired a lot of space for the 4.7-litre V8 engine and adequate luggage in the front boot within the confines of the 14 ft. 2 in. length but when he had done that he remembered that a heavy duty battery and a heater unit had to be accommodated somewhere. Rather than encroach on boot space he moved the vertical bulkhead rearwards into the passenger footwell, leaving space between it and the boot to accommodate bulky items.

Access to the battery was gained by removing a panel in the carpeted boot, allowing the battery to be slid out easily on its tray. The engine and seats were positioned within the monocoque and the 8 ft. 6 in. wheelbase as to give 42 per cent load on the front axle and 58 per cent on the rear, with a consequently low polar moment of inertia resulting in neutral handling. It had independent wishbone suspension all round with coil spring damper units and anti-roll bars front and rear.

Production            1971-1978 (Bora 4.7 L)
                               289 produced
                               1974-1978 (Bora 4.9 L)
                               275 produced
Predecessor        Maserati Ghibli
Successor           Maserati MC12
Body style            2-door coupe
Layout                  RMR layout
Engine                 4.7 L 4719 cc V8
                              4.9 L 4930 cc V8
Transmission     5-speed manual
Wheelbase         2,600 mm (102.4 in)
Length                  4,335 mm (170.7 in)
Width                   1,730 mm (68.1 in)
Height                 1,134 mm (44.6 in)

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We are starting the countdown - Top 10 Italian cars ever

In the next 10 articles we will be listing the top ten most popular Italian cars of all time.

We will start the countdown with the Maserati Bora and for the most popular Italian car of all time - you'll just have to wait.

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