The Thinker's Garage Pondering Automotive History, Design and Culture

The Thinker's Garage
Posts Tagged ‘Fiat’
Review: Fiat 500L
Review: Fiat 500L

From the 500 Topolino to the Nuova 500 that succeeded it in the 1950s, and the boxy and eager Cinquecento Sporting of the 1990s, the Fiat 500 name has been attached to a great variety of robust, practical and characterful city cars over the years. The current Panda based 500 has been a massive success […]

Looking to the future for Fiat Chrysler
Looking to the future for Fiat Chrysler

On Tuesday, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), held a 12 hour long investor conference outlining plans for the future directions of the brands in the company’s portfolio. Led by Sergio Marchionne and featuring presentations from key personnel at the top of each nameplate, the conference promised increased sales, reduced debt and billions of dollars in new […]

Best wishes to Bertone
Best wishes to Bertone

With a no-show at the recent Geneva motor show, news of employees having not worked for weeks and media reports about the commencement of bankruptcy proceedings, it seems like we might tragically be nearing the end of the road for one of the most famous influential design houses, Bertone. Bertone has been a family based […]

Small cars – Simple pleasures
Small cars - Simple pleasures

As nice as it is to have all the modern comforts in a car, sometimes the sheer number of features found in so many new cars does seem to be overkill. Although this kind of technology is very impressive in the showroom, in the real world, when longevity and ease of use become more important […]

Meet the Fiat Cinquecento’s crazy family
Meet the Fiat Cinquecento's crazy family

The Fiat Cinquecento, launched in 1991, was a modern yet utilitarian small car designed for European cities. Thanks to its combination of the joie de vivre small Fiats are renowned for, practical yet small size and keen pricing, it was a sales success. Thanks to Fiat’s willingness to innovate throughout the 90s, it also spawned […]

Alfa Romeo’s 4C – Why the Alfisti are excited
Alfa Romeo's 4C - Why the Alfisti are excited

A lot of buzz has surrounded the launch of Alfa Romeo’s new 4C sports car, particularly among Alfa Romeo’s diehard fans, known as the Alfisti. On the face of it, Alfa returning to rear wheel drive and finally building an uncompromising and focused sports car are cause enough for celebration, but there is a deeper reason for the excitement because it […]