A Fiat done right

2011 Romeo Ferraris 500C Gold Edition

Only a Chinese Businessman would think of commissioning this. It's by far the most expensive Fiat 500 ever produced, valued at about $800,000. Why? It's all covered in 24K Gold. Seriously! Gold rims, gold trim, gold mirrors, gold interior, even a diamond-incrusted iPad in the center console.

Gold Interior with Diamond-Incrusted iPad

And it's not a slow 500 either. While La Doce Vita Gold and Diamonds worked the styling bits of the car, Romeo Ferraris worked on the car's performance. It may look like a regular Fiat 500C, but it now has a new Turbocharger increasing the horsepower from 120 to 200. It also has new suspension and a new tuned exhaust. Why would a Chinese Businessman want one of these? Who knows? I guess he really loves the 500.

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New Year = New Auto Show

The NAIAS (North American International Auto Show) begins tomorrow and there are a lot of exciting new cars that will hit the showroom floor. For instance, the VW Passat is finally getting a more sophisticated makeover and will debut tomorrow. Buick's new small car, the Verano, will be making waves on the Buick set. GMC will be bringing out the big guns with their Sierra HD Terrain Concept. Mopar will showcase two awesomely tuned cars from Chrysler and Fiat. Then there's the one most petrolheads, including me, have been waiting for: the Mystery Porsche. Will the 918 production model be hitting the showroom floor, or does Porsche have something extra special in store for us? We'll have to wait and see tomorrow. I'll give you all the highlights and lists of newcomers tomorrow as the NAIAS kicks off.

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Boxing Day Present

Top Gear in the Middle East

I hope you guys had a great Christmas and got everything on your list from Santa. Now it might be over, but the holidays aren't over yet. Today's Boxing Day in the UK making it the perfect day to watch an all new episode of Top Gear UK. In this episode, Jezz, Dick, and Jim journey to Iraq and act as the three wise men following a star in the sky looking for Baby Jesus. This time, however, the producers had an idea of having the wise men go modern and drive three cabriolets from Fiat, Mazda, and BMW from Iraq to Bethlehem to meet Jesus. Do you think these three are up to the challenge? Let's find out. The episode airs tonight in the UK, but it will be available on YouTube later today.

Edit: It's on YouTube right now!! Here's the video

When Herbie meets Luigi

2011 Romeo Ferraris 500 Abarth Estremo

I don't think you'll ever see a Smart Car with more than 200 horsepower because of how light it is. But, this small Fiat is just as light as a Smart Car and it packs a whopping 260 horsepower! You heard me. 260 horsepower in a car that corners like a Go-Kart, has room for just 2 people, and weighs less than a Mini Cooper. An Italian tuning company known as Romeo Ferraris love customizing top exotic cars like the Chevy Corvette Z06, the Mercedes-Benz C63 AMG, or the BMW M3 E92. Now, they've decided to turn a regular Fiat 500 Abarth into a turbo-nutting rockstar. It features new 17-inch rims and sport tires, sport-adjustable suspension, new Brembo brakes, custom exhaust, new ECU, and a new intercooler. This all sounds techy, but it pushes the car's horsepower from 160 to 260. 0 to 60 MPH is reached now in 5 seconds flat. Top speed: 155 MPH. This is one sick fast Fiat. No word on whether this car is coming here, but I hope it does. 260 horsepower in a small car just sounds so crazy!!

Artsy Fiat

Fiat 500 Art Car

First, it was BMW with their artsy BMW M3 GT2 racer. Then, Tesla joined the party in their artsy Roadster. And now, Fiat is joining the band wagon with the new 500 and it's new artsy creations. Down in Miami, Florida, there's an Art festival going on known as ExhibItalia where many artists where out showing their stuff for Italy. There were a couple artists out of the University of Miami who decided to bring the new Fiat 500 out on the beach with their own artistic creations. From the progress that they've achieved now, everything looks pretty cool.  I hope they do well in the festival.