Being About The Legend

Benvenuti amici!

I am back with you following my semi-retirement from Car Culture Lifestyle blogging and my formal retirement from leading the local FIAT-ABARTH club I founded in 2013. The reason for my reprisal... unfortunately... is a very sad one.

Sergio Marchionne, the famed and (quite frankly) one of the greatest automaker CEOs of all-time fell ill last week. It was reported he underwent invasive surgery last month and his grave illness was connected to his body's reaction to it. I could go into further detail, but you have no doubt already read the multitude of reports that surfaced since last Thursday. He passed into the next today.

I am a creative realist. People like this man tend to become my life heroes.

The motivation behind what will be my final e-publication to this blog is simple... I want to honor the man responsible for saving the ABARTH, Chrysler, Dodge and FIAT brands. I want to honor the man who made Jeep & RAM brands more relevant than ever before. I want to honor the man responsible for relaunching Alfa Romeo in true Alfa style... "Italians know how to build great cars." I want to honor the man responsible for reviving Maserati from the doldrums to which the brand was stuck for some time. I want to honor the man who lit fire under the arse of Scuderia Ferrari... "A Ferrari that does not win is not a Ferrari." I want to honor the man who, only last month, announced FCA would report out completely debt-free profit by the end of this month... July 2018. I want to honor the man responsible for the livelihoods of over two hundred thousand people around the world. What have we done in the past 14 years? And I'm certain I'm only scratching the surface of his brilliant legacy.

Don Sergio Marchionne was much more than a "fix-it" man. He was fearless. He was creative. He was visionary. He was an apparent man of his word... He made public oaths to reopen plants around Italy as well as the rest of the countries in which FCA is active and he methodically worked hard toward making good on said oaths. He was a loving father.

Many news outlets falsely and ignorantly claimed FCA "replaced" Sr. Sergio with a new CEO. No one can take the place of Our Honorable Departed. I cannot say how FCA and Ferrari will look and/or operate without Don Marchionne in their respective orbits. But I can say... beyond a shadow of a doubt... the automobile industry will never look quite the same. So, please, rev your engines with purpose today. We all, FIATisti-ABARTHisti and all petrolheads alike, owe this great HUMAN BEING at least that much. 'A small way this great leader of the modern automobile industry + classic working class hero will LIVE FOREVER...

Vivere. Amare. Guidare.

FORZA MultiAir!

Benvenuti amici!

Last year, we touched upon FIATs role in the history of Motorsport. The blog entry, from May 2014, went as far back as the first purpose-built race car… the 1902 FIAT 24hp Corsa. FIAT, along with it's prestigious subsidiaries, have dominated the course of racing history. Although we don't always read about or hear it mentioned in adverts, FIAT & ABARTH, along with their more famous cousins (Alfa Romeo, Ferrari, Lancia & Maserati) are brands synonymous with performance. Enter either of these names + racing into your preferred search engine for indisputable evidence.

FIAT 500 & Alfa Romeo MiTo

The above-mentioned list of lustful Italians found ways to translate track advancements to street viability and vice versa. As was then is now. There is a new buzz in the air (for 2015) and that buzz is the sound of Alfa Romeo-derived FIAT Famiglia MultiAir/UniAir motors. Patented by FIAT in 2002, the technology (in 1.4 L petrol form) was introduced in the 2009 Alfa Romeo MiTo. Its most famous appearance to date, though, must be the Alfa Romeo 4C…  the dream inducing four cylinder supercar. 

The World's Fastest MultiAir Street Beast

The engine, developed by a Rinaldo Rinolfi led team of engineers, is nothing short of revolutionary in the realm of petrol-powered engines. The electro-hydraulic tech, for lack of better words, takes the place of the throttle valve… allowing the engine to create more power while producing fewer emissions. FIAT has since used the MultiAir as the basis for other applications, such as; award winning the Chrysler Tigershark and FIAT TwinAir engines (used in Alfas, FIATs & Lancias). All of them owe a great deal to the Rodolfo Benetto developed 1985 FIAT FIRE (Fully Integrated Robotized Engine).

Turbo-charged MultiAir for Formula 4

More recently, on March 4 2014, the ABARTH division of FIAT S.p.A. announced a collaboration with the FIA (Fèdèration Internationale de l'Automobile) to supply the MultiAir Turbo ABARTH engine for use in powering Formula 4 cars. This an important development for the future of FIAT passenger coaches. As we learned from don Enzo Ferrari, the sales of passenger coaches fuels the research & development in the Motorsport arena. Likewise, the involvement of a mainstream automaker in the Motorsport arena heightens recognition for the mainstream models. These realities are just what FIAT needs for the North American market… more visibility… separate from their involvement in rebuilding the once crippled Chrysler Group LLC.

From Italy with Love ~ MultiAir Turbo Style

The announcement of the FIA partnership came at the debut of the infamous ABARTH 695 Biposto. Dubbed "The Most ABARTH of All ABARTHs", the very exclusive special edition of the ultimate hyper city car is creating more global buzz for the FIAT brand, the flagship Cinquecento as well as growing the membership for The Cult of the Scorpion. While not every car aficionado or FIAT fan can afford the made-to-order "World's Smallest Supercar", it creates an in-house testing ground for future generations of mighty mice.

In-house Ad for the "Black-tie Racer"

Securing a spot as the official car of the 2014 Gumball 3000 rally has worked to create the image of a must-have car for the 695 Biposto and ABARTH 500. Years after its release in North America, the A500 is still reviewed by automotive magazines and online car channels. The iconic FIAT 500 and the rambunctious ABARTH 500 have grown from the latest foreign niche car in North America to a viable pair of runabout mainstays on USAmerican streets and highways. As practical as they are stylish & fun, no other standard and performance model pairing has the rich history and level of sheer coolness these Turinese twins and their MultiAir cousins enjoy.

I'm excited about the future of the new, global FIAT S.p.A. and I'm equally excited about the future of the legacy of the ABARTH brand name. I am fortunate to have firsthand commuter familiarity of the naturally aspirated (2012 FIAT 500 Pop) and turbo-charged (2013 ABARTH 500) MultiAir technology. I have not a single doubt this cross-platform advancement will keep FIAT life on the worldwide road for a long time to come. "Keep your motor running…"

Vivere.Amare.Guidare.

Ciao!

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