Mainstream Mayhem!

Benvenuti amici!

You've read about and seen many CC5CM3 PSAs hyping the FIAT Club America national event -- here, on our Facebook page and in the threads created for my two favorite North American FIAT/ABARTH forums. There was the additional blog post to help push registration activity at FIAT 500 USA.com.

You may have come across the two articles that appeared on the FCA North America multi-media blog called Objects In The Mirror...

The twin articles, FIAT FreakOut Headed To Milwaukee and Advertising Goes Retro For FIAT FreakOut 2017, were written by Edward Cardenas and constructed from an email exchange between us. Cardenas contacted the national club leaders as part of the corporate annual backing of the epic FIAT Famiglia event and developed a keen interest in the "PSAs" created, by yours truly, as part of our guerrilla marketing campaign.

We were pleasantly surprised to be contacted during the first few days of FreakOut regarding the possibility of covering the Road America "anchor" event. That coverage surfaced as a cool short shout on Classic Cars.com. But William Hall was not the only journalist in attendance. Todd Lassa, of Automobile Magazine also got his FreakOn in his longterm FIAT 500X. His six-page article made an appearance in print (the December issue of the magazine) as well as online (link included above).

So, what's all the hype about? Why do people pour so much energy into promoting this 34 years and going strong event?

My past years as a small press publisher of "underground" comics tell me it's due, in large part, to something we feel as "La Cosa Nostra" or "Our Thing". Is this meant to be some sort of play on words tying FIAT and ABARTH fans to the Sicilian mafia? No. It's more a comparison to that feeling we get when we discover something understood to few and misunderstood by the vast amount of others.

The FIAT and ABARTH brands have never quite planted their wheels on North American roads despite the fact the brands enjoy a rabid fanbase in South America and, of course, Europe. So, monthly local or annual national events around those brands raise a few eyebrows. To our delight... some of the raised eyebrows, in 2017, belonged to those in mainstream media. This is the highest profile hype the club has experienced.

Could this mark the elevation (and evolution), of FIAT and ABARTH marques, from mere unsung underground to ultra mainstream marketshare on our shores? Only time can tell but it seems as though the likelihood of such a thing is more pipe dream than possibility.

FIAT and ABARTH will likely always belong to the true believers. That stated... It's nice to see some positive press in a six-page spread of a major domestic magazine. We embrace it and aim to capitalize on it with a more aggressive approach to promoting (local, national) clubs and events via consistent and entertaining online presence.

Vivere.Amare.Guidare.

Ciao!

@

F.U.N.

Benvenuti amici!

One of the biggest challenges inherent in being a MidCoast-based fan of small European cars, especially the Italian variety, is we live in truck and SUV country. The roads are generally horrible and many drivers maneuver them as if there is no one else in sight.

Fortunately, there are local groups and events to gather (and grow) the faithful plus keep things interesting. CC5C has many times been invited to attend the annual FIATs Up North aka F.U.N. event. We are happy to report we have representation in 2017. Grant Stanfield has quickly become one of my favorite "lone wolf activists" of the Midwest FIAT scene. Grant is a man on a mission to enjoy life. It just so happens he is also a petrolhead with a keen interest in Italian automobiles. He graced the CC5C Facebook page with images and video clips of his summer holidays in Europe where he toured several Italian automaker factories. His F.U.N. images adorn this blog entry today.

Hosting F.U.N. in Wisconsin means this story begins with beer and one of our many infamous breweries. The New Glarus Brewing Company in this case.

The New Glarus Brewing Company is an USAmerican brewery founded in 1993 by Deborah Carey as a gift for her husband (Daniel). The brewery began in an abandoned warehouse with used "brewpub" equipment. New Glarus brewed its first beer October of 1997 and began selling its product December of the same year. New Glarus broke ground of their $21mil USD facility in 2006. The facility is meant to resemble a hillside Bavarian village... as the company began brewing with the pennies on the dollar purchase of repurposed German copper kettles the year of its first brew.

The grounds transport visitors to another time and place. In fact, one need not travel inside or outside any Wisconsin city to see hints of the earliest non-French European settlers. Germanic and Scandinavian trackers and traders also left their mark on the landscape... making for cool backdrops to our small Italian roundabouts. Grant made sure to remind us of the fact. We thank him for his commitment to truly experiencing the world around him and his willingness to share his discoveries with the community.

Back to FIATs & F.U.N...

FIATs Up North, or F.U.N., was created by the West Michigan Chapter of FIAT Club America. The group was organized in 2006 and rolls out this regional event... state-to-state and city-to-city... throughout the Midwest. Consider this the FIAT FreakOut-lite of the North Central part of the country. The time of the year this event is held (during the Autumn months) is typically perfect for the driving enthusiast. The weather is comfortable and the scenery is beautifully kissed with the colors of the season. Of course, it's also a little wet. But that often adds to the enjoyment of driving.

Holding F.U.N. in Dodgeville, roughly 127 miles west of Milwaukee, was a very good idea. Breweries, farmland, Franklin Lloyd Wright architecture and The House On The Rock make for a, well, fun setup any life enthusiast can enjoy.

This is a FIAT club. We excel at making the most of what we have available to us. We are guardians of time and our care for ABARTH, Alfa Romeo, Autobianchi, FIAT, Lada, Lancia, SEAT and Zastava (to name a few) heritage bear witness to the fact. We take whatever time we have behind the wheel and make the absolute best of it. 

Thanks to Grant for adding so much goodness to our short shout out. Get out there. Discover. Spread the passion you feel for your car and community to the world around you. Share. You only get one go behind the wheel and it is not a test drive. You may as well have lots of fun during the trip.

Vivere.Amare.Guidare.

Ciao!

@

CC5CM3 PSAs : Revisted

Benvenuti amici!

You'll recall we highlighted our own "CC5CM3 PSAs" early 2016. We continue to present our homegrown FIAT-related ideas in this way. These ideas... these "Public Service Announcements (PSAs)"... are meant to serve the greater FIAT community in a way that both inspires & emboldens somewhat isolated enthusiasts to mobilize, to gather and to invest time into building their own local and/or regional clubs. This, in turn, supports the efforts of the national and global FIAT communities... including the corporate entities.

Our efforts certainly have not been lost on FIAT Chrysler Automobiles (FCA). The  North American multimedia arm of the automaker featured a corporate blog story, highlighting our work, when we applied our brand of servitude to the 34th Annual FIAT FreakOut "guerrilla marketing" campaign. We are grateful the time put into these is catching on and trust we'll see more personal engagement, from other social motoring groups, in the coming months and years.

We haven't lost our sense of humor in this process... as the FIAT FreakOut PSA above clearly indicates. We realize, in an ever-changing global climate, FIATisti and ABARTHisti need a break away from the madness. So, we continue to throw in the occasional funny and/or cheeky PSAs for good measure.

It all, in the end, is about having as much fun as possible. Feel free to visit the CC5C Pinterest page often. Pin and Share our PSAs, inspire other enthusiasts around you, and get involved with your local, regional, national and global communities today. Don't worry if your local/regional enthusiasts are driving models and makes other than the 500 and FIAT. We added other beloved models (124/125, 126, 127/128, 600, 850, Panda, Punto, etc.) and FIAT-licensed marques, including; AutoVAZ/Lada, Polski FIAT, SEAT, Steyr-Puch, Zastava/YUGO, etc. to our online portfolio. Take it a step further and open your own cyber gallery. Share your images to our Facebook page. We dare you!

Vivere.Amare.Guidare.

Ciao!

@