Fiat 500 at the 2008 F1 Grand Prix in Australia

The car that’s taking the world by storm – the Fiat 500 - is to be driven in the Celebrity Challenge race at the 2008 FORMULA 1™ ING Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne. The announcement is the latest in a series of innovations unveiled by the Australian Grand Prix Corporation in recent months, all aimed at ensuring the Albert Park event will be the most exciting in its thirteen year history.

“In keeping with our fresh approach to the 2008 Grand Prix there could be no better choice of car for the celebrity race than the Fiat 500,” said Drew Ward, CEO of the Australian Grand Prix Corporation.

The car unveiled is the first Fiat 500 to be seen in Australia or New Zealand; the first right hand drive model to be seen anywhere in the world; and the first racing version to be seen anywhere in the world.

“Since its launch just four months ago, this Italian gem has set the motoring world on fire,” said Mr Ward. Spectators at next year’s Grand Prix will not only get the chance to witness Formula One, the V8 Supercars and a full-on two-hour Kiss concert extravaganza, but now they’ll be among the first in the country to see the all-new Fiat 500 in action.”

Famous names from Australian sport will be given the honour of racing the vehicle, with a ‘Sporting Legends’ theme set to inject plenty of competition into next year’s Celebrity Challenge. Australian Rules star Luke Darcy and Wallaby speedster Ben Tune were announced today as the latest drivers in the all-star line-up. They join former Collingwood captain Nathan Buckley on the starting grid at the March 13 – 16 event, with plenty more big names to come.

“After so many years of battling it out on the footy field, I can’t wait to get behind the wheel at Albert Park to take part in a completely different kind of battle," said Darcy, who enjoyed a 226-game career with the Western Bulldogs. “Now that I've hung the boots up, it's just awesome to be able to have the opportunity to do something like this."

Australian Rugby Union winger Tune, who was famous for his fast finishes on the field, is hoping to earn the same reputation on the race track. “I’ve always wanted to take part in the Celebrity Challenge,” said Tune. “To be given the chance to experience this with so many fantastic sports people is an added bonus. I hope sports fans from every code will come down to Albert Park in March to see us race.”

The Fiat 500 is the most sought after car in Europe, having won numerous awards headed by 2008 European Car of the Year. Australian and New Zealand production has already been snapped up for the first three months of supply, even without prices and specs announced.

“With its outstanding advance sales, its unique parentage and cheeky good looks, the new Fiat 500 is already a celebrity in its own right,” said David Stone, General Manager for Fiat Cars in Australia. “So it’s entirely appropriate that, as Australia’s most eagerly awaited new car for 2008, the Fiat 500 should join forces with Australia’s top sporting celebrities to present a bright, new, exciting face for the Celebrity Challenge. This will be the first time the new Fiat 500 has taken part in motor sport, recreating another part of the original 500’s heritage, and given the huge interest in the new 500 around the world, it will further raise the profile of the Grand Prix as TV viewers tune in to see the spectacle of the new 500 in competition for the first time! The new Fiat 500 is the heart and soul of Fiat. It is both an extremely good looking and stylish small car that is unmistakably a Fiat - full of character and spirit. But at the same time it has the design integrity to blend this with cutting edge technology, creating a new benchmark for safety, fuel economy and low emissions. Just as the original 500 was the standard against which all small cars were judged in the 1950s, so the new 500 is the perfect small car for the 21st century.”

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13,400 Europeans caught drink-driving

Over 850,000 European motorists were checked in the traffic police operation “Tispol Drink and Drug” just in a single week between December 10th and December 16th. The Europe-wide clampdown on drink driving saw police check over drivers in 23 countries by Tispol, the European Traffic Police Network that is co-financed by the European Commission.

The legal alcohol limit for drivers varies from country to country, but the operation caught more than 13,400 motorists with positive drink test. Most drunk drivers are reported to be in France, followed by Spain, Germany and UK. As opposed to them, Denmark, Czech Republic and Norway have less than 100 drunk drivers caught in that week. Most checks were conducted in Spain, twice more than in Germany. But there is disturbing fact, that some 737 gave a positive test to drugs while driving. The biggest number, 299, is in Germany, followed by Sweden, France and Italy.

"The fact that in a single week we caught over 13,000 drink drivers on Europe's roads shows the clear need for operations like this", said TISPOL President Adam Briggs. Around 40,000 people a year are killed on Europe's roads and drink driving is one of the major causes. The European Commission aims to reduce that number with over 50% by the end of this decade.

Restyling for the big Maserati

A more heavily disguised prototype of the 2009 Maserati Quattroporte was caught testing in Sweden this week and the extent of camouflage makes us suspicious of the degree of the Quattroporte's mid-lifecycle freshening.

With this amount of camouflage, it looks as if the complete front end could be revised. The powerful sedan's headlamps look bigger and there will likely be larger air intakes in the car's new front bumper.

Spy photographers were unable to snap shots of the Quattroporte's rear, but the shooter tells us that the rear bumper was also disguised with black tape so expect changes to the Maserati's back end as well.

The next Quattroporte is due in 2012 rivalling the Porsche Panamera and the Aston Martin Rapide.

Related link:

Maserati Quattroporte facelift

When a test drive goes horribly wrong

A teenager from Victoria, Australia went to their local Holden dealer and took a Holden VY HSV Clubsport out for a test drive. It was all going well untill the teen put their foot down on the gas pedal on the last corner before the Holden dealership.

The teen loses control of the sporty Commodore which went flying into the air after hitting a kerb.

The car went through the dealership’s gate, landing on several cars.

Baby Alfa Romeo in the dark

Good things come to those who wait - and here is the proof!

Fans of the Alfasud have been killing time for more than 23 years and now the very first spy photos of the new Junior have surfaced the Web.

The "Junior" is set to be revealed at the upcoming Geneva motorshow in March and will rival the upcoming Audi A1 and the Mini Cooper whilst slotting under the 147 in the firms line-up.

Although there is no official name yet, Alfa Romeo let Internet users name the car. The winning name was "Furiosa" but Alfa executives decided to ditch the name after the results came in.

The first photo doesn't reveal much except from a foglamp but we expect the new comer to feature the trademark nose treatment which can be seen on the Brera coupé, 159 and the Spider. Its shield shaped grille will be flanked by a trio of projector style headlights. The rear photo gives us a glimpse of the rear bumper and uncovered the oval shaped exhaust tips.

Under the hood will be the brand's JTD diesel engines alongside direct-injection petrol units which will deliver power to the front wheels.

Mazda2 hatchback & sedan go on sale in January (China)

Mazda has launched the Mazda2 five door hatchback and four door sedan in China with the first deliveries starting in early 2008. The hatchback variant comes out in January with sales of the sedan following after. The new model was introduced in China, in November, at the Guangzhou motor show.

The Mazda2 is built in Nanjing by Mazda parent company Ford's joint venture, Changan Ford Mazda Automobile, a new plant completed in September 2007. Mazda is targeting sales of 55,000 or more Mazda2 hatchbacks per year in the growing China market and overall Mazda sales of at least 180,000 units there. Mazda has said that it targets 300,000 sales in China and 300 dealers by 2010.

Next on Mazda's list for China is the Mazda3 five-door hatchback which is due to go on sale in China in mid-2008.

Related links:

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Teaser: 2008 Mercedes SL-Class facelift

Yesterday, Mercedes Benz announced the addition of two new top-of-the-range AMG models to its SL product range; the SL63 & SL65 AMG. To uphold some momentum ahead of it official launch, Mercedes published only a three-quarters rear view teaser image of the V12 bi-turbo SL65 flagship model, leaving the front end restyling open to assumption.

Apart from the antagonistic new rear air diffuser with the standard AMG quad exhaust pipes, a small rear spoiler and what appears to be "997 Turbo"-inspired wheels, the rear of the facelifted SL AMG model barely looks different from the pre-facelift model.

As far as we know, the SL65 will be powered by a 6.0-litre bi-turbo V12 powerplant developing around 612 hp and torque in excess of 1,000 Nm. The SL63 which will replace the SL55, will receive a 525 hp V8 with 630 Nm of torque. Joined with AMG's seven-speed "SPEEDSHIFT MCT" gearbox, these latest AMG beasts should offer true 'Fahrspa.'