Belmondo’s Chase Scene from Le Professionnel (1981)

Georges Lautner’s 1981 action-thriller Le Professionnel is about a French Secret Service agent betrayed by his employers and left to rot in an African prison camp. After breaking out and returning to his native France, the agent (played by Jean-Paul Belmondo) begins plotting his revenge against the people who set him up. In this scene, Belmondo is attempting to outfox the French Secret Service agents following him.

Belmodono’s car is the red Fiat 131 Supermirafiori while his rivals are driving a black Peugeot 504. There are a couple of 180 degree turns, a handful of nice pit manoeuvres and the prerequisite shot of the Eiffel Tower for the non-Gallic viewers. The chase eventually moves to the grounds of the Palais de Chaillot, where we discover just how overused that, “driving a car down some stairs,” thing was before Jason Bourne got around to it.

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Lucarelli-Monza Crafts Extreme Fiat 500 Abarth with RWD and Mid-Mounted 230HP Engine

There are tuners and there are tuners with some taking the easy way out going for a quick fix while others take up the challenge to create something truly unique. Italy’s Lucarelli-Monza belongs to the second category of tuners. The Monza-based tuning house has revealed details on its newest creation called the 500 Abarth Motore Centrale R230.

As its name implies, the heavily modified Italian hatchback gains a new layout with a mid-mounted engine and rear-wheel drive. Of course, such a radical change is not an easy task with the company having to re-engineer the entire vehicle.

Among other changes, the rear seats of the production model were dropped to create space for the engine while there’s also a new rear suspension set-up and a high-performance braking system with 335mm front- and 305mm rear- discs coupled with four-piston calipers.

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Steve Truglia Loops the Fiat 500 at AutoRAI [with Video]

At this week's AutoRAI show in the Netherlands, sponsor Shell partnered with stuntman Steve Truglia to put on a very Hot Wheels performance. Truglia drove a Fiat 500 through a 22-piece loop that stands 11 meters tall and made it look easy. See for yourself in the video after the jump.

According to the Dutch press release, the 500 was gutted and modified with a roll cage, new fuel tank, and an integrated limiter to ensure the right speed. Check out the stunt and interviews in the video below.

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Meet the Mefistofele, Fiat's 21.7-liter Record-Breaking Car from Hell

The story of the Mefistofele started in 1908, when Fiat introduced the SB4 chain-driven Grand Prix racer. After seeing it race, Sir Ernest Eldridge from Britain bought the car with the aim of turning it into speed record breaker.

However, there was one problem: the original car's 18.0-liter engine was considered rather small by Eldridge, who decided to replace it with a massive airplane powerplant (you can read a similar story here). He opted for a liquid-cooled Fiat-built 21.7-liter inline six-cylinder unit (type A-12 Bis) that developed 320 horsepower at 1,800 rpm after various upgrades such as the fitting of four valves and four spark plugs on each cylinder.

The story goes that in order to accommodate the long and heavy engine, Eldridge lengthened the SB4's chassis using parts from a London bus. The car was chain-driven and had brakes only at the rear, which made it a handful for even the most experienced of drivers. Interestingly, experts fail to understand even today the mechanism that allowed the car to reverse, since there is no trace of it left.

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VIDEO: Le Casse, A Mad Cap Car Chase through the Streets Of 1970’s Athens

Ah, the ‘70s. We had the Oil Crisis and Watergate, microwave ovens and VCRs, Maggie Thatcher and Jimmy Carter. As for cars, well: there were the greats like the Lamborghini Countach, Datsun 240Z and the Dodge Charger. Then there were the not-so-greats like the AMC Pacer, Chevy Chevette and the Ford Mustang Cobra II.

It was the decade that brought us The French Connection, Gone in 60 Seconds and Smokey and the Bandit. It also brought us a relatively unknown (well, to my –ahem- clearly sophisticated tastes) French film called Le Casse (The Burglars).

Oh sure, Bullitt had Steve McQueen in a Mustang and Goldfinger had Sean Connery in a DB5, but you ain’t ever seen a film so brazen to put Omar Sharif behind the wheel of...an Opel Rekord. Well, he is the villain. Surely our hero, Jean-Paul Belmondo, will get to drive something a bit smarter.

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VIDEO: Fiat Engineer Explains the Differences Between the US- and Euro-Spec 500

During the U.S. presentation of the new 2012 Fiat 500, the Italian company's Chief Engineer Fabio Dimuro explained to journalists the main differences and changes compared to the European specification model. These include - but are not limited to- exterior and interior improvements, the introduction of a more appropriate for American consumers Aisin 6-speed automatic transmission, additional insulation that helped reduce powertrain noise levels from 76 db to 71 db, the addition of MultiAir intake system to the 1.4-liter engine, while Fiat and Chrysler also worked together to redesign the car's rear-axle. Hop over the jump to watch the video. Read more »

VIDEO: Fiat Airs first U.S. Commercial for the new 500

Fiat has released the first U.S. commercial featuring it's 500 super-mini urging buyers to "live their life with passion". Priced at $15,500, which should certainly test your passion tolerance, the 500 will be available at 130 dealerships across the country with a 101 hp 1.4-liter MultiAir four-cylinder engine. Check out the video after the break to see if you can resist Fiat's Jedi-like mind-control techniques.

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VIDEO: Fiat 500 Races Koenigsegg CCX in Swedish Webhost Ad

Here's a car race with a difference: an automotive remake of the classic Tortoise and the Hare story, starring a Fiat 500 as the tortoise and a Koenigsegg CCX as the hare. Well, not a real 500 and CCX; these are 1:24 scale models, and the whole thing is filmed in stop motion. It was made by Swedish filmmaker and photographer Robin Danehav as an advertisement for Binero, a Swedish webhosting service.

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New Fiat 500 Prima Edizione: Special Edition Version for U.S. Market

We assume you already know that Fiat is planning to kick off sales of the retro-styled 500 mini in North America at the end of 2010, so let us share the latest news. Fans of the Italian brand here in the States will be treated with the limited-run Fiat 500 'Prima Edizione' (Italian for First Edition), of which only 500 examples will be built.

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VIDEO: Fiat 500 & 500C with New Two-Cylinder Turbo Engine

The crew from Fiat have published some B-roll footage of the 500 hatch and cabriolet models fitted with the Italian firm's new 0.9-liter turbocharged two-cylinder gasoline unit as well as a separate (and somewhat less appealing) video of the engine alone.

The Twinair unit the first of a new family of two-cylinder engines that will be used on numerous A- and B-segment cars of the Fiat Group. This particular version produces 85HP propelling the 500 hatch from zero to 100km/h (62mph) in 11 seconds and returning a combined fuel consumption of 4.1 lt/100km (57.4mpg US) with C02 emissions of just 95g/km. Read more about the new Fiat 500s in our previous post here.

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VIDEO: 2010 Fiat Punto EVO Presentation Aboard the Decks of Italy's Newest Aircraft Carrier

Unveiled in a world premiere at the recent Frankfurt Motor Show, the 2010 Punto Evo replaces the Grande Punto in Fiat's European passenger car range. Despite the name change, the differences between the two models are limited to a new nose job, some minor cosmetic tweaks at the back, a restyled dashboard and the introduction of two new powerplants to the lineup. The Punto EVO is scheduled to go on sale in mid October. Hit the jump to watch the videos that include footage from the presentation of the car on the decks of Italy's newest aircraft carrier, Cavour, in La Spezia, Italy.

Fiat X1/9 Monster Truck with V8 Engine - with Video

We're pretty sure that when Bertone's Marcello Gandini was designing the Fiat X1/9 back in the late 70s it would have never crossed his mind that someone from Tennessee could create a monster out of Fiat's mid-engined baby sportscar. The owner of the car dropped the soulless body of the X1/9 atop a shortened Ford F350 truck frame complete with a 351 V8 engine. The vehicle's seller supports on eBay that his creation is 'a real head turner'. We couldn't agree more - once you see it you turn your head the other way... Video and pictures after the jump.

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Via: Cardomain , Link: eBay

Video: Funny Fiat Strada Adventure TV Advert

This witty TV spot featuring Fiat's small pick-up truck comes to us from Brazil. The ad shows a young couple getting ready to 'rock-and-roll' inside the Strada Adventure when the busty femme-fatale asks the man for protection... -Video after the jump

Via: Autoblog.it

Video: Audi Q7 vs Fiat 500 Crash Test from ADAC

Try to imagine what would happen if a large SUV like the Audi Q7 crashed into a small mini car like the Fiat 500. Not sure? Well, Germany’s automobile club ADAC performed a “David vs Goliath” crash test between the two cars, but unlike the biblical story, David aka the Fiat 500, did not even come close to winning this match.

The two cars collided head on at an average speed of 56 km/h (around 35mph). According to ADAC, whereas the driver and passengers of the Audi Q7 would have made it out of the crash with minor and non life-threatening injuries, the risk of serious injuries in the Fiat 500 was surprisingly high for both front and rear passengers. However despite what you may think, ADAC’s prime objective wasn’t to show that a large SUV is safer than a minicar but to point out that automakers should take smaller sized vehicles into consideration when they design a large size model. –Video after the jump

Via: Motorpasion , Source: ADAC

Video: Fiat 500 Abarth Race Track Driving & Beauty Shots

The new 500 Abarth, which was first introduced at the 78th Geneva Motor show earlier this year, is due to go on sale from July 19 in Italy, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Greece, France and the Netherlands. Aside from the base 135Hp version, Fiat has also introduced a limited production variant called “Opening Edition” that squeezes 160Hp from the 1.4-liter turbocharged engine (click here for details and 42 high res images). Follow the jump to see the video that includes driving footage on the race track as well as exterior and interior shots. -Continued