Well well well, first the Panda 100HP is revered by the performance mags, now EVO magazine is starting to gush about FIAT too. I quote: (and forgive any typo's but I'm typing this from hand. Don't worry - I touch type!!)
"Dear subscriber
Having a Fiat panda on the cover of evo is something I couldn't have predicted even a few months ago, but things are changing over in Turin and Fiat is definetly on the up - UK sales have risen a whopping 66 percent this year alone.
It's Luca di Montezemolo, chairman of Fiat, who has been the catalyst for this sudden upturn in fortunes, with ground zero being reached when the stilo started to glue itself to the showroom floors right across Europe last year. Montezomolo realised that if he didn't act quickly Fiat could be permanently damaged by the lack of flair within its range.
So he decided to phone his top guys at Ferrari and ask them to move over to Fiat for a spell, making out it was a matter of national honour that, between them, they should do everything they could to bring fiat back from the brink.
I met up with Frank stephenson, Ferrari's design director at the time, soon after he'd had the call, and he admitted to me that at first he was gob-smacked. He loved his role in Ferrari, it was his ultimate design job, so initially wondered what on earth he'd done wrong to deserve this treatment. He called his good friend guissepe Bonnollo (then Ferrari's director of product strategy) to tell him the news, but discovered he had got the call too. Quickly they realised this wasn't a slap in the face after all but rather a once in a lifetime opportunity to revitalise the historic brand.
The panda 100hp is the first, very small step in this process. Next will come the exciting new stilo replacement, rushed through 18 months earlier than planned, followed by a sporting Grande Punto Turbo. Then, late in 2007, the cute little Fiat 500 will arrive, with a line-up that will include a hot Abarth version. It's my prediction that, when it arrives, this little car is going to give BMW's mini it's first serious competition; ironically it was Frank Stephenson (when he worked at BMW) who designed the new Mini in the first place..."
This is just what Fiat need! a bit of constructive comment from magazines that enthusiasts read. I hope Fiat deliver...
"Dear subscriber
Having a Fiat panda on the cover of evo is something I couldn't have predicted even a few months ago, but things are changing over in Turin and Fiat is definetly on the up - UK sales have risen a whopping 66 percent this year alone.
It's Luca di Montezemolo, chairman of Fiat, who has been the catalyst for this sudden upturn in fortunes, with ground zero being reached when the stilo started to glue itself to the showroom floors right across Europe last year. Montezomolo realised that if he didn't act quickly Fiat could be permanently damaged by the lack of flair within its range.
So he decided to phone his top guys at Ferrari and ask them to move over to Fiat for a spell, making out it was a matter of national honour that, between them, they should do everything they could to bring fiat back from the brink.
I met up with Frank stephenson, Ferrari's design director at the time, soon after he'd had the call, and he admitted to me that at first he was gob-smacked. He loved his role in Ferrari, it was his ultimate design job, so initially wondered what on earth he'd done wrong to deserve this treatment. He called his good friend guissepe Bonnollo (then Ferrari's director of product strategy) to tell him the news, but discovered he had got the call too. Quickly they realised this wasn't a slap in the face after all but rather a once in a lifetime opportunity to revitalise the historic brand.
The panda 100hp is the first, very small step in this process. Next will come the exciting new stilo replacement, rushed through 18 months earlier than planned, followed by a sporting Grande Punto Turbo. Then, late in 2007, the cute little Fiat 500 will arrive, with a line-up that will include a hot Abarth version. It's my prediction that, when it arrives, this little car is going to give BMW's mini it's first serious competition; ironically it was Frank Stephenson (when he worked at BMW) who designed the new Mini in the first place..."
This is just what Fiat need! a bit of constructive comment from magazines that enthusiasts read. I hope Fiat deliver...
