This week Steve heads to Bicester Heritage for his first road trip of the season, reflects on Fiat’s relationship with the Vatican, and comes up with a sad history of Edinburgh.
Saturday
At Bicester Heritage for our first road trip of the season, a preview of a new membership club called Scramblers, which will include a whole new series of themed monthly gatherings outside of the exceptionally convenient on-site Wriggly Monkey Brewery. It must be said that as a confirmed enthusiast of this beautiful old base of the RAF of the 1920s, now reconstituted as the headquarters of automobile lovers, I have been yawning for ages so that they launch a way of ‘” to belong “.
The plan is fueled by the (pre-Covid) success of Bicester’s regular Scramble meetings and will be supported by a well-stocked website. And – get this – membership is free, at least for now. All you have to do is register at joinus.wearescramblers.com for the deal of the century. Themes will include Le Mans stuff and hot hatches, and other types of member benefits are promised. Sounds like a great ride.
Tuesday
If you’re looking to verify the adage that when Fiat sneezes Italy catches a cold, look no further than the fact that top executives at Stellantis – Chairman John Elkann, CEO Carlos Tavares and Fiat boss Olivier François – were recently offered an audience with Pope Francis. , apparently to get his approval of the new electric Fiat 500.
It reminded me of an event years ago on Ferrari’s test track, Fiorano, where I went to test a new Mondial. We were messing around, driving and photographing, when a whole platoon of Ferrari minions came in and chased us away. Then a shiny red Fiat Uno Turbo appeared, driven very slowly by the Dario Benuzzi test shoe. At the back was the local bishop, wearing one of these special four-cornered hats. In the front passenger seat sat a very old man by the name of Enzo Ferrari. Apparently it was a tradition: Mr. Ferrari signed all new Fiat’s. Maybe the clerk was a potential buyer. Either way, the Uno did two majestic laps, got off the track and then vanished.
Wednesday
Here is a sad story of Edinburgh. In March, reader Alan Bathgate happily wrote to me to tell me about his new pair of eclectic cars, a Smart EQ Forfour and a Mercedes-Benz SL 500. He figured that using his electric wheels in city allowed him to drive a meaty V8 on the outside. he. Things didn’t go well, however. The autonomy of the Smart is limited and it turns out that the Scottish capital has no charging points. Surveys of local and national politicians have received the depressing response that improving things is “not a priority”. So the SL goes more into town than it should be and the Smart has been sold. “I tried to embrace the change, but I failed,” says Alan, who wonders how many others are like him. Meanwhile, the cut of the government ICE 2030 car rushes towards us like an express train …
Sunday
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Source: www.autocar.co.uk
This notice was published: 2021-06-02 05:01:24