Abarth, the firm that...

Abarth, the firm that found fame tuning Fiats for racing, was officially relaunched last night as a car company in its own right at its spiritual home in Turin. The event saw the production edition of the brand’s first new road model in 25 years take a bow, as the wraps were pulled from the 150bhp 1.4-litre Abarth Grande Punto.

The evening event also marked the grand opening of the marque’s first official dealership. This dedicated showroom is set to be the first of 100 in Europe, and is appropriately based at the same site the firm had occupied until its closure in 1982.

A CAR carrying Toyota...

A CAR carrying Toyota personnel was attacked by a gun-toting thug in Brazil. Afterwards, security at the track was beefed up – leading to a fight between Renault boss Flavio Briatore’s personal bodyguard and a trackside bouncer.

THERE were rumours in Sao Paulo that the Prodrive Formula One team due to make its debut in 2008 will come in as an Aston Martin squad. Currently, European billionaires Bernard Arnault and Albert Frere are looking into buying the British firm from Ford. Prodrive currently runs the Astons in sportscar racing.

A former student of...

A former student of the RCA in London, Wouda spent six years in the Czech republic designing for Skoda. Between 2000 and 2006 he worked on projects such as the Roomster and the forthcoming Yeti, before moving to Germany to head up exterior design at the Volkswagen Design Center in Potsdam, near Berlin. Wouda is head of exterior design and team leader for the VW Concept BlueSport project.

The car has a relatively simple architecture тЂ“ itтЂ™s defined by only a few key features such as the prominent wheel arches. Much of the design is horizontal, that is to say there isnтЂ™t a significant wedge shape to the profile so it stays connected and parallel to the road.

After 23 cars self-combusted...

After 23 cars self-combusted, the French manufacturer was forced to recall and fix 28,000 vehicles built before May 2003. The fires, which all happened in Sweden, Norway and Denmark, only related to 1.6 or 2.0-litre petrol versions. All the cars went up in flames while the engine was turned off.

Investigations by the Danish Institute of Fire and Security Technology found the source of the problem was the combination of the high salt content in grit used on Scandinavian roads and the long damp winters. This caused a connector in the car"s steering system to corrode heavily, short-circuit and burst into flames. The fire then spread to the rest of the vehicle.