Auto Express November 25, 2015

FIAT knows all too well how to play the retro card – without the 500, it’s possible the company might not be here today. So it’s a smart move to look to yesteryear for inspiration when it comes to the launch of a new roadster. The original Fiat 124 Spider was a massive hit in the sixties, especially in the US, which accounted for around 75 per cent of sales. The new model certainly got plenty of attention at the LA Motor Show, drawing one of the biggest crowds of press day (only beaten by the gathered throng jostling to hear VW’s US boss apologise yet again). Fiat’s senior product manager, Piergiorgio Di Miscio, told me: “The new car is inspired by the original, but it perfectly embodies our brand…

NEARLY 50 years since the original was introduced, Fiat has pulled the wraps off its new 124 Spider at the LA Motor Show, and here we can reveal the rear-wheel-drive sports car in all its glory for the first time. It’s the result of a joint venture between Fiat and Mazda, and is based on the sweet-handling fourth-generation Mazda MX-5. The 124 Spider will go on sale here next summer, priced from around £20,000. Despite sharing underpinnings, the two roadsters look very different. In fact, lead designer Felix Kilbertus told Auto Express there was no collaboration on the Fiat’s styling. “We started the project in 2013, and while we had details of the technical package, we didn’t see the MX-5 before its launch,” he said. “Our guiding start was the…

“New Bentley hypercar will rival McLaren 675 LT and Ferrari 488 GTB in terms of performance” • Battery-powered Ferrari rival to be based on EXP 10 Speed Six • Faster, more aero coupé-SUV to sit above Bentayga BENTLEY will unleash not one but two brand new luxury cars, it has emerged, as early as spring next year. The first will be a faster, more powerful and more dramatically styled version of the Bentayga (driven on Page 26). Think BMW X6M and then some, according to Bentley insiders. Our exclusive main image shows how the new hot Bentley could look, complete with sloping coupé-style roofline and bulging wheelarches. Bentley product line director Peter Guest said the new car will be “much more biased towards on-road performance. But it will still have…

THE new Bentley coupé-SUV and all-electric hypercar may be stealing the headlines, but a baby Bentayga is still in the pipeline. As we reported in Issue 1,369, the smaller SUV – revealed in our exclusive image – could join the growing line-up in the next few years. It would be key to plans to boost annual sales from just over 8,000 last year to 15,000 by 2018. When we spoke with Bentley CEO Wolfgang Dürheimer at the Shanghai Motor Show earlier this year, he told us “further SUV derivatives” were part of Bentley’s future search criteria. When pushed on whether this meant different shapes, versions or a smaller Bentayga, he replied: “Yes.” The smaller SUV would compete with the Jaguar F-Pace and Porsche Macan in terms of size, but is…

ALFA Romeo’s new BMW 3 Series-rivalling Giulia saloon (below) is due to eventually arrive in the UK in about 12 months’ time. However, it’ll be swiftly followed by an SUV sister car, according to an Alfa insider. The Giulia SUV, previewed in our exclusive main image, is likely to debut in the spring and follow the saloon on to the market in early 2017. Like the Giulia, it will sit on Alfa’s new platform that will eventually be stretched into a new 5 Series-challenging saloon and a larger SUV that will target the BMW X5 and Audi Q7. Like the Giulia, we’d expect the SUV to feature a 2.2-litre diesel engine – recent leaked documents have suggested it’ll be available in the Giulia with 150bhp, 180bhp or 210bhp. A new…

THE hi-tech new BMW 7 Series has clearly rattled Mercedes, as engineers have been spied testing an updated S-Class. The revised luxury saloon will feature some mild exterior tweaks, such as new high-performance LED headlamps, when it hits dealers later next year. Inside, the large digital instrument cluster is set to be paired with Mercedes’ latest COMAND system, which could also feature gesture control tech. There’ll be a raft of new autonomous safety systems, too. We know Mercedes is developing new ‘intelligent drive’ autonomous tech for the new E-Class, and the S-Class is expected to benefit as well. A combination of radars, cameras and sensors allows the car to create a…