2011-2013jeep Grand Cherokee Color Keyed Front License Plate Mount on 2040-parts.com

The other side of the curtain: A look back at Lada, Volga and more

While Americans in the 1960s and '70s were enjoying the heyday of muscle-car madness, our friends over in the Soviet Union were treated to an entirely different kind of automobile. Fiat-based Ladas and Russian-born Volgas were the cars of the day, and our friends at Retronaut have gathered some press materials and advertisements for the compact sedans. Lada was named after a famous Czech manufacturer of sewing machines in the 1960s.

Sergio Marchionne wants to build Mazda in Fiat & Chrysler plants

Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne wants to build Mazda cars in Fiat and Chrysler plants around the world. When Alfa Romeo and Mazda revealed last week that they would be developing a new small roadster together – well, Alfa Romeo would take the next generation MX-5 and sculpt on a new body to make a new Alfa Spider – we suggested Mazda would be better of getting Fiat to build their cars. It seems Fiat boss Sergio Marchionne thinks the same.

Audi planning their own version of the electric VW e-Up

Perhaps the most promising EVs from Audi so far have been the A2 EV (pictured above) and the A1 range extender with a small Wankel engine in the boot to charge the battery. But even they were dropped from Audi’s production plans last year. But now it seems Audi are back in the production EV game with plans to produce an Audi e-tron using the underpinnings of the electric VW e-Up, but with Audi styling and an upmarket Audi interior and high-end Infotainment.