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Video: Fiat creates café racer 500 for SEMA

Fiat is preparing a café racer-style 500 for this week's SEMA show by stripping down an Abarth version to take it "down to the essence of what you need to drive a car." The café racer philosophy of ‘more speed, less comfort' was born around the 1960s British 'biker scene and while initially focussed on increasing performance, quickly developed into a culture as concered with 'the show' as 'the go'. "It takes something like this to really get noticed at SEMA," says Craig Buoncompago, Project Manager at Fiat Product Design. "The Café Racer is really going to be one special car that you guys should really come and see." The 500's roof has been chopped, while also shorn of its door handles and being fitted with hot rod billet rims.

Jaguar to build more R-S and R-S GT models

Not only that, but Jaguar has also replaced the XJ Supersport with a more focused XJR that offers proper dynamics and a more clearly defined appeal than the Supercpsort. All opf which points to Jaguar’s plans to offer cars in their range that have true performance credentials to take on the might of BMW’s M Division and Mercedes AMG. That has been made even clearer by Jaguar’s Wayne Burgess who has told Edmunds that Jaguar will be pushing the envelope further and deeper across the Jaguar range with more R-S models in the planning as well as More R-S GT models too.

GreenGT H2 completes first laps ahead of 2013 Le Mans

Are we entering the era of the eco-friendly racing car? French outfit GreenGT could be spearheading the push, with the announcement its new H2 hydrogen racing car has completed its first successful racing laps testing at the Magny-Cours circuit in France. The wacky-looking hydrogen hybrid racing car will compete in the 2013 Le Mans 24 Hours endurance race, filling the ‘experimental competitor’ pit garage vacated by the radical-looking 2012 Nissan DeltaWing.