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Fiat 500 1957 Edition revealed ahead of LA Auto Show

While American teenagers were cruising around in finned interstate crushers, Europeans of all ages were discovering the wonder of automobile ownership thanks to the tiny, affordable Fiat Nuova 500, introduced to a car-hungry public in 1957. The little two-cylinder city car was a smash hit, with 3,893,294 built before production ended in 1975. Fiat 500 production resumed in 2007, but the new car was vastly different from the original: Its engine gained two cylinders and moved to the front of the car, while its footprint, though diminutive by American standards, positively dwarfs that of its predecessor.

La Dolce Vita won't return to Monterey in 2010

La Dolce Vita, the second big Italian-car event of the Big Monterey Weekend, will not return for 2010. First, some background: La Dolce Vita came about when Concorso Italiano, the longtime favorite of Italian-car lovers at Monterey, moved from the Black Horse Golf Club to an airport north of Monterey two years ago. The airport location was panned by attendees for its cold, windswept concrete and general lack of character.

Toyota's Akio Toyoda flies solo at media event, in change of style

It was as much a change for Akio Toyoda as it was for Toyota Motor Corp. In unveiling the company's new mid-term business plan this week, the media-shy president flew solo at a news conference without the usual safety net of being flanked by his top brass. The move was a departure for Toyoda, who -- in his two years as president -- has tended to divert technical or detailed questions to a panel of executives sharing stage with him.