Remanufactured Genuine Throttle Housing (rebuilt) Accelerator, 36050563 on 2040-parts.com

Help fund Driving Dreams – a documentary film dedicated to the masters of Italian car design

Italian car designs of the 1950s, 60s and 70s are a fascination and inspiration to many – an era where some of the most skilled designers, craftsmen and engineers collaborated to reach what many believe a zenith. But while we may know everything there is about the cars of this period, the men who created them remain enigmatic largely due to their collective modesty. Daniel Tomičić and Gianluca Migliarotti are hoping to change this however, by creating a documentary film that tracks down the key players from the time.

Fiat 500: Suspension tweak and 2-pot engine

The Fiat 500 is to get stiffer suspension and a range of 2-pot engines It’s not hard to see why the Fiat 500 has been a runaway success. It has the cute factor going on, but on the right side of pastiche; prices are much more reasonable than its rival in the ‘small car icon revisited’ stakes – the MINI, and Fiat have done a sterling job on the marketing side. And it’s not just been the tin-top, bog-standard  Fiat 500 that’s flown out of showrooms.

Lorenzo Ramaciotti to head Chrysler and Lancia design

Lorenzo Ramaciotti, current head of design at Fiat Group, has been tasked with leading the design of future Chrysler and Lancia products in a bid to more than double the sales figures of the newly collaborated brands. The 63-year-old former Pininfarina designer – credited to some of the most beautiful Italian machinery of the modern era – has been asked by Sergio Marchionne, chief executive of Fiat and Chrysler Group LLC, to create a common styling language for the two brands that wouldn't look out of place in Detroit or Milan. Ramaciotti has made it clear that badge-engineering isn't going to be the future for the two brands and is hoping to inject a unique, but global flavor, into the two brands.