Top Gear Spotted in Italy with Three Hot Hatches

If there is one television crew that is almost impossible to go by unnoticed (at least by the male population) anywhere they go in the world, it is the hosts of BBC’s widely popular Top Gear program. This time, Jeremy Clarkson, James May and Richard Hammond were spotted in the medieval town of Lucca in Tuscany, central Italy. Read more »

Lucarelli-Monza Crafts Extreme Fiat 500 Abarth with RWD and Mid-Mounted 230HP Engine

There are tuners and there are tuners with some taking the easy way out going for a quick fix while others take up the challenge to create something truly unique. Italy’s Lucarelli-Monza belongs to the second category of tuners. The Monza-based tuning house has revealed details on its newest creation called the 500 Abarth Motore Centrale R230.

As its name implies, the heavily modified Italian hatchback gains a new layout with a mid-mounted engine and rear-wheel drive. Of course, such a radical change is not an easy task with the company having to re-engineer the entire vehicle.

Among other changes, the rear seats of the production model were dropped to create space for the engine while there’s also a new rear suspension set-up and a high-performance braking system with 335mm front- and 305mm rear- discs coupled with four-piston calipers.

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