Car spotting in Europe, May 2023

My wife and I went to Italy, Monaco, and south of France, in May of 2023. Here are some of the cars that grabbed my attention.

Lake Como, Italy

These matching Ferrari Dinos were waiting for the ferry in Bellagio, on Lake Como.
This was a pair, not the same car. (notice the wheels are different)

Maranello, Italy

We paid a visit to the Ferrari factory in Maranello, Italy.

On site is the Musei Ferrari, where these cars were on display.

Ferrai F50

Ferrari F40

LaFerrari

Ferrri Enzo

1952 Ferrari 166 mm Berlinetta Vignale

1953 Ferrai 500 Monodial

2007 Ferrari F430 Scuderia

Chianti, Italy

We drove on gravel, country roads on our way to a B&B in Tuscany. We went through a small town where I saw this Fiat 126 looking like a rally car. It has Giannini badging, which is a well regarded Fiat tuning shop, in Rome.

Volterra, Italy

Beaters with character always catch my eye.

Here is a 90's Fiat Panda, in the lovely hilltop town, Volterra, Italy

Our rental car: Audi A5

Here we are fueling up our rental car, heading north along the tollway,

on the Italian riviera, toward Monaco. It was a diesel.

Monaco, during F1 week

Spotted this nice BMW E30 M3, in the parking garage in Monaco

Ferrari 488 parked in front of Casino de Monte Carlo, on the day before

practice started for the F1 Gran Prix of Monaco.

Right across the street was this Ferrari FF 

A Fiat 500 that caught my eye.

A 60th anniversary, special edition, cabrio. More fashion accessory than car.

Antibes, France

Along the French Riviera, a dark grey Ferrari F430 coupe.

Provence, France

Driving down an alley, spotted this wrecked Ferrari F430, growing weeds

outside an auto shop, in Vers-Pont-du-Gard

A VW Fox with a rally theme, near Arles, France

In My Garage: An electric car... 2016 Fiat 500e

A new kind of powertrain 

I had wanted to add an electric car to my fleet, for about the last year. The cheaper, the better. I was thinking about something for $10,000 or less. I knew it would have limited range. Just a toy really.

The reason I decided that this would be my next powertrain, was because I do a lot of wrenching on my old, gas powered cars, and in theory, EVs should be much lower maintenance, and have fewer hard part failures, as there are less moving parts. I wanted to see if it caused me to view my ICE cars, from a new perspective.

Initially, I was considering a first gen Nissan Leaf. I test drove one in Sept '22, but the amount of money dealers were asking was still way too high. I decided to bide my time, believing that the market would come to me, as interest rates rose. It was around this time, that I also became aware of the used EV tax credit, that would be kicking in as of January 1st, 2023. So I would test drive, but not purchase until then.

The down side to the first gen Leaf is battery degradation. Due to poor design of the battery pack, the battery capacity dropped noticeably over time.

A friend had mentioned a Fiat 500e to me, which I didn't know existed. It was a "compliance car" made by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles, solely to comply with California's zero emission mandate. They were also sold and leased in Oregon. Nowhere else in the country got these cars new. The CEO, at the time claimed that they lost $14,000 on everyone sold. This was because they sub-contracted the whole powertrain out to Bosche. MSRP was $32,800. This was not a cost effective car, and they only wanted to sell the bare minimum required by law.

I had always liked the Fiat 500 design...the retro look. But I would never consider an FCA powertrain. the fact that it was Bosche, intrigued me. So I did some research, and started shopping.

I ended up buying this 2016 Fiat 500e with 32,000 miles on January 5th 2023 My out-the-door price was $11,459 cash, including tax, title, and all fees. This will be knocked down to a $8,384 total, once I collect on the tax rebate of 30%, at tax time in 2024

Car in the showroom at the dealer

A few mods

This orange graphic package is known as the "e-sport package". I didn't mind the colorful wheel spats, but I took them off to see how it looked with a simpler color scheme.  I added a 20% tint, and I changed the projector headlight bulbs to LED, as stock was a little dim.

Here is how the car looks now

Earlier this month, I entered this in the annual car show I usually participate in. I took off the fake plastic engine cover, and got a few "High Voltage" stickers to put under the hood, so one could tell it was all electric, at a glance, with the hood up. None of the boomers paid any mind to it. As a 2016, this is my most modern car, with technology such as: a USB jack to charge my phone, WHILE I listen to music.

This car has a 0-60 of 8.8 which doesn't sound that impressive. However its 0-40 is very quick, and makes this car so fun from a dig. It is actually a stoplight monster, but top speed is only 85 mph.

Specs:

111 horsepower

147 lb ft torque (from 0 rpm)
2980 lbs. curb weight