July 31, 2006

Horse 602 - Sexy Little Italian?

We all should know by now of the brilliant television show Top Gear by the BBC and currently shown on SBS. Every week Jeremy Clarkson with his unique brand of pomposity slates, berates, denigrates and occasionally accolades the produce of the automotive world. Known for his love of big massive loud cars that cause an oil crisis it's not surprising that on the "Cool Wall" rating cars from "Cool" to "Naff" the two coolest cars in the world in his opinion are the Vauxhall Monaro and the Aston Martin DB9.

Imagine then the shock, horror and utter confusion when in a survey by Top Gear and published in the magazine, the World's Sexiest Car was decided. Let's just say that the winner fit most of the regular criteria because she was dressed in red, hot-blooded, and Italian...





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And this is the winner. The Fiat 500. This petite Italian temptress beat such other dames as the Aston Martin DBS, and three other belle signore in the Maserati Quattroporte, Alfa Brera and Ferrari Enzo. Usually you'd expect some other grand lady to win a coveted prize such as this but with rising petrol prices and snarling traffic, perhaps people are willing to trade in the high-octane pheremones and the ability to flash down the motorway at +150mph for a bit of chic and cheeky vita matta.

Top Gear editor James May says of the Fiat 500 that it, "advertises nothing about its owner, except that it's someone who doesn't need to try. So you look, and you know. You would, wouldn't you?"

What's also interesting is that Fiat themselves intend to repeat the two-card trick with a release of the new Fiat 500 next year and unlike the New Mini that isn't very mini at all and the New Beetle which contains no dak-dak noise, the Nuevo 500 promises to live nicely alongside it's forebears.

There are other twists to this. The 500 was by Lupin III, the protagonist of the Lupin the 3rd series and movies and with a bit of careful product placement, Luigi in the Disney/Pixar film Cars also happens to be a 1959 Fiat 500.
On that note, Sally Carrera a Porsche 911 also from the Disney/Pixar film Cars, came 10th in the survey. Thus...

1. Fiat 500.
2. Aston Martin DBS.
3. Maserati Quattroporte.
4. Chevrolet Camaro.
5. Citroen C6.
6. Lincoln Continental.
7. Bentley Continental S1 Fastback.
8. BMW M1.
9. Rolls-Royce Phantom.
10. Sally the Porsche 911 Carrera (from the Pixar film Cars).

People may say "but they're only cars!", well maybe...

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