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Stewart and Beth kindly provided these images from their recent honeymoon to Italy. Text by Stewart. on to page 2 »» |
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The Fiat 126 was the successor to the Cinquecento. Rear-engined, it was introduced in the 1970s and built until (!) 2000 in Poland. To me, it epitomises the city car of the 70s. | 
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An unidentifiable small car. This thing looks like a cross between a golf cart and a pup tent. Compare size to Mercedes E-Class wagon in front. | 
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The Opel Agila is based on the Suzuki Wagon R, and looks like a Tardis - a tall, short box. This photo doesn't do justice to the startling chartreuse in which most of these seem to be painted. | 
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This Mercedes A Class was photographed travelling at high speed on the autostrada between Genoa and Milan. There was a bit of a fuss after it rolled over a Swedish motoring magazine's "Elk Test," which involves a violent swerve at moderate speed. Mercedes then fiddled with the suspension and added stability control (ESP) to make it safer, and (in Italy at least) one can tell the revised models by the large ESP badge on the back. Can't tell with this one: like many Mercedes and BMWs in Europe, the model badges have been removed, which is a common way to make people think you have an 280 horsepower E430 V8 instead of a 130 horsepower E200. | 
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The Piaggio Ape, brought to you by the same crazy folks who make Vespa scooters, is a uniquely Italian creation. A cross between a truck and a moped, the Ape usually has one front wheel, handlebar steering like a scooter, and an incredibly noisy two-stroke engine. These things are everywhere, although we saw rather few in Lombardy. The van pictured was seen in Florence. The more modern looking pickup, complete with tropical color scheme, was spotted hiding beneath a palm tree in the seaside town of Monterosso al Mare. I should note that "Ape" is the Italian word for "bee," and is pronounced "Ah-pay." Vespa, Ape, buzzy vehicles, geddit? |  
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