Belmondo’s Chase Scene from Le Professionnel (1981)

Georges Lautner’s 1981 action-thriller Le Professionnel is about a French Secret Service agent betrayed by his employers and left to rot in an African prison camp. After breaking out and returning to his native France, the agent (played by Jean-Paul Belmondo) begins plotting his revenge against the people who set him up. In this scene, Belmondo is attempting to outfox the French Secret Service agents following him.

Belmodono’s car is the red Fiat 131 Supermirafiori while his rivals are driving a black Peugeot 504. There are a couple of 180 degree turns, a handful of nice pit manoeuvres and the prerequisite shot of the Eiffel Tower for the non-Gallic viewers. The chase eventually moves to the grounds of the Palais de Chaillot, where we discover just how overused that, “driving a car down some stairs,” thing was before Jason Bourne got around to it.

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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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Steve Truglia Loops the Fiat 500 at AutoRAI [with Video]

At this week's AutoRAI show in the Netherlands, sponsor Shell partnered with stuntman Steve Truglia to put on a very Hot Wheels performance. Truglia drove a Fiat 500 through a 22-piece loop that stands 11 meters tall and made it look easy. See for yourself in the video after the jump.

According to the Dutch press release, the 500 was gutted and modified with a roll cage, new fuel tank, and an integrated limiter to ensure the right speed. Check out the stunt and interviews in the video below.

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VIDEO: Le Casse, A Mad Cap Car Chase through the Streets Of 1970’s Athens

Ah, the ‘70s. We had the Oil Crisis and Watergate, microwave ovens and VCRs, Maggie Thatcher and Jimmy Carter. As for cars, well: there were the greats like the Lamborghini Countach, Datsun 240Z and the Dodge Charger. Then there were the not-so-greats like the AMC Pacer, Chevy Chevette and the Ford Mustang Cobra II.

It was the decade that brought us The French Connection, Gone in 60 Seconds and Smokey and the Bandit. It also brought us a relatively unknown (well, to my –ahem- clearly sophisticated tastes) French film called Le Casse (The Burglars).

Oh sure, Bullitt had Steve McQueen in a Mustang and Goldfinger had Sean Connery in a DB5, but you ain’t ever seen a film so brazen to put Omar Sharif behind the wheel of...an Opel Rekord. Well, he is the villain. Surely our hero, Jean-Paul Belmondo, will get to drive something a bit smarter.

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VIDEO: Fiat Engineer Explains the Differences Between the US- and Euro-Spec 500

During the U.S. presentation of the new 2012 Fiat 500, the Italian company's Chief Engineer Fabio Dimuro explained to journalists the main differences and changes compared to the European specification model. These include - but are not limited to- exterior and interior improvements, the introduction of a more appropriate for American consumers Aisin 6-speed automatic transmission, additional insulation that helped reduce powertrain noise levels from 76 db to 71 db, the addition of MultiAir intake system to the 1.4-liter engine, while Fiat and Chrysler also worked together to redesign the car's rear-axle. Hop over the jump to watch the video. Read more »

VIDEO: Fiat 500 Races Koenigsegg CCX in Swedish Webhost Ad

Here's a car race with a difference: an automotive remake of the classic Tortoise and the Hare story, starring a Fiat 500 as the tortoise and a Koenigsegg CCX as the hare. Well, not a real 500 and CCX; these are 1:24 scale models, and the whole thing is filmed in stop motion. It was made by Swedish filmmaker and photographer Robin Danehav as an advertisement for Binero, a Swedish webhosting service.

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