Fiat is due to unveil the highly-anticipated 500 revival tomorrow, but they’ve given registered “community members” a chance to preview the itty-bitty new car at Fiat500.com

The site features a quick flash animation video that shows the new car from various angles, both inside and out. You only get to see the video once, but some intrepid fellow bloggers have managed to grab some screen shots which we’re glad to share with you above and after the jump.

The car will be officially unveiled to the public tomorrow, but if you can’t wait and want to see Fiat’s flashy flash show, you can go straight to Fiat500.com and register to see the video.
[Source: Fiat500.com via MotoriOnline]

Toyota has been working on an affordable small car that will be cost-competitive in emerging markets, and Autocar is reporting that India is being considered as a destination for production. India makes sense due to its low-cost labor, and with competitors like the Tata Nano going for as little as $2,500, the world’s biggest automaker will need to cut cost everywhere it can. There is no word as to exactly what vehicle would be produced in India, but one option is Toyota’s production iQ from Geneva, which is scheduled to begin production later in 2008. Toyota is looking for initial sales of the iQ to crest 100,000 units.
[Source: Autocar via Winding Road]

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While Cadillac busies itself with a 2-door version of the new CTS sedan, the folks over at Coach Builders, Ltd have been busy taking their tops off. The boulevardier CTS gets an insulated, hydraulically-powered roof fitted with a heated glass rear window and cloth headliner. The top also comes in several colors. Judging by this pic, it also looks like a fair bit of work has gone into making the car look good with the top down. No word on what happens to trunk space, however.

It’ll cost you more than a few quarters — $19,000 gets the job done in eight weeks — but that’s the price of exclusivity, right? It’s also employs a manual release, but these things happen when you’re a style pioneer. We’d like to see pics of the car with the top up, because we wonder if this could be the first cloth-topped Caddy truly fit for the younger set.

[Source: Inside Line]

The IIHS has put the 2008 smart fortwo through its frontal offset crash test, and the video is on YouTube even though the IIHS hasn’t released its results yet. For everyone who points out the benefits of the smart’s miniscule size, there are a number of others who say they wouldn’t want to go up against a normal American car in a smart. Even the NHTSA had some concerns when it tested the fortwo’s crashworthiness. Based on the video after the jump, however, it looks like the smart acquits itself quite well with no deformation of the A-pillar and not even a crack in the windshield. We’ll have to wait for the IIHS to give its final, official word, however. Sure, we wouldn’t want to be driving a smart fortwo in an accident… but that’s only because we don’t want to be in an accident. Follow the jump to watch the video for yourself.

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The current Prius is baked from a refined recipe that results in a roomy, practical and efficient vehicle lurking under an eco-statement exterior, or at least we thought so. Five years on, it’s still the most popular way to conspicuously consume under the guise of saving the planet. Toyota hasn’t been resting on the success of its green badge of targeted consumerism, so we’re going to see a new Prius at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in January, according to Toyota President Watanabe. The 3rd-generation Prius will grow in size, and engine displacement will be bumped to 1.8 liters to increase performance. Despite the increase in size and sprightliness, weight will reportedly hold steady. Further changes are in store after the launch, with plug-in and Li-Ion updates to come.

The nameplate will also move beyond a single model and become a sub-brand during the reign of Prius the III. More body styles are coming, and if you think the Prius is a roachy-looking thing, the concept hints Toyota has given us are possibly even weirder. The sub-1,000 pound 1/X might offer a glimpse at another type of Prius, though more realistically, the sad-eyed Hybrid X vannish concept suggests the way things are headed without the ridiculous pronunciation of its featherweight companion. If things go according to Toyota’s plan for world domination, the Prius will become one of the pillars upon which the marque is built, next to the Corolla and Camry institutions.
[Source: Auto Observer]

Prodrive is in the process of developing a performance package for the Alfa Romeo Brera S, the first collaboration between the two since Prodrive campaigned a pair of factory-built Alfa 155s in the British Touring Car Championship in 1995. Based off the 2.2 JTS and 3.2 V6 models, between 250 and 300 special edition models will be released. The majority of the focus will be spent on the suspension, aero enhancements and (thankfully) some weight savings. 19-inch rollers are expected to fill the wheel wells, while a handful of driver-oriented improvements, along with some S-badging, will find its way inside. Beyond that, details are scarce, but anytime you mix one-part unobtainable Italian with another part British racing legends, good things are on the way.

[Source: Italiaspeed]

Nissan showed off a drive-by-wire concept that wasn’t about touting the technology itself, but the space and features you could get back because of it. By fitting a steer-by-wire, brake-by-wire, and shift-by-wire systems, 11 centimeters of extra space was added to the cabin which allowed for a third row of seats in the rear of this Murano-based concept. The room came from pushing the wheels out to the far corners, which could be safely done without sacrificing vehicle dynamics due to the lack of mechanical linkages.

The small, race-style steering wheel needs less turning input, and the column can be tilted up completely out of the way. The center tunnel has become a beautifully finished control panel that gently arcs up to greet the driver. When you don’t need it, it can also be folded back over itself creating even more space in the front area. When I did, the swath of empty space between the front seats was so inviting I almost wanted to take a nap.

The Nissan R&D engineer with the vehicle said that there were no plans to put the technology into any products right now. But it is being studied, especially one of the main issues — as with all drive-by-wire systems — the implementation of redundant systems.

You can check out the Nissan 360 event site for more details on the EA2 concept and all the vehicles in Nissan’s lineup. In the mean time, be sure to check out the gallery of hi-res photos below.

Like the Millennium Falcon, the Weber Sportcars faster one may not look like much, but it sounds like it might be capable of besting the former’s Kessel Run time of under 12 parsecs. Hell, after looking over the manufacturer’s stats, we think that the faster one might be able to tear a gaping hole in the space/time continuum.

Billed by its Swiss maker as the world’s fastest street legal sports car, the faster one’s ugly-but-aerodynamic carbon fiber body covers a vehicle that weighs in at a scant 1,984 pounds (900 kg). That mass is distributed 50:50 and is propelled by a 900-horsepower/774 lb-ft twin-supercharged V8 that begins its life as a garden-variety General Motors LS7 before Weber tears it apart and rebuilds it to its own specifications. The twin-blown eight is then mated to an in-house-developed 6-speed sequential gearbox. Power is directed to an intelligent AWD system (also developed in-house) that can send a maximum of 36% of power to the front wheels.

Stated performance numbers are of the astonishing variety: 0-62 mph in 2.7 seconds; 0-124 in 6.6 seconds; 0-186 in 16.2 seconds; and a top speed said to be over 248 mph. Helping rein in the insanity is a set of 12-piston, 15-inch ceramic brakes supplemented by the car’s motorized rear wing, which, like the Bugatti Veyron’s, doubles as an air brake when necessary. You can get into all the minutiae after the jump where we’ve pasted Weber Sportcars’ full press release. Weird but wicked, the Weber Sportcars faster one is just the thing to settle that pissing contest you’ve been having with your Veyron-driving billionaire neighbor. If you give the nice people at Weber (at least) 1.6 million Swiss francs (plus VAT), they’ll build one just for you.
[Source: Weber Sportcars]

As a fellow E36 owner (non-M), my heart momentarily stopped when Mike S. sent us this link to BimmerForums, where one member had a close encounter of the multi-spoke kind while driving down I-880 near San Jose, CA. The wheel apparently fell off another vehicle going in the opposite direction on the freeway, hit the center divider and flew into the air, landing with a tremendous amount of force onto the roof of kpipalldaway2’s incredibly clean M3. Judging by the lack of damage to the rest of the vehicle,

 he was able to pull off the road safely, but even more amazingly, he only suffered a broken shoulder and some cuts from the broken glass. While it’s sad to see such a pristine example destroyed by such a gaudy piece of rolling stock, it gets worse. The M3 driver was on a basketball scholarship and his broken shoulder may have put an end to his game days.
[Source: BimmerForums]

Today’s reminder of how much more awesome the Euro-market Ford Focus is than our own comes from Ford UK, where the latest, greatest Focus ST goes on sale starting Thursday. As you’re probably well aware, in ST trim the newly-restyled Euro Focus gets the once-over from Ford Europe’s in-house tuning arm, TeamRS. The standard engine is replaced by a turbocharged 2.5L five-banger underhood that’s good for 225 PS (around 223 hp), is mated to a six-speed stick, and lets the Focus ST do 0-100 km/h (62 mph) in 6.8 seconds. According to Ford, the new ST also lapped the Nordschleife in 8:35. The exterior is dressed up with 18-inch wheels, the expected body kit and available racing stripes. Inside, the proper cockpit gets a push-button starter and Recaro seating. Depending on the ST trim level selected (there are three) and available options chosen, you can add all manner of comfort and convenience features to the spiffy-looking pocket rocket. Even Bluetooth… but not SYNC. Something tells us the Brits aren’t crying in their beers over this.

Yes, we know that the next-gen Focus will be global and that the U.S. will share the same car sold in Europe. No, that doesn’t make looking at this any easier in the meantime. Ford’s official missive is pasted after the jump.

[Source: Ford]