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New coin marks Fiat 500’s 60th birthday

FIAT 500 enthusiasts are celebrating a special birthday: the 60th anniversary of the diminutive Italian people’s car. To mark the event, the Italian State Mint has released a limited-edition coin, featuring the old and new model on its faces.

With a face value of €5, the coin displays both models on the front, with the words ‘Repubblica Italiana’, while the reverse has a profile and a dash shot of the 1957 car alongside the initial ‘R’ to show it was minted in Rome. Only 4,000 will be produced, and they can be purchased for €40 (approx £35) from www.ipzs.it.

Robutt takes strain out of seat testing

IT’S estimated that over a 10-year lifespan, a car seat will be sat on around 25,000 times. That kind of abuse means any design needs careful testing, and Ford thinks it has the answer with its new ‘Robutt’, a robotic bottom, which can replicate a decade of use in just three weeks.

Robutt is based on the weight and size of a large man, and rather than just moving up and down – as Ford’s previous pneumatic-cylinder system did – the robot accurately replicates how people sit and stand up.

Sign up for HERO’S annual historic rally

IF you own a pre-1986 car and fancy yourself as a mix of endurance driver, navigator and mechanic, then the HERO (Historic Endurance Rallying Organisation) annual Lands End to John O’groats (LEJOG) reliability trial might be up your street.

Regarded by some as the toughest historic rally in Europe, the event starts on 8 December. To find out more, visit www.heroevents.eu.