The new Fiat Grande Punto is set to be the star at this weekend's 'My Special Car Show' being held the Rimini Fieri, with the brand new 'Super2000' rally car, fresh from its debut victory on the Rally del Ciocco earlier this month, being joined by several special factory authorised versions of the Grande Punto on Fiat's stand.

The final countdown to the fourth edition of the 'My Special Car Show', the tuned and customised sportscar exhibition, which will open its doors at Rimini Fiera tomorrow morning (Friday 31 March), is now well underway underway. The numbers for the 2006 edition of the event are bigger than ever: in addition to 77,500 m2 of occupied exhibition area, there will be three hundred and nine exhibitors, of which one hundred and fourteen are of foreign original, spanning nineteen countries. Of the nineteen exhibition halls occupied at the Rimini Exhibition Centre, nine will be dedicated to the exhibition stands with the other nine will be set aside for the rallycars.

Fiat Auto lead out ten major car manufacturers who have chosen to officially take part in this year's edition, emphasising that this popular show is rapidly gaining a profile well beyond the niche tuning and customising market it serves. Joining Fiat at the Fieri will be BMW (through their MINI brand which will be showing the John Cooper Works option,) Citroën, DaimlerChrysler (through their Smart subsidiary,) Kia, Opel, Peugeot, Seat, Subaru and Volkswagen. Joining them will be approximately one thousand eight hundred customized cars being exhibited throughout the rally areas and across the myriad of trade stands, while the show will also feature around one hundred and fifty award ceremonies and eight conventions, with more than a dozen publishing groups and radio stations  set to attend.
 

Star of the Fiat stand will be the new Grande Punto model, the best-selling car in Europe ever since the turn of the year, and one that has already become a huge hit on the Italian market. Two examples of the new cars will be presented by Fiat: one equipped with the new 90bhp 1.3 Multijet variable geometry turbine engine, while the other offers the powerful 130bhp 1.9 Multijet, both of which are characterised by the “Need For Speed” bodykit, based on the world’s best selling sportscar computer console game, as well as by a number of “tribal tattoos” stickers on the bodywork, matt films that make it possible for owners to very quickly customise their vehicles.

Alongside these two special models, will be the Grande Punto Rally Super2000 which comfortably won its debut rally earlier this month: the Italian Rally Championship's season opener, the Rally del Ciocco. The potent new rally challenger boasts four wheel drive transmission, a 2,000cc normally-aspirated engine combined with a sequential six-gear gearbox, and turns out maximum power of around 270bhp at 8,250 rpm.

Finally on the Fiat stand the public will be able to admire a new show car based on the Fiat Panda model that “moves” to the beat of music, and an original Fiat motorhome, built on a Ducato chassis, presenting the very best in terms of information technology and devices dedicated to entertainment.

The setup of the Fiat stand aims to recalls the 'metropolitan' world: underground artists will work on imitation walls and building cornices, garage shutters and shop windows, creating wall and floor graffiti. What is more, the show area will be characterised by neon lights and fluorescent colours while the music of Play-Radio will fill the ensuing lively environment. For the enjoyment of visitors a DJ stage has also been set up to entertain the public with games, competitions and performances. Major protagonist will the Grande Punto logo: Mr. Dot, the appealing P-shaped pictogram which, for the Rimini event, takes on the dual guise of DJ and Player.