Just Like Dad
Something really interesting happened during the great mixup of Italian car companies in 2007: The 2008 Fiat-Abarth 500 was born. When Fiat Auto S.p.A. spun off into Fiat Group Automobiles S.p.A. (with four divisions under total control by Fiat Group Automobiles), Fiat Group also re-launched Abarth as their in-house tuner. This was great news for the Fiat 500 (also launched in 2007). But things got even better when Fiat let Ferrari engineers into the kiddie pool and play around with the Abarth 500’s exhaust tuning.
If you’ve ever heard one scream by at wide-open throttle, or even idling next to you, you may have thought, “Now that’s exactly what a 1.4-liter Ferrari would sound like.” The turbocharged engine wasn’t half of a Ferrari 488’s twin-turbo V8 (or one third of a 599GTB Fiorano’s V12). They probably had almost nothing in common. Except that savory sound.
Good engine sound is mostly about good engineering. As the tone of an engine’s exhaust increases in pitch (a measure of the frequency), certain complementary tones should increase accordingly. So the reedy intake roar should maintain similar intervals to a throaty exhaust warble at all rpm levels, at linearly increasing volume (or amplitude). “Bad” engine sound happens when something random is thrown in, like valve clatter, a noisy fuel pump or cooling fan, or maybe unexpected pitch changes due to asymmetric intake manifolds. The Abarth 500 didn’t have these issues, but it had enough Ferrari-esque character to draw comparisons.
Fiat achieved what sport-compact car drivers have long dreamed of: accurate imitation of another car’s sound. Imitating something greater, to be more specific, which is exactly what Paul had in mind when he wrote his letter to the Ephesians:
“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you. Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 4:31-5:2).
The word “therefore” in the middle of this address adds clarity to the subject of imitating God, by explaining the “why” and also the “how.” Why imitate God? The answer is found in an earlier chapter, which explains how God, “who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” (Ephesians 2:4-5) God freely gives new life to people who had wasted their life chasing things that didn’t satisfy. A loving God who gives new life, a rescue, and complete redemption seems like someone to imitate.
But how does an imperfect, incomplete, feeble human imitate an almighty God? Think of the Fiat-Abarth 500 and its delightfully vicious Italianate sound. Remember, good sound comes from:
Good engineering. You were hand-crafted by God with the heart he built for you. Your specific strengths and abilities, rare talents, enduring character, thought patterns, and sets of priorities are – at their purest – God’s blueprint. Your heart belongs to him, and you imitate God when you use your heart for Godly purposes.
Complementary tones. When the revolutions-per-minute of life speed up, does your faithfulness increase accordingly? If you’re in the middle of a busy week, do you rely on your time with God more, or is it the first thing in your schedule to get cut?
A lack of “bad sounds” (valve clatter, for example). In that list of all the bad stuff – the “bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice” – did you think of other people who exhibit that behavior? You know, “those people?” Sure sounds like bitterness, doesn’t it?
God never asks you to imitate him beyond your ability, but instead “as dearly loved children.” No one hears a Fiat-Abarth 500 and thinks “That’s a Ferrari 488!” That isn’t the point. But they might think “That sounds like a baby Ferrari!” And for a turbocharged 1.4-liter hot hatch with 160 Italian horses, that’s very high praise.
People loved the Fiat-Abarth 500. It was eye-catching (like a Ferrari) and came in hard-to-pronounce special editions (like a Ferrari). It also developed a reputation for unreliability and expensive repair costs, which is a Ferrari comparison owners would have loved to avoid.
John V16 is the intersection of God and cars. Please support our work and donate a V16-powered 1940 Cadillac Series 90 Sixteen to John V16. Or share this article with a friend.
