Everybody in the USA of a certain age (don’t you just hate that phrase? What, you’ve never heard it before? You are soooo young) has a Fiat story from their youth. That is, they have one if they grew up in a car culture (like Texas or California or. . . ) and there were a wide variety of hand-me-down autos rumbling around when teenagers got their driver’s licenses, often as a rite of passage on their 16th birthday. Back when I was high-schooling in Texas, I encountered everything from Triumph Spitfires to badly beaten original VW Beetles, and yes, the occasional Fiat convertible was all part of the mix. But then the fleeting youth fled, and, a bit later, so did Fiat from the US market. It was the early 80s, and I had an odd soft spot for the Italian autos and then they vanished from these shores like a chef’s special off a menu.
Well, it took over two decades for the Italian marque to find its way back to the American market, and the complexities that surrounded the company’s recent history (and even not too recent history) is the stuff of business school lectures with state-of-the-art, 3-D H-D flow charts and freshly laundered sock puppets. What I’m trying to say here is, it really is a pretty convoluted legacy. But while I really can’t wade though all that history, I can tell you about the new Fiat auto that is just now becoming available here. Danged if I don’t quite like the little bambino, too.
The first comparison you make with a car like the 500 Cabriolet is to place it against other sub-subcompacts, like the Mini Cooper and even the oh so minuscule Smart Car. The Fiat is similar to the Mini, but I was intrigued by how it seemed to be a whole ‘nother kettle of fish despite similar dimensions. It feels very different, and while it doesn’t have the “wheel at every corner” go-kart personality to the same extent the Mini does it is a blast to drive in tight quarters. The engine is no Mighty Thor but neither is it a Frail Wheezer, and here’s a shocker: my sampler was saddled with an automatic transmission and this extra-cost minus usually pushes small cars into lawn tractor status in terms of response.
But not this time, though, for the six-speed unit works really well and is (yes, I may wear this term out in this discussion) a pleasant surprise. The suspension seems better suited for delivering a comfortable ride than either the Mini or Smart, and overall the car felt more solidly constructed than most of the microcars at this point in time (Scion’s iQ is poised to strike very, very soon, so we’ll see). It doesn’t quite carve up apexes like a Mini, but it feels more substantial to me which is a decent trade-off as it’s still a ball to toss around on a stretch of curvy blacktop. The convertible top is slick and clever, and basically is a retractable roof. Even with said roof open the 500 is reasonably quiet for a car in this class, which is all part of this whole refinement thing that turned out to be such a pleasant surprise. Mind you, this particular Cabriolet was packed with lots of optional classy bits including the Luxury Leather Package (heated leather seats and the like), but still the overall impression is of focused design and decent workmanship all through the car; even under the hood.
Neat Stuff: the tachometer rides inside a circle that’s inside the bigger circle that is the speedometer, and it looks cool. This is far better than the Mini’s massive manhole-cover-in-the-middle-of-the-freakin’-dashboard speedo that has always bothered me. The rear seat can actually accommodate two humans, and although it’s tight to get into it is habitable. The exterior Pearl White Tri Coat paint (Bianco Perta in its native tongue) is lovely, and with the cool blue/white/red racing stripe makes for a very classy exterior.
And, the car is just plain fun. It definitely gets noticed if you’re into that sort of thing, but better yet it uses little fuel (I averaged 32 MPG) and if it proves to be OK in the reliability department might be a really good choice for those needing wheels in crowded urban environments. Oh, and it’s a pleasant surprise, just so you know. I wanted to make sure I got that across. Loaded with goodies, the price of admission was $26,050. Bon Appetito.
RollingProse 