An icon reinvented for a modern generation: the new Fiat 500
Launched in Turin on July 4 last year to a rapturous reception, the new Fiat 500 goes on sale officially in the UK today. That mid-summer date was significant enough: 50 years ago to the day, the Italian manufacturer pulled the covers off its original diminutive 500.
And now, it’s time for the UK to get a sprinkling of new 500 excitement.
There was even a party on the Thames tonight, with eager 500 fans revelling in the arrival of their new icon at the London Eye. Fiat, wanting to ‘make the country smile’, unveiled the new 500 at 8pm ‘flying’ in one of the capsules, precisely 500 hours from the start of the New Year.
Smile! New Fiat 500 in the London Eye (Source: Fiat UK/nf500.com)
But, beneath all the marketing date tie-ins, ‘Everyday Masterpieces’ advertising campaign, and cutesy city car puff, is the car likely to be any good?
Based on the current revered Panda chassis, and with engines of 69, 75, and 100bhp, it fills both the city and boutique fun car niches perfectly. A modern interpretation of Fiat’s iconic baby from the 1950s, it won’t - and doesn’t need to - revolutionise or mobilise a nation this time around, but it should provide lots of smiles per mile.
And I certainly wouldn’t mind tooling around in one.
Cheaper and roomier than BMW’s reinvented Mini (up until now the boutique car class darling), it should deservedly become the car of choice for style-led drivers everywhere, and give the city car market a much-needed design boost. After all, what would you choose - Japanese or Korean hatchback, Smart Fortwo, or new Fiat 500?
Almost 4 million of the original 500 were built from 1957 to 1975, galvanising individuals into independence and providing real motoring for the masses, just like the precursor of that other reinvented icon, Volkswagen’s New Beetle (the original Mini played a part, too). But, the new 500 has better-resolved styling than both its contemporaries, and, for the moment at least, that all important desirability factor.
Old or new? 2008 Fiat 500 builds on the style of the 1957 original
The initial drive reports are promising. Riding on the crest of an euphoric wave, the multi-award winner has received plaudits from both the Top Gear and Fifth Gear TV programmes, as well as Car magazine, and has also earned the coveted ‘Car of the Year 2008′ title, for which 58 journalists from 22 European countries vote.
With a possible 549,936 variations, made up from combinations of three trim levels, three engines, twelve colours (including six vintage shades), seven alloy wheel and two hubcap designs, eight sticker kits, ten badge designs, two interior trims, and fourteen choices of upholstery, it really is ‘a car for the people, made by the people, for the people’, just as Fiat says.
There really should be something for everyone, then. And that’s before the hotter Abarth and Abarth SS, the convertible, and the Giardiniera estate versions come along. Everyone played a part in the 500’s development, too, with over 3 million people involved via the www.500wantsyou.com website.
Obviously, nostalgia for the original model plays a big part in the new car’s success story. And, what’s wrong with that? Fiat seems to have kept a handle on the whole 500 project, and the newcomer doesn’t appear too retro or too modern, steering a fine balance between misty-eyed reminiscences and future forward-looking glances.
The new Fiat 500 ‘flys’ the London Eye until 3 February (Source: Fiat UK/nf500.com)
After all, it needs to - the old 500 is still a national motoring icon in its home country over 30 years after production ended, not to mention a symbol of Italy’s post-war recovery. And Fiat wants to get it right; being careful to not dent it’s conservatively estimated 120,000 annual production run.
The company did get it right - it should be one of the best and long-awaited cars to come along for quite some time (I can’t wait for the Giardiniera version). The price is right, too, with the cheapest 1.2-litre Pop trim cars starting at £7,900, rising to the range-topping £10,700 1.4 Lounge.
While it doesn’t have to be the revolution the original was, it’s certainly caught the public’s imagination in a similar way. And it is making its own revolution of sorts - catch it on the London Eye until 3 February.