We still love the Fiat 500
22/11/2011Yup. It was in 2008 that we first saw in the flesh - and drove - what was then the new Fiat 500.
I admit, I was excited about it. I loved the way it looked, the range of specification choices, the colours. I even enjoyed playing with the online choose your stuff thingie Fiat nailed together. Although I am bored with that now.
When you sat in the car, it felt fun. Bold styling. Lovely steering wheel. White leather, in the model I was driving. Metal dashboard. Rev counter and speedo all in one dial. Bright, and light, because of the glass roof.
Obviously, it was a Fiat, so it would not drive far, or well. But then I remembered that it was 2008, and I might just be wrong.
It drove well. I found it a quirky drive, in the 1.4 petrol version, but zippy, and it made a sporty noise. You could press the little sport button, and it actually changed the way the car drove. You didnt really want to turn it off, in fact.
I once drove this little car 350 miles, the full length of England. It was not comfortable in the big saloon sense of the word, but it coped remarkably well, and finished the trip.
It was great to live with. In the early months, people came up to you to talk about the car! I did get the wider wheels, which made it look great. And spoilt the ride. And immobilsed the car in the snow. Get the skinny wheels!
The only draw back was the electrical niggles which started to show up after 20000 miles, and the amusing concept of a discretionary warranty - too mutually exclusive words, I thought! But despite that - they were fairly minor - I would definitely go again with this fun little car.
Why am I writing this? Well, we were sat around in the Nowcars office trying to decide what we thought was the best little car to recommend to people. Obviously a subjective matter, we bounced around a bit, but kept coming back to a short list of two.
And the Fiat was still always on it..
