Fiat 500 photos

[Daniel]

I had a chance to see the Car in person took a few photos as well share your thoughts on this little Creature !
this car has a cool vibe about it ...






Daniel

[So Cal Mark]

I like the car, but the dash looks very retro to me, a very 50's look I think

[mdrburchette]

Kinda like a modern day classic? It is really a well thought out little car. I only wish I had taken the time to drive it when it was at FFO 08.

[pope]

would be hard to put an aftermarket radio in there

[mbouse]

i'll bet if it comes to the states, there won't be much time wasted in creating aftermarket radios that fit that slot.

[CiscoKid]

your negative was flipped, the steering wheel is on the wrong side

[sjmst]

would be hard to put an aftermarket radio in there

The radio as is is sweet; both in sound and looks! I think it would ruin the beauty of the dash to put some aftermarket in there. Still, you can bet people would do it and there would be units that would fit.

[GOPAPA]

I had a chance to see the Car in person took a few photos as well share your thoughts on this little Creature !
this car has a cool vibe about it ...






Daniel

How much do you suppose it would cost in American dollars. I can see it doing well over here if the gas miliage is around 30 mpg or higher . papa

[CiscoKid]

Wikipedia has the price range for Italy as: "The basic price is €10,500 in Italy; with options €15,000"


VEHICLE TYPE: front-engine, front-wheel-drive, 4-passenger, 3-door hatchback

ESTIMATED BASE PRICE (Italy): $16,000

ENGINES: SOHC 8-valve 1.2-liter inline-4, 59 hp, 75 lb-ft; turbocharged and intercooled DOHC 16-valve 1.3-liter diesel inline-4, 68 hp, 107 lb-ft; DOHC 16-valve 1.4-liter inline-4, 94 hp, 94 lb-ft

TRANSMISSIONS: 5-speed manual, 6-speed manual

DIMENSIONS:
Wheelbase: 90.6 in Length: 139.8 in Width: 65.0 in Height: 58.7 in
Curb weight: 2150 lb

PERFORMANCE (MFR'S EST, 1.4-LITER):
Zero to 62 mph: 9.5 sec
Top speed (drag limited): 115 mph

PROJECTED FUEL ECONOMY (MFR'S EST, 1.4-LITER):
European combined cycle: 36 mpg

[pope]

Kinda cool, but this car is for those people that would buy a VW Bug. Kinda on the retro girly side. Can you hear the squirrels in their cages from the engine compartment when you drive?

[So Cal Mark]

the engine line-up is what you can expect to see as common options in the US in years to come

[Tappy]

My daily driver (or my wifes daily driver that i pay for and clean) is a Citoen c3 pluriel
Its a 1.4 diesel and runs 38 m/Gallon (100km/6.2liter)

diesel price here now is 1.40 €/liter (+-8 $/gallon)
98+ octane gas =1.50€/liter (+-9$/gallon)

go figure ....

[Daniel]

I wonder how it will do here ? if china has small compact cars coming in by next year honda has
the Fit Toyota the Yaris we have a Smart cars it seems like Fiat will have a tough time
starting from the ground up over here . I would like to see them do well and love to see what else
makes it to our shores from Fiat perhaps the 20v Coupe Turbo ?

MAybe the Retro look will be attractive to enough small car buyers to stand out as a car for those
who don't want an asian import ?



Daniel

[Danno]

36 miles per gallon? european gallons? that's freaking crappy. i don't know if a "european" specified gallon is the same as in the UK, but in the UK a gallon is ~4.5liters. in US it's 3.8ish.... Those specs are crap for such a small car with only a 95hp engine. I don't mean to pee on the 500 parade, but if that's what it's getting it will NEVER sell here.

[kmead]

Nifty car. So what else did you see at Merkel's house that you liked? He has a nice variety of toys that I miss seeing.

Was the build quality what you expect on the 500? I could easily see having one of these given the driving my VW Golf gets (6 miles to and from work each day).