A little acceleration. A lot of plastic, and a Lilliputian’s worth of smallness.
The Fiat 500C Cabrio that had been parked on my driveway seemed like a small car’s dream gone by. There were a few chrome accents. A soft top that retracted like an old power curtain contrivance from a 1960’s James Bond movie. Power? The spec sheet showed only 101 horsepower and a mild level of torque. To be brutally blunt, I was ready to be subjected to a Corolla’s worth of acceleration with enough wind buffeting to make the experience not even worth the effort.
Then I turned the key…
Jacque Hedonist: I have never received so much attention from a daily driver! This Fiat was the most widely admired car I’ve ever had on the road. Price be damned.
Top of the line Benzes with custom wheels. A tricked out Mustang police interceptor with the Sheriff’s exterior decals still on it. Even a gold 1974 Ford Ranchero with the Southern Cross painted on the bed didn’t get the eyeballs and conversations that this Fiat received on a daily basis.
I think a big reason why is the copper exterior paint job. Some cars seem to be made for particular colors and the Fiat apparently is a perfect fit for ‘Rame’, which apparently is a sophisticated way to say ‘Copper’. Yellow looks a bit weird on it. White and black make the Fiat generic. Rame? A perfect fit for a nee-retro droptop with European pretensions.
Stefan Frugalist: Four flagdowns in three hours just on the first day. Movies, Costco, Two stop lights. Each one was no more than a brief moment’s worth of outside exposure for the Fiat. Yet folks seemed to be all too comfortable with going up to a young family in a small car and start jabbering away about whether we liked it or not. Other than the first generation Miata, I can’t think of a single new car that generated so much immediate and friendly feedback.
Jacque: There was another surprise to the Fiat 500…
It is indeed smaller than a first generation Honda Insight. Over 15 inches smaller length-wise and about three inches smaller in width. Yet two adults and two kids (11 and 9, normal in terms of size) fit in the back with no problem.
The main reasons why are the ride height and ergonomics. The Fiat is about seven inches more spacious in height than an old Insight, which dramatically improves the drivability and the seating positions.
Chrysler/Fiat also saw fit to eliminate as much aero design clutter in the cabin area as possible.
The A-pillar is not intrusive. The dashbaord doesn’t stretch forward like the cockpit of an airplane, and other than the 5-speed, nothing is jutting out in front of you or vying for your attention. No navigation systems. No big-screen infotainment doo-dad’s that vie for your eyeballs. The interior is a simple and intelligent design for those of us who value driving over ceaseless electronic communications.
Stefan: There a couple of drawbacks, depending on what you want out of a car. The interior design encourages an almost completely upright driving position. As a result, the driving experience is a bit less sporty than you would expect from a modern day small car.
Other than fourth gear, there is also no burst of acceleration that would be considered ‘fast’ and the chassis trades a little bit of comfort for less road feel. This Fiat 500c isn’t so much about sport as it is about in-town cruising and errand running.
The highway ride is surprisingly comfortable and other than the worst of roads, the 500c is always poised and taut. You do have enough power to keep up with traffic with the 5-speed and the fuel economy of 30 city / 38 highway, beats every convertible by a wide margin except for the Smart fortwo Cabriolet.
Jacque: Yes, but the Smart isn’t a real choice given the standards of most of today’s consumers. The Mini Cooper Convertible is likely the closest competitor. But it’s also a modern day speed racer type for Gen’s X and Y, while this Fiat is more of a weekend play toy for empty nester’s who want comfort and fun. This 500C with all the options short of leather came in at an MSRP of $21,750, which is thousands less than either the base Mini or another ‘kinda’ competitor, the Mazda MX-5.
Stefan: The Fiat 500C is more of a second car for couples and singles who are looking for ‘frugality with fun’, instead of the painful austerities of a Smart or the near go-kartish nature of the Mini and Mazda. In the real world, it strikes an excellent balance for those among us who are looking to row their own gears and enjoy the sunshine with minimal drama.
If that sounds like you, go for a test drive. You can always enjoy the sunshine.
My wife & I went to San Francisco recently and rented a one-step-up from-smallest car as it was cheap & “big enough” for us — 1 large suitcase, 2 small carry-on’s a baby bag & purse. This was the luggage for 3 people.
When we arrived at the airport our “reservation” was not only there, but the rental counter had no other cars in the class that we reserved. They suggested we look at something smaller & they’d give us a nice discount.
The “smaller” was the mazda2 and fiat 500. I ran up to the fiat, excited as I had never seen one up close. I snagged the key from the door in the rental lot & opened the trunk….and it couldn’t fit our ONE “LARGE” (I’ve seen larger) suitcase, let alone have any room at all for a rear facing baby seat.
I can’t imagine anyone with a young child (even with only 1) could possibly rent this. Honestly, it seemed only slightly more practical than a motorcycle.
I was so disappointed as I really love the look of the car.
We ended up with an Auto (ugh) penalty box (ugh) 4-speed (ugh) Yaris which was had the stupidest automatic transmission I’ve ever experienced in my life. At least it held all of our baggage comfortably as well as our rear facing car-seat without an issue.
Edit: I think the fiat at the rental agency was a pop, not a cabrio…not sure if that makes a difference in interior space or not..?
Edit2: I could see this car being rented by a childless couple (bf/gf ?) maybe that are going to sf for 3 days & both have 1 carry-on ea. It might work well for that…
To be fair- most small cars cannot accomodate a rear-facing child seat, without some serious sacrifice from the front passenger.
Rear facing child seats can eliminate lot’s larger vehicles. There is just no room for the passenger next to the driver. I’m looking at you (just replaced) Ford Escape.
Renter’s make it happen if they want to. Business customers who get a short term mid-week “*free” upgrades to a Camaro find a way to stuff their belongings in the back seat and don’t say a word. No one liked the Chrysler Crossfire and they would stay on the lot. Then again there was no back seat.
*The free upgrade to SUV’s, Luxury and sporty cars for Hertz Gold, Avis preferred & such mid-week is because customers will be dropping the car just on time for rental companies to get full $$$ on weekends & holidays. Company employee’s not traveling on their own dime also bitch less about SUV’s MPG. They are happy they did not get the penalty box the company reserved.
so, a car that can join the two types at the hip.
Oh well, I’ll admit. Love this car! Love the interior. Though I’d love to get the red seats. No place for drab gray seats in a car like this.
Here in Brazil, the Hedonist side prevails. It’s a pleasure car ’cause it costs upwards of 45k reais (22.5 k USD). And the 1.4 is more than enough to get people saying it’s a sports car. Afterall, we are the land of 1.0 with aboiut 75hp…
Steve, if Fiat does make it in America and more products get sold there, you’ll see that their cars are always small outside but big inside. No one, no one beats the at that. In general, Brazilians are not surprised by the relatively ample internal dimensions. It’s what they’ve come to expect from Fiat!
Totally agree on color. My heart always sinks a little when I see a grey or black one going by. Though I like the pearly white.
Maybe, just maybe my inner hedonist will get the better of me, and I’ll end up with one. Keeping my fingers crossed.
Thanks for the review Steven. You’re one of us who get it!
Oi Marcello nice to read you again…!
And agree on the color thing, I wonder how the 500 stands vs the 107 for example.
I read somewhere that a few versions of the 500 are being made in México, btw, our versions and prices for the 500 here is as follows:
500 Pop Manual – $199,900MXP
500 Sport Manual – $229,900MXP
500 Sport Automático – $249,900MXP
500 Lounge Automático – $264,900MXP
500C Automático -$299,900 MXP < This is the one reviewed.
and …
500ABARTH: $349,900 MXP
I agree with Stefan, well, and with Jacque… We all have a lil hedonist waiting for a nice car to appear, right?
Best regards from Mx!
Hola hombre, qué tal?
Glad to see you’ve come back, too. Always read your comments. The 500 sold here is built in Mexico, though the cheapest ones get a locally built 1.4 88hp engine. how the car doing in Mexico?
You know, because Brazil now puts quotas on imports from Mexico, the Freemont and 500 will probably soon be buitl here. But the Viaggio (fiat’s version of Dart), could be built in Mexico soon. Hope it does cause then it’ll come to Brazil.
Abraço!
Oi again
So far the 500 can be spotted on mexican streets not very often, since is not an economic model and the brand had marginal presence in Mexico until lately, so is not the first choice when you shop for a Retro/quasi sport car, being Mini the first choice.
The Dart so far will be imported from the US, but as you say, I think its a matter of time until they re tool some of the plants, probably Saltillo or Toluca which made Neons to produce the New Dart, not all the Dart versions will reach Mexico, sadly… just the plain vainilla ones.
Abraço!
hola de nuevo!
here, since fiat reduced prices, they reached a large swath of the upper middle class. so, well-heeled boys and girls, singles, some older people (but less since older people generally don’t like fiat in brazil), and 40 something executive types (males in greater number than females) are all seen at the wheel. especially the executive-types i suspect would rather be driving a mini or audi a1, but the mini and such are 40% more. but, an undeniable success. so much (coupled with the restrictions on imports) that if you want one of the cheaper versions, put a deposit down and wait 2 or 3 months. No discounts!
I for one, like it for what it is. Any day of the week, month or year over the Germans!
I don’t get the value proposition of the cabrio. It’s essentially a big sunroof since the pillars and headers remain in place, but adds $4,000 to the price. If I were getting the top trim I’d likely stick with the standard glass roof panel. It doesn’t open, but lets about as much light into the front seat. A largish conventional sunroof is $850 on all trims. The cabrio might make sense at $2,000, but double that amount?
Jeep offers a large canvas sunroof on the Liberty for $1,200.
I came, I saw, I felt the same way, Michael. For two grand, I would go for it. At 4 large, it’s not only ridiculously priced, but adds 25% to the cost of the car.
I can’t think of any other convertible that carries a 25% price premium. To top (argh) it off, the 500c isn’t even a true convertible.
Mustang convertible adds $5k on top of a $23k base price.
Camaro convertible adds $7k on top of a $23k base price. (in fairness, the lowest convertible is the 1LT model, and the 1LT coupe is $25k).
Mini Cooper starts at $20k, Cooper convertible starts at $25k.
etc..
Those are true convertibles.
This is actually one of very, very few production cars, which allow the back seat passenger to stand up through the sunrof and wave, parade style.
How priceless is that?
Some say that the Mazda 3 is the poor man’s BMW. This must be the poor man’s Pope Mobile, it is Italian after all.
Yeah but then your stuck with a Jeep a fate worse than death
I Had the dealer down to 13,500 on a Pop 500 but I got the 500c instead for 18,000. It is a jump, but it is still much cheaper than any other 4 seater convertible out there. I love it, have had it for 3 months now. And it looks good in Azurro too (blue) I just could not get a regular hatch back if I was giving up my 65 Dart wagon.
If I had the money to own both a spacious highway cruiser and a little errand runner I might pick the Fiat as the “errand runner” but otherwise, no dice.
that’s my connundrum, too!
I really enjoyed driving the coupe version I rented a few months ago and was impressed with the build quality. There were some drawbacks, including the ride on roughish roads, but what was really bad was doing the over-the-shoulder look before starting to pass and seeing that huge B pillar directly in the line of sight. After a week I still did not feel comfortable changing lanes even with the little extra “blind spot” mirror in the right mirror.
I rented a coupe with a slushbox for January. Some observations
1. it wasn’t much fun.
2. but it was extremely maneuverable in Boston and Cambridge, tight turning circle, easy to park
3. bad gas mileage. I got about 32.5 on the highway at 70. I got 41 in my new ’08 Civic (stick) driving from Boston to Virginia.
4. My Civic is far, far, far sportier than the Fiat. The Fiat might have been slightly more sporty than a Mazda2 slushbox I rented in Seattle a couple of weeks ago.
5. Almost no-one told me what a cool car it looked like, and one friend told me that I did not belong in that car. Of course, it was January in Boston, not May in Atlanta. I don’t worry about being seen in a chick car. (I almst never think of cars in terms of gender.) My understanding is that my ’93 Saturn was a chick car. Never bothered me, during the 11.5 years I had that thing. I was much more bothered by the unsporty image it had after gm pulled saturn back into the mother company. But I really was sort of embarrassed driving around i the fiat.
If you want everyone to ask you about an inexpensive car, get a Veloster. Though I suppose the “new” will wear off the Hyundai before too much longer.
Oh, jeez, no, Michael. I wasn’t looking for anyone to ask me about the Fi-ot, or any other car, I was just responding to Steve’s observation. I am very happy with my Civic, and I don’t expect anyone to ask me about it. Of course, I did enjoy it years ago when I had an RX-8 for a week, when women complimented me on it, or smiled at me in traffic. If that were a priority, I would have gotten a classic car long ago.
If it were all about the vast majority of my driving, which is STILL commuting, this car or something similar to it would fill the bill. I like the little beasts, and I’ve been in one at a car show, but have not driven one to truly know if I would be comfortable with it.
Of course, I would still need something with some kind of hauling capacity, so I think the 500L (or 500X? whichever one is similar to the Countryman) would actually by my weapon of choice.
However, it probably won’t happen that way anytime soon. The wife is bugging me about an SUV for her, and our budget is rather limited this time around. Hellooo Equinox…
I haven’t seen a sunroof that big since the Renault Fuego.
I think the Peugeot 207 and 3008 have very big sunroofs also, however not sure if are as big as the 500.
Saludos
so does the Bravo. It’s a Euro-thing.
We too rented a POP for a day and returned it. We couldn’t fit a full sized suitcase, gas mileage was mediocre for a car of its size, and the handling was sloppy compared to our Honda Fit. Neat idea, luke warm execution.
Maybe the pimped out versions have a sportier ride?
I traded in my Insight on one about a week and a half ago.
I went with the 500 Sport. The basic car is the same as the Pop but the Sport has stiffer suspension, upgraded interior and different front and rear fascia.
There is a “Sport” button on the dash (common to all the 500s) and when you press it you do notice a difference in the car. Acceleration is much improved and the steering tightens up and becomes a bit stiffer. I’ve been told it also adjusts the shifts with the automatic but since I have the 5-spd I have no experience with that.
I’m used to smaller cars with my last being the Insight and before that a Miata. The 500 feels bigger than both on the inside and I appreciate the taller seating position.
My mileage has been around 40mpg, I’m using the trip computer to calculate now as I was doing the math but found that there was no difference with what the computer was reading so why bother.
I wanted a fun car and that’s what I have. Strangely enough I thought the yellow looked just fine on the 500 and that’s what’s in my garage.
not so strange. i think it’s cool, too.
My apologies if it offended.
No offense taken.
Since I bought this car not only has my sexual orientation been questioned buy my gender as well.
If we can’t have differing opinions on a color then where are we?
At least you didn’t say the yellow was a girl’s color.
I will say that if they would have had the Rame in the car I wanted I would probably have ended up with that.
The seating position is nice, and the visibility.
I sat one one recently… I was impressed with the interior size. The rear seat is nigh useless, as is the cargo compartment, but Fiat succeeded where Honda failed (Fit) in building a small car with plenty of space for the front seaters.
Edit: The color as shown is “Rame” not “Espresso.” As for the Pop, I found the suspense a tad too soft (same as the Lounge)…but the Sport with 5-speed is just right. I’ve not yet driven the Abarth, so I can’t compare how much of a difference 59 more HP makes…that said, with sunroof and 5-speed, I’d be rather happy with the 500 Sport. I have no desire (or need) for a 300 HP monster car, and something about having to actually drive a car appeals to me. That, and the interior’s simplicity and lack of overwrought sytling somehow just seems to fit. And the manual seems to make the car much, much more engaging than the automatic…
I rented one of these for two days recently when my DD was in the shop. I’m 6’4″ and I fit rather well in the driver’s seat when it was all the way back but that rendered the back seat difficult for my nine year old twins. “Daddy, this car sucks”. If I needed a commuter car I’d look at the 500. The only thing I did not like was the speedo/tach combo. My picture is in the dictionary next to “presbyopia” but I could not read either one. Maybe there’s some instrument light setting I needed to set?
I wish they’d steal a page from Mini and do an analog tach/digital speedo combo. It just works. I do like the simple dash and center stack otherwise.
They do, the center digital display shows the speed as well as other vital info so yes, it’s a combo of both.
Not in my immediate future, but that is a beautiful automobile.
(“Car” just seemed too blase in that context.)
It really is a good looking, practical city car. I wish the best for fiat as they’re a great company and these cars would be great if they sold more in America
they are selling like hotcakes up here in Canada
the dashboard controls were largely crappy, with buttons you have to push an dpush again and push yet again to control the volume on the radio. Why??????????????? What’s the matter with a knob???!
The heater was LOUD!!! And not particularly powerful.
On mine all the radio controls are also on the back of the steering wheel and I find them to be quite convenient and easy to use.
I haven’t had to use the heat yet but can confirm that once you get it to level 3 on the fan it is loud, recirculate the air and it gets louder.
However the A/C can put frost on your eyeballs.
I have wondered about the knobs in my 500c too. I do use the steering wheel controls most of the time, but the dash ones are odd. There are knobs for the heater and fan, not sure why not on the radio. The blutooth works well though.
Rame/copper? Gawd me eyes! Looks orange leaf to me. Me wonky eyes would take white Gucci soft top – not sure how to color mate inside. Me eyes catch glossy white & chrome bits.
Can’t understand all the attention these things get. To me they look like doorstops – and small, cheap, bland doorstops at that…
You’re being much too nice. They look like pieces of dog turd. And the white steering wheel and dash? That’s going to get nasty quick if the lucky owner doesn’t keep up with it.
As far as the attention they get goes, I think a lot of it is laughter and the embarrassed drivers just don’t want to admit it. Kind of like the people who drive cars with 26″ wheels.
My white dash and seats still look great and the dog slobber from my 120 lb Great pyranese comes right off. I get a lot of attention from cute girls asking about the car too.
i like the style and sheer brio
but the car is fundamentally useless
better off with a cheap hyundai or even chevy
Love these cars, even drove one and they are fun to drive, that’s for sure.
I don’t mind the more upright seating position as it’s not as pronounced as in some trucks. Have not driven the Pop or Lounge, but have driven the Sport sedan with a manual. Now that’s the car I’d get and so wanted to try and get this year, but that ended up not being possible. For me, the hatchback body of the sedan means it’s much more versatile than the cabrio and I’d get the sunroof. The fixed glass roof is I think only available on the Lounge.
Instead, my truck began to die back in January and I had to replace it with another car, a used Mazda Protege5, oh well.
Don’t get me wrong, love the Mazda but DO still want one of these.
The sport had a firmer suspension and a bit larger wheels at 16″, instead of the smaller 15’s on the Lounge and Pop so the ride is flatter and again, firmer, but not harsh as it displays great damping over bumpy roads. I was impressed with its composure overall.
I agree, it doesn’t scream technology or complication, as the tech is hidden behind the scenes, instead, you are treated to a retro, old school interior design whereby the design and style overshadow the technology, but it’s there for sure, just utilize the Blue and Me to find out just how technologically adept it really is, in an understated way – and I like that.
BTW, the 101hp doesn’t feel wanting and it indeed does keep up just fine, it’s not fast, but zippy (provided you use the gearbox appropriately) and I tend to like that over brute speed any day and tend to drive cars like these (and yes, my Mazda too) like I stole it whenever I can, which means in a spirited fashion.
I’m tempted to give this car a pass even though I hate it because it has one major feature that most other modern cars I see today don’t: INTERIOR SPACE. My tiny ’93 Accord and somewhat larger ’94 ES300 both have oodles more interior space than any of the other cars I’m interested in today, even though the more recent ones are far larger. I don’t know what idiot decided it was a good idea to exchange simple carpet-covered metal with space-killing plastic panels which are bound to get scratched up and give you a horrible sense of claustrophobia, but they need to die. Painfully.
The design of this car is very good, but underneath it´s just a Ford Ka in fancy clothes. Don´t expect it to be a sportscar(except for the Abarth).