I'm hoping the Abarth will have better interior materials than the base 500, because the fit and finish really sucks from what I've seen. Still this could be a fun car. I'm personally more excited about the Fiesta ST, that may be my next car.

 

Oh, those cars are used in the Italian military! They have one forward gear and five gears in reverse... The one forward gear is in case the enemy attacked from the rear!

 

 

+1 looks like a lump of mud. Really ugly. And it is a Chrysler!

 

I know the 500 shares the same platform with the well acclaimed Panda. Looking into the Punto it appears it shares the same GM platform as the Aveo

 

Ahem. My understanding is that the Gen 1 MINI engines were co-developed by Chrysler. That's what I heard early on when researching to buy one.
It's not like MINIs didn't have a ton of issues to start with, either. Let's be honest. Power steering pump failure, anyone? Control arm bushings? Dare I mention CVT?
Go easy on the little guy. It's good to see a trend in stylish subcompacts. Hopefully the "Rocketman" stays small, as conceptualized.

 

I had a high mileage Fiat Punto diesel rental for a few weeks in Spain and Portugal. It literally couldn't make it up a steep incline before it was warmed up and had bald tires (scary in the snow with bald tires btw), but it was pretty nice otherwise. Got really good mileage, tons of space and comfy. Oh, did I mention durability? Finding a group of six local Portuguese kids sitting on the hood didn't even leave a scratch. I fear the same couldn't be said about a 500 or a MINI, assuming so many youth could even fit on either hood.

 

Actually, the 500 is not made by Chrysler. In fact, when the 500 was debuted, Fiat and Chrysler were not even related. Their merger was in 2009, while the current 500 was already in production for 2 years at that point.

While I'm not saying that this car is going to be rock-solid reliable, we can at least be happy that it is not made by Chrysler... yet.

 

Pulled this up on the late model. 2011 Aveo Review
Search older models and "fear for one's own life" starts to enter into the handling description.

 

Fiat is "the other".

 

I got stuck for a while in a Chevy Lancetti rental in Iceland, I think that's the same as the Aveo. Total POS compared to the Punto, it actually made me fear for my life at least once. Overall though, I think safety on these small cars in Europe is a little less of an issue since you don't see massive SUVs and Trucks too often.

 

Didn't know if you knew:
3,478,822 Neons were sold in the US alone between 1995 and 2004. Models were sold worldwide
The Neon ACR introduced in 1995 saw immediate success on the national racing circuit and in grassroot circles and could also be credited with bringing attention back to Factory Performance models and ultimately, the arrival of foreign performance models (wrx, evo, even JCW) on US shores.

Unsightly to look at by today's standards, yes. Failure, no.

 

I hope I get to drive an Abarth at the local-to-me Fiat "studio". It will be interesting to see how much better it performs than the regular 500. I wonder if the ergonomics, seating position, controls, and so forth have been improved over the base 500? If so, it could be a credible competitor to the MINI.

I drove both the MINI and the Fiat when I was car-hunting. I feel the 500 is fairly priced at $15K, about 3/4 the base price of the MINI. Because I think it's about 3/4 the car that the MINI is.

I wanted better, though, so I bought the MINI.

 

The Fiat 500 is a cool little car. I don't like it as much as my MINI, but still cool. It kinda reminds me of "The Brave Little Toaster" cartoons that my kids used to watch.

 

The Abarth ads are definitely a step up from the J-Lo ads for the "regular" 500!


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpi2I...&feature=share

 

Nice find...

And it's a clever idea—but why oh why does FIAT seemed determined to feminize their cars and brand? It only serves to limit audience attraction to the car. As someone who's been involved in advertising and marketing, this commercial is IMO another FAIL from FIAT.

On the flip side is a winning commercial from MINI. It's not my favorite, but it is visually intriguing and appeals to both sexes.

 

I guarantee you will be able to buy MOPAR performance parts for these. That nails the coffin shut for me.

 

Exclusivity plus nostalgia plus (power?) equals desire (same as) brand win.

 

Another player on the field not sure about the competition..

 

I’m with Orionizer - a strangely stretched and pulled Smartcar. The MINI stance really makes the car IMO. I just wish they wouldn’t so obviously rip-off MINI bits and pieces like tail lights - heck the entire boot for that matter.

And after the J-lo commercials, they’ve wiped out half the market.

 

Listen to this beast!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQ_rZLp8BCs

Go to 1:40. Sounds so good!

Liked the commercial too...

 

Comment from FIATs Facebook that made me giggle:

 

I don't know why everyone's ragging on the Abarth. R56 Cooper S owners ragging on Fiat for bad reliability should be well aware of their HPFP and timing chain problems. Those turned my wife and I off from getting an S. We decided to save money and get a Justa.

I'd definitely test drive one. The styling is a little...different, but it's pretty faithful to the styling of the class Fiat 500.

If it comes out under the price of the Cooper S, Fiat will probably sell a fair amount. I welcome the competition for Mini. Maybe VW will see the light and bring over the Polo, which would undercut a Justacooper significantly and give the base Fiat 500 a good challenge.

 

You saved money and got a justa LOL.. the HPFP problems are noted on early model R56s and are covered to 120k miles so way to sell yourself short of a good time.

 

The MC is tiny, but it's proportioned right. The Fiat has too much ^ and too little <-->.