It looked so very tiny/small that I don't think I would even place it in the same class as a Mini. It is more like a Smart 4 2 but better looking.

We now have a Fiat dealer here in Daytona opening up. I'll go test drive one when I get the time and report back.

They sure do look small though.

 

Actually they are pretty roomy (I was in one last week at the dealers). I agree with you that comparing the Mini and the 500 probably wasn't the way for Fiat/Chrysler to go. Other than the fact that both cars are small and have been around for years (so have dozens of other European cars), they really don't have much else in common. As I mentioned in another thread, most people in North America have no idea what a 500 is or the history behind it. Fiat needs to address that issue with commercials and ads detailing the history of the car. At least explain to people why they should consider this little Italian car. Doing it just on their website isn't enough. Almost everyone at least had an idea of what a Mini was, even if they had never seen one on the street, so that gave BMW a huge advantage. Plus the Mini was a stand alone manufacturer, so BMW wasn't just bringing back a single car, they were bringing back a whole brand. I think that interested people more. I remember the old 500 (yeah I'm that old) and while it might have had a following in Europe, it never really did here. Fiat seems to be ignoring that fact and hoping that people will jump on the retro band wagon, like everyone did with the Mini.

On the US Fiat website, they have a page "75 reasons to buy a 500 over a Mini"??????? Things like " #70. Fiat since 1899 is an independent manufacturer. Mini was BMC, now owned by BMW". That seems like an odd approach to me.

http://www.fiat500usa.com/2011/04/75...over-mini.html

I'm a Dodge fan (always have to have my Dodge trucks) and I like the new 500, so I hope it's a success. I just think they need to find a better way to market it.

 

The Mini is small but sure don't look as a small as the Fait 500 going down the road.

I did have a Fiat 500 back in 1969 when I was 16 years old. It was two cylinders and it was small.

Here is a picture:


That is me at 16, The car was a very light Grey with a red stripe around it. It was a convertible (Top slid back) I put full hubcap, a CB radio, and driving lights on it.

My friend Bob still has and drives that old Ford pickup truck. I traded the Fiat on a 1960 English Ford after owning it for a little over a year. I put 40,000 miles on that car with no problems.

Those were super fun days.

 

Me being an auto enthusiast, I went looking to drive one but there were not any at both of our dealers. I saw a red one drive by our MINI dealer a few weeks ago so I don't know what the deal is. I looked through the window of some while in the UK while at MINI United at Silverstone and I thought they were cool, just not enough to get one. Still, I'm interested to see an Abarth version when they get here.

 

The link in post #2 is some guy's blog, not an official FIAT USA website. As far as I know, FIAT USA hasn't compared the 500 to the MINI Cooper. Yes, the 500 is smaller than the MINI, but it has as much interior space and more rear legroom.

FIAT does have brand recognition in the US. I have met many people who have seen my 500 and told me they used to own a FIAT back in the 1970s or 1980s.

The Orlando FIAT dealership, Fields FIAT, has been open for a few weeks.

 

Our Fiat dealer has been open officially for maybe 2 weeks now.

 

I went by the new Fiat dealership opening up the other day and asked about the abarth, he said they should be getting them next year, but right now the dealer here in chicago has 4 of the first 500 fiat 500s (prima edizone) in their lot, I would like to pick one up just because its a historic comeback to the US

 

Actually Mini was never a "stand alone manufacturer"..it was originally part of the Austin/Morris empire which later went through a series of mergers and amalagamations - BMC/British Leyland/BLMC etc. Basically a Mini was ralated to the Company in much the same way as the 500 was/is.
Philip

 

May be owned by BMW but my Mini is at least assembled in England. The "Italian" Fiat is made in Mexico. A deal killer for me.

 

Personally, I wouldn't hold being assembled in Mexico against the vehicle. I'm wondering about the rear suspension being different than the European versions. So far, I haven't ready anything for or against it.

 

Anybody remeber them I was stupid enough to buy not 1 but 2 of them

 

lol they are reaching to find 75 reasons, don't you think?

"Fiat drivers do not need to tilt their head to see the heater controls, only look down."

 

I was going to mention something about coming out with a 695 model with either the engine in the back or AWD and bore the engine, and I find... a 20hp boost and a bunch of leather. *shrug*

 

Some of those reasons are a stretch, but there are compelling arguments there that will convince many who aren't necessarily "driving enthusiasts" but just looking for a small practical and fun car with a good value.

 

Yes Minilla I realize that. What I mean is, Mini is/was a complete seperate company within those parent companies, making various models of cars. It doesn't matter who owned the company, they had their own name, their own seperate line of vehicles etc. The same as Saab, Porsche, Audi are seperate companies within a larger group. The 500 on the other hand is a single vehicle made by Fiat. The same as the the Beetle is a single car made by VW. You can't build a who line of cars around the Beetle, but you can around the Mini.

 

here is MINE

 

james is right, that link I posted is not to Fiat's site (when I googled Fiat US, that came up and looked like part of their site), it's to a blog. So Fiat is NOT giving "75 reasons".............although I'm sure they'd like to. Like I said, I really like the 500, but this is a car that's been out of production for 32 years and out of the North American market for 36 years. I think they need to approach the marketing differently from what they've done so far.

 

As mentioned, that was done by some guy and not at all endorsed by FIAT. Still, White Roof Radio did a good job of discussing the points made.

I drove one of these a couple months ago. I did a little write up of it and long story short, while I wouldn't buy one instead of a MINI I would like to have one in addition to a MINI. The FIAT does have a lot going for it, especially when you take the price into consideration.

My original writeup below:

First impressions are good. It's a small, inexpensive car that doesn't look cheap. All the parts look well put together and the detailing in the lights and wheels is nice. Inside, the door panels feel a bit flimsy but the part where your arm goes is nicely padded. The rest of the interior is well done although the seats are a bit on the soft side for me. I fit just fine (I'm 5'8") and someone around 5'3" could probably get behind me without too much issue. The driving position is a bit strange; it feels like sitting on a normal dining chair. I kept trying to adjust the seat to make it lower but it turns out that's as far down as it goes. As a result, you're more pressing down on the pedals rather than forward. I could see myself getting used to it pretty quickly. The windshield is huge and gives very good visibility. This one has a sunroof. The sunroof cover is one of those mesh things like in a MINI so it doesn't really block out any light or heat. I'd avoid getting the sunroof altogether.

I've never driven a car with so little power before, so I was expecting to be at least a little disappointed. I wasn't. The power is, well manageable I guess would be the word. I only got it up to about 4k RPM or so since the car only had 8 miles on it but I imagine that's where most people do their day-to-day driving anyway. I was a bit surprised by the torque when I gave it a little gas in second at 20 mph. You can set off below 2,000 RPM and the engine won't bog. Power is definitely not a deal breaker here. I put it in Sport mode for a bit, which didn't seem to make a difference in power delivery, but it firmed up the steering. Not a whole lot; I'd say it was about halfway between the sport and non-sport modes on my MINI Cooper S. In sport mode, it had better steering feel than my MINI (although that might be down to the larger/heavier wheels and tires on my MINI). The clutch was very forgiving. I didn't stall or slip it once, although it was a bit difficult to feel the engagement point.

I'm not sure I'd pay the extra 2k for the Sport model. It still has some body roll and the responses aren't as sharp as a MINI. It's not exactly what I think of when I hear 'sport', but it's certainly not a Corolla either. A base model with Bluetooth and alloy wheels is $16,500. That's a great deal and you don't really need any other options.

The dealer had three cars out front that were marked up in the form of customer care packages (~1,700) and nitrogen in the tires ($180, unbelievably). The sales lady said I could get one of the ones in the back that hadn't been prepped yet without all that stuff. I could also custom order one and it would take about six weeks (I live in Southern California).

I would love to have one of these. It's not particularly fast or economical or practical but I just felt good driving it and that's really my top criteria when buying a car.

 

Great writeup proximal. If you don't write about the auto industry for a living, you should be

......a $180 for nitrogen??? Good old Costco throws it in for free if you get your oil changed there (at least up here)

 

The Morris division built the Morris Mini Minor, The Austin Division built the Austin Mini, The Wolseley Division built the Wolseley Hornet, the Riley Division built the Riley Elf....so no it was not a seperate company. The various models were made by the various divisions within the company and then badged as such..........

 

I saw my first Fiat 500 here in So Cal about 3 weeks ago. I was surprised how much smaller it looked than my MINI. I think they will sell a lot of them to young women due to the "cuteness" factor. There will probably be a group of enthusiasts with the Abarth and those into modding a small car into a giant killer (wait, this is sounding a little familiar).
I was in London last year visiting my cousin and there were many 500s on the streets. My cousin described a British government "scheme" that sounded a lot like the Cash for Clunkers deal in the U.S. He said huge amount of people had traded in their old cars under this scheme and got new Fiat 500s because it is one of the least expensive cars available there.
Also one of my coworkers asked me about the feasibility of paying her new car dealer $200 to have nitrogen filled tires. I offered to fill her tires with 78% nitrogen for only $50, which I assured her was a much better deal.

 

base 500 Abarth

 

I saw my first Fiat 500 here So Cal yesterday while I was driving my wife's MINI and I did not realized that until wife said what's that car it looks like a SMART so I checked quickly and it was Fiat 500 red color.

The Fiat 500 pretty cute(?) and looks a lot smaller than wife's MINI though.

 

the SCCA has yet to admit them to any stock class - still trying to get enough data to meet the roll-over standards...

which i find mildly amusing...

cheers,

Charlie

 

I saw my first Fiat 500 a few weeks ago in DFW...it really caught my attention and looked smaller then I might have imagined. I am a fan...I hope the new owners thoroughly enjoy them and I hope the build quality measures up.