After seeing this, I'm still glad I bought a MINI
 

Here's a link to the Motor Trend review of the Fiat 500 Abarth.

http://www.motortrend.com/roadtests/...iew/index.html

While I'm sure it is fine car in its own right, this would not entice me to come over to the Dark Side. I'm waiting for the 2012/2013 roadster.

What is your opinions of the Fiat?

The Fiat is cute but if we're talking italian minis I love the Mito GTA concept...big honkin' nose and all.

Based on what I see, I like it. I could see parking an Abarth in the lot next to my Clubman. Really depends on the driving experience, and price. :)

The arbarth got a great review from the Top Gear guys. I like the styling of the Mini better though. Something about the Fiats small headlights look like beady little eyes.

Yep, after the Top Gear review, it is making me take notice. I also like its smaller size. I saw them while in the UK during MINI United and I think they are cool.

Based on that review, I don't think I'd be happy with the Fiat. The Alfa Romeo Mito might be another story. I'd be interested in test driving an Alfa, if Chrysler makes it possible for them to return to the USA.

OMG it is a hideously ugly car. I would never put the 2 in the same league.

There's a Fiat next to my office...

The 500 is incredibly cute. It's better looking than the Mini. You just have to see it... it's even smaller than the Mini, but a bit bigger on the inside.

The thing is - Fiats have a tremendously bad reputation when it comes to reliability. Nobody is buying them. This dealership has had the same 4 cars for 3 or 4 months. Incredible.

I wouldn't be surprised if Fiat left the country at any moment.

Top Gear recently declared the Fiat 500 (non-Abarth) the best cheap car in the UK.

And Fifth Gear this past week did a 4-way comparison of "hot hatchlings" (between Mitsubishi Colt Ralli Art, Suzuki Swift Sport, Renault Sport Twingo, and the Fiat 500 Abarth), naming the Fiat as the winner.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0szv8qgChk#t=3m52s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCTLvPZSX1Y

You gotta remember that the Brits had a melt-down when BMW bought out Rover and shut down the original Mini production line. Even though it had been more than 10 years since Rover had made a decent quality car at Longbridge, the English loved the Mini.

That tends to skew the British opinion against MINI.

The new 500 looks nice, but I prefer the MINI. Plus, the last time Fiats came into this country, the quality left something to be desired. I would hope they've improved it and the Abarth 500 looks very, very promising. But I wouldn't touch one until they had been here in the States for at least two years.

If they could get the base closer to $20k, they would sell them here faster than they could make them.

It would be an awesome addition to the hot hatch/performance fwd group of cars.

I will be buying one.