Fiat: 500 News
09-16-2006, 05:23 AM
#1
Suzuka Master
Thread Starter
Fiat: 500 News
September 17, 2006
Design
A Pinch of Retro Spices Up Fiat’s Classic Italian Recipe
By PHIL PATTON
FIAT wants a few good designers, and it’s willing to pay.
For the introduction of the 500, a small car that revives a model name and a styling theme charged with memories, the company hopes to rekindle the same devotion once lavished on the 500’s family of charismatic predecessors.
Fiat is offering prizes to encourage people to submit designs for mascots, accessories and Web sites intended to attract attention to the next 500. The marketing campaign is part of an effort to link the new car with beloved models from the company’s past — models known by adoring nicknames like Topolino and Bambino.
The new 500, which goes on sale at the end of 2007, is intended as a people’s car, a class of affordable, appealing models that Americans tend to regard as simply small. But with higher gasoline prices, small is gaining ground even in the United States; carmakers are looking to Asia and Europe for models to import or emulate. The announcement that DaimlerChrysler’s Smart car would come to the United States, at long last, suggests that there might be an appetite for European-style small cars like the 500 among American drivers.
In a promotional venture with designboom.com, a Web site that covers many aspects of industrial design, Fiat’s “The 500 Wants You” campaign is soliciting videos and concepts and even photos of people who look like the original 500 — just about anything that will sell the new car.
Among the judges for the contest are the fashion designer Giorgio Armani; Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the chairman of Fiat; Jasper Morrison, the furniture designer; Gabriele Salvatores, a film director; and Luca Trazzi, an executive at Designboom. For the first time, said Luca De Meo, brand and commercial manager for Fiat Auto, “a car will be created by the public and for the public.”
Let people make a people’s car, Fiat is proclaiming — or at least let them help in its promotion. But this is Italy, and such things are not always meant to be taken literally. The design contest is not about the nuts and bolts of the new Fiat so much as it is about selling it.
Fiat already has a designer. Frank Stephenson came from Ferrari to lead the Fiat design center in Turin last year. Before that, he designed the Mini Cooper for BMW. Both experiences are relevant. His job is to turn the Trepiùno, a design study for the new 500 that was unveiled at the Geneva auto show in 2004, into a successful production car — one that recalls a familiar classic shape.
Design is especially critical for the success of small mass-market retro models, in part because such vehicles have few other ways to differentiate themselves. Buyers are receptive to the reinterpreted models, as the Volkswagen New Beetle and Mini Cooper demonstrate.
The 500 is a successor to the original Topolino, or “little mouse,” the Italian people’s car made from 1936-55 and its successor, built from 1957-75, called the Bambino. Recently named the “sexiest car” by Top Gear, a British magazine, the Bambino had a role in the Pixar film “Cars” as Luigi, a tire dealer. It was also called the 500 Nuova, or new 500, which makes the upcoming Fiat the New New 500, strictly speaking.
The original Topolino was a front-engine rear-drive design, mechanically quite different from the second generation, a rear-engine car designed by Dante Giacosa as shrewdly as Sir Alec Issigonis designed the original Mini. The next 500 will be front-wheel drive.
The Mini and the 500 are cars of a similar temperament. Aiming at the same sense of character, the Trepiùno had been created by Fiat’s design center before Mr. Stephenson arrived. It was clearly inspired by the evolutionary approach Mr. Stephenson applied to the Mini. In both cases, designers tried to imagine what the new car would look like had it developed over the decades, rather than simply updating a vintage original.
Central to the success of the new Fiat, Mr. Stephenson has said, will be its “Italianness.” Everyone loves Italian design, art and food, he believes. A successful Italian car must radiate the culture and inspire immediate recognition and love.
G. Clotaire Rapaille, an anthropologist who consults on buyer motivations, agrees. His new book, “The Culture Code,” is about national archetypes, the distinguishing characteristics of everyday life.
“The cultural code of Italy is design,” Dr. Rapaille said. “It is all about looking good, whatever you are doing.”
The relevant Italian phrase is bella figura — something between “lovely shape” and “cutting a good figure.” Dr. Rapaille, who consulted on the creation of the PT Cruiser for Chrysler, thinks Fiat’s design contest is a good idea.
Updating cars that have become icons is a challenge; updating updates may be even trickier. VW’s new New Beetle has less bulbous fenders and different tail lights (and if you can pick old from new as they zip past you on the freeway, good for you). Ford’s stylish Ka — sold abroad — is 10 years old and little changed in basics though it has been regularly redecorated with special editions over the years.
A new edition of the new Mini Cooper will be unveiled at the Paris auto show this month. Gert Hildebrand, Mini’s chief designer, declared the philosophy of the redesign to be “from the original to the original.” That may be a way of saying “try to tell them apart.” The new Mini is a whole inch and a half longer to accommodate European pedestrian safety requirements and engines. The grille is slightly different and the headlights now wear what Mini calls beauty spots — secondary lamps.
It was not just the Mini’s lovable bulldog body that made it a success, but the variety of options offered for the car — sport versions, two-tone paint, chrome accent packages and wheel options. This personalization has been a large part of the Mini’s appeal; Mini made a business of it even earlier than Scion, Toyota’s youth brand.
Fiat has the same idea. At Ferrari and at Fiat, Mr. Stephenson looked for new materials to personalize interiors. Wood might soon be supplanted by granite or mother-of-pearl, he suggested.
Personalizing is important in updating a classic, said Dr. Rapaille. In evolving a classic, he said, “Don’t change, add.” He is critical of the way Chrysler has already changed the aggressive front of the PT Cruiser.
“The companies should just do what people naturally do with their cars,” he said. “Everyone wants a car that is mine, a car that says ‘this is me.’ No one wants a car from Wal-Mart.”
Or, in other words, let the people design people’s cars.
Fiat’s ambitions for its contest are global. Entries posted at fiat500.com include dozens of mascot suggestions, based on various animals, an egg and the number five. Winners will be shown at the Salone de Mobili, the Milan furniture fair, next year.
Fiat would love to create the four-wheel equivalent of the Vespa scooter, a globally recognized symbol of Italian styling seen in film and fashion that is beloved, inexpensive, energy-efficient, urban-friendly and unchanging.
If the new 500 comes anywhere close to the Vespa, Fiat may be inspired to return to the American market it abandoned two decades ago. After all, as Dr. Rapaille puts it, “The American code for automobile is identity.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/au...ef=automobiles
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/20...ll2.ready.html
Design
A Pinch of Retro Spices Up Fiat’s Classic Italian Recipe
By PHIL PATTON
FIAT wants a few good designers, and it’s willing to pay.
For the introduction of the 500, a small car that revives a model name and a styling theme charged with memories, the company hopes to rekindle the same devotion once lavished on the 500’s family of charismatic predecessors.
Fiat is offering prizes to encourage people to submit designs for mascots, accessories and Web sites intended to attract attention to the next 500. The marketing campaign is part of an effort to link the new car with beloved models from the company’s past — models known by adoring nicknames like Topolino and Bambino.
The new 500, which goes on sale at the end of 2007, is intended as a people’s car, a class of affordable, appealing models that Americans tend to regard as simply small. But with higher gasoline prices, small is gaining ground even in the United States; carmakers are looking to Asia and Europe for models to import or emulate. The announcement that DaimlerChrysler’s Smart car would come to the United States, at long last, suggests that there might be an appetite for European-style small cars like the 500 among American drivers.
In a promotional venture with designboom.com, a Web site that covers many aspects of industrial design, Fiat’s “The 500 Wants You” campaign is soliciting videos and concepts and even photos of people who look like the original 500 — just about anything that will sell the new car.
Among the judges for the contest are the fashion designer Giorgio Armani; Luca Cordero di Montezemolo, the chairman of Fiat; Jasper Morrison, the furniture designer; Gabriele Salvatores, a film director; and Luca Trazzi, an executive at Designboom. For the first time, said Luca De Meo, brand and commercial manager for Fiat Auto, “a car will be created by the public and for the public.”
Let people make a people’s car, Fiat is proclaiming — or at least let them help in its promotion. But this is Italy, and such things are not always meant to be taken literally. The design contest is not about the nuts and bolts of the new Fiat so much as it is about selling it.
Fiat already has a designer. Frank Stephenson came from Ferrari to lead the Fiat design center in Turin last year. Before that, he designed the Mini Cooper for BMW. Both experiences are relevant. His job is to turn the Trepiùno, a design study for the new 500 that was unveiled at the Geneva auto show in 2004, into a successful production car — one that recalls a familiar classic shape.
Design is especially critical for the success of small mass-market retro models, in part because such vehicles have few other ways to differentiate themselves. Buyers are receptive to the reinterpreted models, as the Volkswagen New Beetle and Mini Cooper demonstrate.
The 500 is a successor to the original Topolino, or “little mouse,” the Italian people’s car made from 1936-55 and its successor, built from 1957-75, called the Bambino. Recently named the “sexiest car” by Top Gear, a British magazine, the Bambino had a role in the Pixar film “Cars” as Luigi, a tire dealer. It was also called the 500 Nuova, or new 500, which makes the upcoming Fiat the New New 500, strictly speaking.
The original Topolino was a front-engine rear-drive design, mechanically quite different from the second generation, a rear-engine car designed by Dante Giacosa as shrewdly as Sir Alec Issigonis designed the original Mini. The next 500 will be front-wheel drive.
The Mini and the 500 are cars of a similar temperament. Aiming at the same sense of character, the Trepiùno had been created by Fiat’s design center before Mr. Stephenson arrived. It was clearly inspired by the evolutionary approach Mr. Stephenson applied to the Mini. In both cases, designers tried to imagine what the new car would look like had it developed over the decades, rather than simply updating a vintage original.
Central to the success of the new Fiat, Mr. Stephenson has said, will be its “Italianness.” Everyone loves Italian design, art and food, he believes. A successful Italian car must radiate the culture and inspire immediate recognition and love.
G. Clotaire Rapaille, an anthropologist who consults on buyer motivations, agrees. His new book, “The Culture Code,” is about national archetypes, the distinguishing characteristics of everyday life.
“The cultural code of Italy is design,” Dr. Rapaille said. “It is all about looking good, whatever you are doing.”
The relevant Italian phrase is bella figura — something between “lovely shape” and “cutting a good figure.” Dr. Rapaille, who consulted on the creation of the PT Cruiser for Chrysler, thinks Fiat’s design contest is a good idea.
Updating cars that have become icons is a challenge; updating updates may be even trickier. VW’s new New Beetle has less bulbous fenders and different tail lights (and if you can pick old from new as they zip past you on the freeway, good for you). Ford’s stylish Ka — sold abroad — is 10 years old and little changed in basics though it has been regularly redecorated with special editions over the years.
A new edition of the new Mini Cooper will be unveiled at the Paris auto show this month. Gert Hildebrand, Mini’s chief designer, declared the philosophy of the redesign to be “from the original to the original.” That may be a way of saying “try to tell them apart.” The new Mini is a whole inch and a half longer to accommodate European pedestrian safety requirements and engines. The grille is slightly different and the headlights now wear what Mini calls beauty spots — secondary lamps.
It was not just the Mini’s lovable bulldog body that made it a success, but the variety of options offered for the car — sport versions, two-tone paint, chrome accent packages and wheel options. This personalization has been a large part of the Mini’s appeal; Mini made a business of it even earlier than Scion, Toyota’s youth brand.
Fiat has the same idea. At Ferrari and at Fiat, Mr. Stephenson looked for new materials to personalize interiors. Wood might soon be supplanted by granite or mother-of-pearl, he suggested.
Personalizing is important in updating a classic, said Dr. Rapaille. In evolving a classic, he said, “Don’t change, add.” He is critical of the way Chrysler has already changed the aggressive front of the PT Cruiser.
“The companies should just do what people naturally do with their cars,” he said. “Everyone wants a car that is mine, a car that says ‘this is me.’ No one wants a car from Wal-Mart.”
Or, in other words, let the people design people’s cars.
Fiat’s ambitions for its contest are global. Entries posted at fiat500.com include dozens of mascot suggestions, based on various animals, an egg and the number five. Winners will be shown at the Salone de Mobili, the Milan furniture fair, next year.
Fiat would love to create the four-wheel equivalent of the Vespa scooter, a globally recognized symbol of Italian styling seen in film and fashion that is beloved, inexpensive, energy-efficient, urban-friendly and unchanging.
If the new 500 comes anywhere close to the Vespa, Fiat may be inspired to return to the American market it abandoned two decades ago. After all, as Dr. Rapaille puts it, “The American code for automobile is identity.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/17/au...ef=automobiles
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/20...ll2.ready.html
09-16-2006, 01:03 PM
#3
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^ I used to sell parts for Fiat 600s in the 80s at my dad's store. I remember once we tried to actually install a fuel pump in one, me and one of the employees. The whole thing almost caught on fire! Part guys installing parts = very dangerous!
04-12-2007, 08:19 PM
#4
Senior Moderator
So cute!! 
I just wanna pinch it's hood.
I just wanna pinch it's hood.
Trending Topics
05-02-2007, 10:53 AM
#12
Senior Moderator
Fiat 500 Abarth
05-02-2007, 11:00 AM
#13
Senior Moderator
One more...
06-12-2007, 12:18 PM
#14
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Fiat may sell sporty minicar in the United States - - By LUCA CIFERRI | AUTOMOTIVE NEWS - - Source: Autoweek
TURIN, Italy -- Fiat may export a sporty version of its new 500 minicar to the United States after 2010.
"We cannot exclude that our new 500 would go in some form to the U.S. market," Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters.
Marchionne's idea is to export the Abarth 500, the 120-hp sporty version of the car, company sources say. Fiat will launch the 500 this summer, reviving the iconic 1950s-vintage nameplate.
The 500 is a three-door, four-seat hatchback that is 139.7 inches long. Fiat will price the 500 as an upscale minicar to rival BMW's Mini.
"The success of the Mini suggests there is a market for deliberately retro, nostalgic small cars, and that customers will pay a premium price," said Max Warburton, auto analyst at UBS in London.
Early next year, Fiat will introduce the turbocharged Abarth 500 version. The Abarth 500 will be priced above $20,000 in Europe. It will not be badged as a Fiat.
Fiat likely would export small numbers of the vehicle to the United States to qualify for less restrictive federal standards. The Abarth 500 would be sold in metropolitan areas, mainly by Alfa Romeo dealers, sources say.
Fiat's Alfa Romeo brand is expected to return to the United States in 2009. At the Geneva auto show in March, Fiat revived the Abarth brand with the Abarth Grande Punto small car.
"We cannot exclude that our new 500 would go in some form to the U.S. market," Fiat Group CEO Sergio Marchionne told reporters.
Marchionne's idea is to export the Abarth 500, the 120-hp sporty version of the car, company sources say. Fiat will launch the 500 this summer, reviving the iconic 1950s-vintage nameplate.
The 500 is a three-door, four-seat hatchback that is 139.7 inches long. Fiat will price the 500 as an upscale minicar to rival BMW's Mini.
"The success of the Mini suggests there is a market for deliberately retro, nostalgic small cars, and that customers will pay a premium price," said Max Warburton, auto analyst at UBS in London.
Early next year, Fiat will introduce the turbocharged Abarth 500 version. The Abarth 500 will be priced above $20,000 in Europe. It will not be badged as a Fiat.
Fiat likely would export small numbers of the vehicle to the United States to qualify for less restrictive federal standards. The Abarth 500 would be sold in metropolitan areas, mainly by Alfa Romeo dealers, sources say.
Fiat's Alfa Romeo brand is expected to return to the United States in 2009. At the Geneva auto show in March, Fiat revived the Abarth brand with the Abarth Grande Punto small car.
06-12-2007, 04:01 PM
#15
The sizzle in the Steak
I likes...bring it stateside.
08-22-2007, 09:00 PM
#17
Senior Moderator
Reviewed by the folks at Top Gear...story here: http://www.topgear.com/content/featu...ries/05/1.html
02-19-2008, 10:40 PM
#18
Senior Moderator
Fiat 500 Aria Concept Debuts in Geneva
From WCF...
The accolades gushed on Fiat for its new Fiat 500 are about to get gushier, when the company unveils the Fiat 500 Aria Concept at the Geneva Motor Show. This new concept is supposed to be even more environmentally friendly than the car it is based on, with a few innovations that might actually make it to the showroom.
Already with fitted with only Euro5 approved engines, the new concept has an engine producing less than a 100 g/km record value of CO2 emissions. This improvement is thanks to the 1.3 liter, 16valve multijet diesel engine fitted with an anti-particulate filter, and robotic Dualogic shift. The engine can be temporarily shut down in start-and-stop traffic, which also helps to reduce urban fuel consumption by 10%.
More conceptual engineering can be seen on the inside, where the interior of the prototype is mainly crafted from recycled material. Rubber from used tires makes up the floor, Matamata recycled leather lines the seats, with ecologically-friendly production methods used to make the polyester fabric inside.
Some neat ideas here, but we're waiting for an aluminum body made from used Coke cans.
Already with fitted with only Euro5 approved engines, the new concept has an engine producing less than a 100 g/km record value of CO2 emissions. This improvement is thanks to the 1.3 liter, 16valve multijet diesel engine fitted with an anti-particulate filter, and robotic Dualogic shift. The engine can be temporarily shut down in start-and-stop traffic, which also helps to reduce urban fuel consumption by 10%.
More conceptual engineering can be seen on the inside, where the interior of the prototype is mainly crafted from recycled material. Rubber from used tires makes up the floor, Matamata recycled leather lines the seats, with ecologically-friendly production methods used to make the polyester fabric inside.
Some neat ideas here, but we're waiting for an aluminum body made from used Coke cans.
02-19-2008, 10:43 PM
#19
Senior Moderator
Official specs leaked on Fiat 500 Abarth
Holy *bleep bleep*... 
From Autoblog...
[img][/img]
From Autoblog...
The slow progress being made towards the full reveal of the Fiat 500 Abarth is nearly complete, but a few more loose lips have revealed official specs that look more than promising. The 500 Abarth will pack more hotness per cubic inch of hatch than most other three-doors in Europe thanks to a 1.4L turbo four-cylinder producing 135 bhp at 5,500 rpm and 152 pound feet of torque at 3,000 rpm in Sport mode. In Normal mode, Fiat has the 500 Abarth producing 133 pound feet of torque at 2,500 rpm. The car also gets Fiat's new Torque Transfer Control system, which sounds like a fancy solution to the torque steer that would otherwise send a car like this veering towards the telephone poles.
What's interesting is that the larger Grande Punto Abarth also uses a 1.4L turbo four-cylinder, though tuned up to produce 155 bhp. This suggests that tuners will easily be able to turn up the wick on the 500 Abarth's engine for havoc-wreaking hatchback hotness.
What's interesting is that the larger Grande Punto Abarth also uses a 1.4L turbo four-cylinder, though tuned up to produce 155 bhp. This suggests that tuners will easily be able to turn up the wick on the 500 Abarth's engine for havoc-wreaking hatchback hotness.
[img][/img]
02-19-2008, 10:46 PM
#20
Fix It Again Tony X19, I remembering working on my buddies many, many times. 
This 500 muscle looks nice, I guess I could drive it, if I removed the front seat and seat in the back.
This 500 muscle looks nice, I guess I could drive it, if I removed the front seat and seat in the back.
05-15-2008, 10:28 PM
#22
Senior Moderator
Introducing the Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corse
From Worldcarfans...
When the Fiat 500 Abarth was unveiled, the genes were already in place for a racing version so surely it was only a matter of time. We can now reveal that the wait is over with the introduction of the 500 Abarth Assetto Corse which will be limited to a production run of 49 units.
The Car was producted in a collaboration between the Fiat Group Automobiles Style Centre and the Abarth Engineers and Designers. It sports a full racing outfit starting with an aerodynamic spoiler, wide bumpers, screen-printed grilles, wide track white 17’ special ultralight racing wheels, low ride sports racing mirrors and check out those two carbon air intakes on the hood with the Abarth scorpion logo. The rear gets a white winged spoiler, a badge bearing the Abarth logo and a twin exhaust pipe. The racing look is completed with a pastel grey livery with red Abarth side stripes.
The interior is completely stripped of all the production accessories making the car lighter and faster and gets a racing approved roll-bar resulting in a weight reduction of 180kg, and the driver position has been shifted nearer to the center of the car. Beneath the hood we find A 1.4-liter 16V turbo producing 200 bhp with peak torque standing at 300Nm at 3000 rpm – the kind of figures we had been hoping for in the production Abarth SS version, lets wait and see.
The Car was producted in a collaboration between the Fiat Group Automobiles Style Centre and the Abarth Engineers and Designers. It sports a full racing outfit starting with an aerodynamic spoiler, wide bumpers, screen-printed grilles, wide track white 17’ special ultralight racing wheels, low ride sports racing mirrors and check out those two carbon air intakes on the hood with the Abarth scorpion logo. The rear gets a white winged spoiler, a badge bearing the Abarth logo and a twin exhaust pipe. The racing look is completed with a pastel grey livery with red Abarth side stripes.
The interior is completely stripped of all the production accessories making the car lighter and faster and gets a racing approved roll-bar resulting in a weight reduction of 180kg, and the driver position has been shifted nearer to the center of the car. Beneath the hood we find A 1.4-liter 16V turbo producing 200 bhp with peak torque standing at 300Nm at 3000 rpm – the kind of figures we had been hoping for in the production Abarth SS version, lets wait and see.
05-15-2008, 10:28 PM
#23
Senior Moderator
07-21-2008, 11:53 PM
#24
Senior Moderator
2008 Fiat 500 Ferrari Loaner
Hot!
07-21-2008, 11:53 PM
#25
Senior Moderator
Press release...
Fiat 500 and Ferrari: two universal motoring icons which represent Made in Italy, one cute and the other exclusive. This is why the Maranello House has chosen the Fiat model as its courtesy car for its customers, who appreciate Italian style and like unique products. In actual fact, two hundred Fiat 500 have been manufactured exclusively for the Ferrari sales network and will be driving on all of Europes roads.
Based on the Sport version and distinguished by the traditional red colour, the two hundred Fiat 500 specials are fitted with the lively 1.4 6v 100 bhp engine and offer specific tuning and exhaust in perfect harmony with the sporty spirit of the prancing horse: these two features are designed and made by Magneti Marelli, a leading components company in the Fiat Group which has supplied high-tech parts to Fiat and Ferrari for years. The same sporty theme can also be found in some aesthetic details such as the red calipers, sporty pedal set, special black steering wheel with red stitching and 16 alloy wheels with 195/45 tyres.
Compared to the already richly equipped Sport version, the Fiat 500 customised for Ferrari also has automatic climate control, electric sunroof, prestigious Frau leather interior, hi-fi, fog lights, numbered plate on the dashboard and Limited Edition wording on the kick plate. The Ferrari network will thus be able to offer its customers a special car where the choice of every detail is the result of meticulous care and craftsmanship.
With this original initiative, the Fiat 500 model is confirmed both as a real platform on which Fiat is creating exclusive limited editions and as a successful car capable of winning over the general public, as demonstrated by the 222 thousand orders so far received.
Based on the Sport version and distinguished by the traditional red colour, the two hundred Fiat 500 specials are fitted with the lively 1.4 6v 100 bhp engine and offer specific tuning and exhaust in perfect harmony with the sporty spirit of the prancing horse: these two features are designed and made by Magneti Marelli, a leading components company in the Fiat Group which has supplied high-tech parts to Fiat and Ferrari for years. The same sporty theme can also be found in some aesthetic details such as the red calipers, sporty pedal set, special black steering wheel with red stitching and 16 alloy wheels with 195/45 tyres.
Compared to the already richly equipped Sport version, the Fiat 500 customised for Ferrari also has automatic climate control, electric sunroof, prestigious Frau leather interior, hi-fi, fog lights, numbered plate on the dashboard and Limited Edition wording on the kick plate. The Ferrari network will thus be able to offer its customers a special car where the choice of every detail is the result of meticulous care and craftsmanship.
With this original initiative, the Fiat 500 model is confirmed both as a real platform on which Fiat is creating exclusive limited editions and as a successful car capable of winning over the general public, as demonstrated by the 222 thousand orders so far received.
07-22-2008, 11:36 AM
#28
The sizzle in the Steak
We need cars like this stateside.
07-22-2008, 11:47 AM
#29
Senior Moderator
Love this car...would definitely buy it. 
07-23-2008, 10:04 AM
#31
hahaha I like this new style even tho I wouldn't buy one cuz it doesnt look very practical for canadian winter (same as smart). I rememeber when I loved in croatia that my mom had an old one. Engine in the back and gas tank under the hood, it was a quick little car. THis is what it looked like only in red lol http://www.fojnica.de/novosti/arhiva...bar01/fico.jpg
07-23-2008, 11:14 AM
#33
Originally Posted by Loseit
i like it better than the mini. The interior looks like it makes sense...it's stylish w/o going to far.
agree.
07-23-2008, 11:20 AM
#34
Fahrvergnügen'd
Originally Posted by jupitersolo
Fix It Again Tony X19, I remembering working on my buddies many, many times.
This 500 muscle looks nice, I guess I could drive it, if I removed the front seat and seat in the back.
This 500 muscle looks nice, I guess I could drive it, if I removed the front seat and seat in the back.
01-22-2009, 11:56 AM
#35
The sizzle in the Steak
Report: Fiat 500 headed to U.S. in 2010?
fiat’s little 500 microcar - a modern version of the classic car that put italy back on its wheels after world war ii - could be headed to the united states in under 18 months thanks to the potential chrysler-fiat alliance. Fiat wants to capitalize on the success of the smart fortwo and mini cooper by introducing the 500 just in time to compete with the ford fiesta.
a fiat source told motor trend that the 500 could be in u.s. Dealer showrooms in “well under 18 months.” the 500, like most modern fiat and alfa romeo cars, has been designed with north american sales in mind, meaning it would only need a few minor modifications to meet u.s. Safety and emissions standards.
motor trend reports that the 500 might not make it to canada due to differing bumper standards that require the turn signals to withstand a 5 mph collision.
The source also told the publication that the 500 would come to the u.s. With a 100-horsepower four-cylinder gas engine, not the 500 abarth’s 135-horsepower unit. The 500 would be marketed through existing chrysler, dodge and jeep dealers - exactly the sort of small car those outlets have been pining for.
a fiat source told motor trend that the 500 could be in u.s. Dealer showrooms in “well under 18 months.” the 500, like most modern fiat and alfa romeo cars, has been designed with north american sales in mind, meaning it would only need a few minor modifications to meet u.s. Safety and emissions standards.
motor trend reports that the 500 might not make it to canada due to differing bumper standards that require the turn signals to withstand a 5 mph collision.
The source also told the publication that the 500 would come to the u.s. With a 100-horsepower four-cylinder gas engine, not the 500 abarth’s 135-horsepower unit. The 500 would be marketed through existing chrysler, dodge and jeep dealers - exactly the sort of small car those outlets have been pining for.
01-22-2009, 02:45 PM
#36
Senior Moderator
Hope it comes to NA. 
^^ bring that up here too
01-22-2009, 06:28 PM
#39
I drive a Subata.
iTrader: (1)
finally its coming! good job and good luck Fiat!
