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What do you think is going on with this whole retro car thing? First there was the Beetle, then the Mini and now the Fiat Cinquecento… that’s the 500 to you and me. The originals were all iconic designs and all immensely successful, but the world has moved on since the 1940s and 1950s… especially in the area of car design.
Each of these designs — plus Citroën’s 2CV, yet to be reprised, but don’t be surprised if it is — was responsible for making the motor car more accessible to more people by virtue of exceptional affordability… and low running costs. Achieving this involved various innovations in both design and manufacturing techniques, but these cars were still essentially small and very utilitarian. So what’s the attraction in reviving them for modern car buyers who take very high levels of luxury for granted — and many of whom weren’t even born when the originals were soaring up the sales charts? Are contemporary automotive designers at such a loss for ideas these days that they have to go back 50 or so years for inspiration?
Well, all three of these cars ended up making a hugely significant contribution to both automotive and social history, hence their icon status. Consequently, the badges have cachet even if all were originally associated with struggle street. Consequently again, all three also exhibited a purity of purpose that’s not only refreshing, but strangely alluring in a market where the car is a status symbol, a fashion statement or a lifestyle decision (or — shudder — all three). Which is why two of the three reincarnations have failed miserably… perhaps not in terms of sales, but certainly in terms of getting even close to what made the originals so appealing in the first place. BMW’s Mini is the most blatant exploitation of its namesake — an expensive piece of frippery when the original was truly innovative and redefined small car design. The New Beetle is little better… it’s simply a Golf with a different bodyshell. Yes, yes, going retro while still meeting today’s standards of safety, performance and economy is a challenge… but VW could definitely have tried a bit harder.
We could probably have accepted both these cars for what they are had Fiat not showed up with its new 500 and exposed both as frauds… the Mini for making you pay more than you should and the Beetle for being a pale imitation indeed of its original self.
The new Fiat 500 is neither… it so cleverly balances the original’s key attributes with the demands of modernity — crashworthiness, consumption and emissions, for example that neither is compromised.
Sizing up
Rightly or wrongly, you really do get the feeling with this car that some good old Italian passion has been put before profits. Of course, Fiat isn’t exactly planning to make a loss on its new baby — why do you think it’s being built in Poland? — but there’s an integrity in both the conception and execution which makes the whole exercise a lot more convincing. And while, yes, it is more expensive than, say, a Nissan Micra, the Japanese car is a crude cartoon whereas the Fiat is a fine watercolour.
In truth, and unlike the original, the new 500 isn’t designed to be really cheap motoring (Fiat has the Panda range in Europe for that). But even the top-of-the-line model locally sneaks in at under $30,000… and you’re getting a lot of goodies for your money. And, as with the BMW Mini, there’s lots of scope for personalising your 500 (the Italian flag on the roof, if you so desire), but somehow Fiat’s approach seems a lot less cynical. It’s more about showering love on your bambino than relieving you of extra cash.
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