Alternative review of Fiat 500 Range

I'm pleased to say that I don't remember the original Fiat 500. It was half a century ago that car was launched after all. So I can't tell you whether the latest Fiat 500 is a true retro tribute to the original. Sorry. But of course, like me, you don't care. All that matters is that it's cute, it's nippy and it's the latest thing to be seen in. A MINI? That's so yesterday...

I was a bit disappointed to learn that for all its Italian heritage, this car is in fact built in Poland. Oh well, better news comes in the realisation that it shares its platform with the next generation of Ford Ka and, as even I know, that car has a reputation to keep as a fabulous steer. At 1.65m wide, 1.49m high and 3.55m long, the 500 doesn't take up a great deal of space. For reference, a MINI is 1.91m wide, 1.40m high and 3.68m long: in other words much wider, a little lower and a fair bit longer. Even Renault's second generation Twingo, at 3.60m, won't fit into some parking spaces the 500 will be able to squeeze into. My local Lidl supermarket has a ridiculously tight underground carpark, so I can testify to the benefits of this. Delicious design details drip from the 500. It's like a tiny pearl, especially when the ivory finish interior fitted to my test car is specified. There's a very well-judged blend of retro chic and ruthlessly modern contemporary design inside, with circular head restraints, a glass roof and iconic 500 badging on the Panda-sourced dashboard. Chrome-ringed vents and a fascia that can be specified in the same colour as the body are just some of the interior design features. The exterior treatment is cool and clean too. The neighbours had a good old stare.

Fiat knows how to make great little engines for great little cars. Indeed, the 75bhp 1.3-litre 16v Multijet diesel engine fitted to the 500 is so good that it rather overshadows the otherwise excellent pair of petrol powerplants. These comprise an entry-level 69bhp 1.2 8v and a punchy 100bhp 1.4-litre 16v. Five or six speed manual transmissions are offered and the 500 has apparently been designed to replicate the original car's nimble feel and ability to put a smile on its driver's face. You do have to qualify all of this by pointing out that all of this under-bonnet stuff is available in a car that costs significantly less, offers five rather than three doors and boasts extra luggage space: Fiat's own Panda. But then, you only live once and how often are you going to need five doors in a citycar anyway? If it helps you to justify things, Fiat claims that body rigidity is around 10 per cent better than the Panda, so in theory, the 500 should be slightly more crash-proof.

I much prefer this approach to retro design to the kind of thing BMW have delivered us with the MINI. It seems more real somehow - and infinitely more exciting. The fact that it's more affordable too is just the icing on the cake. Right now, this is the most fashionable thing to be seen in up and down the high street. How long it will remain that way is, of course, quite another question...

TOP 5 500 DEALS

The results below show the top 500 deals on buyacar

Fiat 500 0.9 TwinAir Pop 3dr Hatchback
Price £10,454 Read 500 Reviews	Save £706
Fiat 500 1.2 Pop 3dr [Start Stop] Hatchback
Price £9,374 Read 500 Reviews	Save £586
Fiat 500 0.9 TwinAir Lounge 2dr C Convertible
Price £14,264 Read 500 Reviews	Save £1,296
Fiat 500 1.2 Lounge 3dr [Start Stop] Hatchback
Price £10,634 Read 500 Reviews	Save £726
Fiat 500 1.2 Pop 2dr [Start Stop] C Convertible
Price £11,950 Read 500 Reviews	Save £1,010
VIEW MORE DISCOUNT 500 DEALS