It’s now as old as some of its drivers, yet it still sells in huge volumes. Let’s catch up
MATT SAUNDERS @thedarkstormy1
TESTED 12.2.24, WARWICKSHIRE ON SALE NOW
Can there be many milestones left for the 17-year-old Fiat 500? Most modern cars are long dead and buried by this age. The Mini hatch has been through three full model generations in the space of 25 years. But historically speaking, really special small cars have tended to live for longer, getting only incremental updates. The original Mini and Citroën 2CV managed more than four decades, for instance, and the Volkswagen Beetle more than six. This baby Fiat won’t match that feat, but if it can survive for another year, it will have lasted longer than Dante Giacosa’s iconic Nuova 500 of 1957.
We haven’t had the opportunity to test this car in a while – not since the 2020 introduction of the 1.0-litre mild-hybrid petrol engine. At that point, Fiat took out the old two- and four-cylinder engines and slotted in this three-cylinder one, which uses a belt-driven 12V starter-generator and a small lithium ion battery.
It also took the chance to swap the old five-speed manual gearbox out for a six-speeder at the same time, although it hasn’t replaced the lumpy old Dualogic five-speed automated manual.
Apart from the gearlever and the multimedia system, the 500’s interior hasn’t really been touched since its 2015 facelift. As such, the material quality stands up less well to scrutiny than it did. Our test car had dark dashboard plastics that looked hard and shiny in places, although its switchgear mostly avoided feeling cheap to the touch.
In some ways, it’s still quite a neat bit of packaging. You do feel pretty tightly squeezed in at the wheel by the big, rudder-like driver’s door as it closes, in front of a tight pedal box and a steering column with no reach adjustment. But head room isn’t so snug, the front seats adjust to let you trade cushion inclination for base height quite cleverly and visibility is good in most directions.
The exception to that rule, at least in this 500C cabriolet version, comes when you motor the cloth hood all the way back, when it gathers up in an ugly bunch behind the two rear seats (suitable for smaller children only) and obscures a big chunk of the view in your rear-view mirror.
You also get a less accessible and generally useful boot in the 500C, so it really is worth questioning how much you want that tousled fringe.
Fiat’s mild-hybrid engine ha
