Fiat 500 1.4 (2007) CAR review

I’m not sure about this ultra-fashionable swing towards white. Any other more conservative colours?

Believe me, like the Mini, you’ll be able to customise the 500 to the nth degree with a raft of paint jobs and interior options. Naturally the accessories list is long, the better to allow you to personalise your car. The menu includes cabin perfume dispensers, chrome nudge bars (like the old 500), various roof decorations and a chrome tail rack for surf and snowboards. The colour palette - there are ‘50s pastel hues as well as modern metallic ones – is vast and so are trim options.

Verdict

The Fiat 500 has real substance - a car that is fun and affordable if not cheap, an urban and ultra-Italian car that will also appeal internationally. Unlike the old 500, this one has no ambitions to be a national best seller, first transport for rural peasants, a step up from a Vespa. Rather, it’s more likely to play a part in mobilising Chelsea, the 16th arrondissement of Paris and the more fashion-conscious districts of Rome and Milan. Comparisons with the Mini are inevitable. That trend-setting little bundle of energy is the machine Fiat studied hardest. And to good effect. When UK sales begin in January, the base 500 will cost about £9000 before you start to tick the options boxes. That’s almost £3000 less than the cheapest Mini One. The Fiat is the closest rival the Mini has had to face – and given its pricing, it looks like it’s going to be some fight.