Fiat 500 2016 News

Drive-away is the go when it comes to new car deals in October.

Micro cars may be on the nose in Australia but no one seems to have told the makers.

Mumbrella reports the Advertising Standards Board has declared the ad too sexual. As opposed to, say, every ice cream commercial ever made.And those Kia commercials that should be outlawed on the grounds of being insanely annoying. 

The award, according to the press blurb, is intended to highlight new vehicles with innovation and style that push established boundariesOddly, in this case the winner is an echo of established boundaries, a retro-active rethink of the iconic model dating back to 1957, which has been a roaring success with buyers since its revival last year.And it seems also a success with the judges, who foamed with mouthfuls of superlatives.The car “does a brilliant job of capturing the visual appeal of the original version while meeting modern design and engineering standards” … “pushes the emotional hot buttons of several generations of people who might never have driven one of the early models” … “is genuine, straightforward, without gimmicks”.And knowing that the Fiat shuns gimmickry, you’ll be delighted to hear that a special Barbie version is doing the rounds.It’s bright pink of course. And not just any bright pink, but finished in a paint that looks like nail polish.Inside, the upholstery is a matching pink, trimmed with silver Alcantara, while the floor mats have been woven with natural silk.The vanity mirror is lit up with LED bulbs and there is a stock of lip glosses in the glove compartment.But all that by itself would be a bit subdued for the plastic fashionista, so a couple of chandeliers worth of crystals have been splattered over the hubcaps, window framing and interior trim, with a few on the ounted aerial to match.The one-off Fiat 500 Barbie was designed and produced as a joint project between Fiat’s Centro Stile (style centre) and the doll’s handler, toymaker Mattel.The car is currently on tour as part of the celebrations for the 50th birthday of the doll with the impossibly-shaped body ... although there are admittedly similar-looking 50-year-old women on the Gold Coast, many of them with an even higher plastic content.Apparently the car is being driven from time to time by a live `Ken’ doll, who is chauffering a live `Barbie’ around in it.And that bit of news had us completely flummoxed, because that means it must have an engine where we imagined there would be only a smooth sweep of plastic.After all, if the little pink Fiat was a true part of Barbie’s world there’s no way it could be anatomically correct. 

While it may spend its life on racetracks, the tiny Fiat Abarth 500 Assetto Corse will be a wild little thing. It is powered by a four-cylinder turbocharged 1.4-litre engine that puts out 147kW of power and 300Nm of torque. It will have a six-speed gearbox and full racing trim that includes 17-inch ultralight racing wheels, an aerodynamic rear spoiler and racing front grille, complete with twin air-intakes. Although gaining a full racing roll-cage for safety, the baby Fiat race car will be 180kg lighter than the road car. They will be available in any colour you want, as long as it is pastel grey with red stripes. Fiat released the first pictures of the new car this week. Fiat Australia spokesman Edward Rowe says the car will be raced in a series of one-marque national championships throughout Europe from next year. Rowe says the power output of the baby racer is twice that of the Fiat 500 cars used in the celebrity challenge at this year's Australian Grand Prix. Fiat's involvement in personalising the car and the series extends to the Italian marque providing full racing outfits for each driver. An appearance Down Under is unlikely as there is not a natural category for it to race in. Fiat has no plans to introduce a one-make championship in Australia as BMW has done with the Mini Challenge for Mini Cooper racing cars that started this year. But Rowe says the company has received expressions of interest from drivers in Australia to race versions of the sporty Fiat 500 Abarth road car due here next year. They would most likely contest production car championship events, including the Bathurst 12 Hour race. Fiat Abarth racing cars were a common sight on European racetracks and rallies in the 1960s. The most successful model was the 850TC. In Australia, two Fiat 600s (the larger version of the 500) contested the first Armstrong 500 at Phillip Island in 1960, the forerunner of the Bathurst 1000.   Snapshot Fiat 500 Abarth Assetto Corse Price: N/A Engine: 1.4L/4-cylinder turbo 147kW/300Nm Transmission: 6-speed manual  

The most frugal version of Fiat's baby 500 model, using a small diesel, consumes less than Japan's best hybrids, which can cost about $10,000 more. A flood of imported new-generation diesel models has arrived, delivering fuel consumption of better than five litres per 100km — equivalent to 56mpg. Most are able to drive about 1000km without visiting a service station. However, these bowser-beaters are small cars with premium prices. The new champ is the 500 diesel version, rated at 4.2 litres per 100km in official testing, and costing $25,990. Petrol 500s, which are slightly thirstier, start from about $23,000. The most popular hybrids, using an electric motor teamed with a petrol engine, are the Toyota Prius (4.4 litres/100km, from $37,400) and the Honda Civic Hybrid (4.6 litres/100km, $32,990). The first batch of diesel 500s for Queensland buyers is expected to arrive soon, but petrol versions are already here. New owner Kitty Mackay, of New Farm in inner Brisbane, has just bought a Fiat 500 from a dealer. “With me, it's a nostalgia thing,” she said. “I had a Fiat 500 when I was going to uni in the '70s. Also, I'm doing my little bit for the environment.” She said it c to fill the tank, which was still half-full after five days of heavy use. “It's fun, it's cute and it fits all the shopping in the boot, no trouble at all,” she said. “It's a really handy little car for everything and a perfect, perfect, perfect town car.” The 1.4 litre 500 Sport has a list price of $26,990, but Ms Mackay's came with extras including red leather upholstery, red stripes, sunroof and tinted windows, making it $35,000 on-road. “That's a lot to pay for a little car, but it's worth it,” she said. Meanwhile, the Queensland Government, which has had hybrid cars on its fleet since getting six of the first Toyota Prius hatchbacks in 2001, is adding Honda Civic Hybrids. The first 10 Hondas have just been delivered, with another 40 on the way this year to join QFleet's stock of 177 hybrids. Premier Anna Bligh said: “The cars we buy are important as they not only end up in the government fleet but then in the community.”   Fuel misers Fiat 500 diesel 4.2L/100km Citroen C3 diesel 4.4L/100km Fiat Punto diesel 4.4L/100km Toyota Prius 4.4L/100km Audi A3 1.9 diesel 4.5L/100km Citroen C4 diesel 4.5L/100km Honda Civic Hybrid 4.6L/100km  

Fiat is making the most of its biggest moment since returning to Australia, with the new 500 named as car of the Australian Grand Prix Celebrity Challenge. Thirty-two of the instantly recognisable baby cars will be fitted out for the annual novelty event, in which more cars finish in the kitty litter than over the line.But with the Australian allocation sold out four months beyond the March launch date, the racing 500s will be readapted for road use and sold.Fiat has released full pricing and specification for its instantly famous 500 baby car three months ahead of its local launch.Prices start from $22,990 for the 51kW 1.2-litre petrol model with five-speed manual transmission, rising to $29,990 for the 74kW 1.4-litre petrol with the Dualogic robotised manual.ABS brakes with electronic brake distribution are standard, but not ESP, except on the 1.4-litre cars. These models also get anti-slip regulation, hill holder and brake assist.Then we get to the three trim levels — Pop, Sport and Lounge — and the 17 main options.These are combined with a choice of three engines (apart from the petrol units there is a 1.3-litre turbo diesel, all of which meet Euro V emission standards) and three transmissions (the five- and six-speed manual or the five-speed Dualogic).With such a bewildering array of (mainly cosmetic) embellishments, buyers can personalise their 500s to a Mini Cooper-like degree. Indeed, Fiat has said that it's unlikely any two pieces of this post-modernist motor will be precisely identical.A sell-out success in Europe, this modernised homage to the original 1957 Fiat 500 combines a light kerb weight of less than 1100kg with modest but willing engines. The 1.2 makes 100km/h from standing in a fairly glacial claimed time of 12.5 seconds, but achieves combined-cycle fuel consumption of 5.1 litres per 100km.The 1.4 petrol is a tad thirstier and does it in 10.5 seconds, using 6.3-litres, while the diesel gets there in 11.5 seconds and uses 4.2 litres.Despite its air of novelty, a brief drive on a recent European trip showed carsguide the 500 is a proper car and one that promises to be both a practical urban conveyance and fun to drive. SnapshotFiat 500Price: from $22,990Engines: 1.2L/4-cylinder; 1.4L/4-clyinder petrol; 1.3L/4-cylinder turbo dieselEconomy: 5.1L/100km (1.2); 6.3 (1.4); 4.2 (1.3)Transmission: 5- or 6-speed manual, or 5-speed Dualogic 

And when that project has its origins in the family's homeland, it's all the more special.

That newly reincarnated bastion of mini-motoring, the Fiat 500, arrives in Australia from March. As thousands of car enthusiasts converged on the centre of Fiat's home city Turin this week to mark the launch of the new Cinquecento, the car's Australian pricing and basic specification were announced. The reborn 500 will be available here with the current top-of-the-range engines. The 1.4-litre petrol and 1.3-litre direct-injection turbo-diesel as seen in the bigger Fiat Punto. Pricing will be in the mid-$20,000 range. It is expected that the 'hottish' Abarth version, with a 110kW 1.4-turbo engine, will arrive late in 2008. A convertible will follow in 2009. A video of the Abarth Cinquecento being tested on the Nurburgring, with a tasteful exhaust burble clearly audible, has been airing on YouTube. But suggestions of an appearance at this year's Sydney motor show were quashed by the importer, Ateco Automotive. Although the 500 is sure to add some spice to Fiat's local passenger car range which; currently consists solely of the Punto; the reception in its home city has been hyperbolic. Some 200,000 people have converged on the Turin city centre. Perhaps more impressively, in excess of 12,000 orders for the 500 were placed on a single day. Hundreds of old 500 models, including the original Topolino (Little Mouse) from the 1930s and the spiritual predecessor of the current 500, which was manufactured between the 1950s and '70s, were driven across the European continent to the Fiat fiesta. It's a daunting prospect to anyone of more than average height who has ever folded themselves into an old 500 for a trip further than the shops. This weekend, 30 other Italian cities will donate their fabled main squares to presentations of the new 500, including the Piazza del Popolo in Rome and Piazza del Duomo in Milan. But this outpouring is more about the future than the past. Fiat's Polish plant, which currently produces the Panda and Seicento (600), is being readied for the new minicar, which will be joined next year by its Ford sister vehicle, the Ka. At that point, the Polish facility will be producing more than 500,000 cars per year. Minicars have always been logical means of mobility in Europe's congested cities. Now in Sydney's ever-worsening traffic conditions, the appeal of an inexpensive, economical, environmentally friendly but stylish car is suddenly appealing. Developed by the Fiat Style Centre and manufactured in the Tychy plant in Poland, the new 500 is a three-door model with ultra compact measurements: 355cm long by 165cm wide; 149cm tall with a wheelbase of 230cm. If the bigger potholes that pockmark NSW roads can be avoided, the 500 promises to be a fun drive, especially with the 1.3JTD which is good for 66kw and a fat 200Nm. The new 500 incorporates design aspects of the old model. It is seen as a competitor for BMW's lower-end Mini range and the Smart. Fiat officials say its dealers have already ordered 23,000 of the new model against the 58,000 sales target for this year, and 120,000 on a full-year basis. Australians are sure to be well represented among buyers.  

The cute tiddler will make its European debut in July. It will arrive here in time for the Sydney Motor Show before launch early in 2008. In July, 1957, Fiat presented the Nuova Fiat 500, which became something of a motoring icon. On July 4, 2007, exactly 50 years later, and also in Turin, Fiat will present the new Fiat 500 which will go on sale immediately. It will conclude an important cycle of revival and renewal. Developed by the Fiat Style Centre and manufactured in the Polish Tychy factory,the new 500 is a 3-door with compact measurements – only 3.55m long, 1.65m wide and 1.49m tall. It is said to be an entertaining drive and powered by a choice of 1.3-litre turbo diesel and two petrol engines of 1.2-litre and 1.4-litre – all of which are available with five or six-speed mechanical gearboxes. Fiat says the new 500 is ‘‘the most up-to-date solution for the motorist who wishes to enjoy a car in complete freedom, appreciates it for day-to-day use but also wishes to drive a car that is entertaining and practical, environmentally-friendly and accessible, as well as being appealing and full of fun.’’