Fiat 500

Fiat 500 Pop 1.2

NEVER let it be said that little cars are born to be boring.

Fiat has proved without doubt that small is very definitely beautiful with its iconic 500 that hit the streets in 2008 exactly 500 hours after the start of the New Year.

The 500 is a nostalgic take of Dante Giacosa's iconic Fiat 500 of July 1957 and it was a very feeling strange getting behind the wheel of the new car because I can compare it to the original which I drove in the mid-1960s.

It is certainly not easy mixing the old with the new, but there are rules for success. Firstly any such interpretation must have modern handling, technology, safety, performance and ease of ownership.

It must also reflect the character of the original and just make you smile.

And that has been achieved without doubt with the 500. As soon as you see it you know that it is special.

Open the door and take in the 1950s styling cues and you know that you have a car that you will never treat as plain ordinary. This model, a basic 1.2 Pop featured a white steering wheel and trim with a painted red body colour dash. It really felt the part.

But where it does not feel like the original is in the technical department because it a benchmark in terms of safety and technology in its now highly competitive market segment.

Fiat says it represents a company blueprint for a future which embraces a modern approach, new brand strategies, radical innovations in customer relations and a lasting process of expansion.

An ambitious statement but the 500 certainly proves that Fiat means business. Its products have suddenly become much better built in addition to being far more attractive.