2012 Fiat 500 on Motorweek

[Jeepnut]

I drove a demo model Rosso Sport Saturday and something curious happened. First a quick background though I am a huge Chrysler fan I honestly knew very little about Fiat (im 32 so i have no memories of them here)until Chryslers bankruptcy in 09 and my first thought then was oh great more arrogant European overlords. But I gave them the benefit of the doubt and did a little research and in that research I stumbled on Christians site which has been a tremendous source of info for the Fiat challenged like me. I have honestly followed the development of the US 500 and the Chrysler Fiat partnership since then and have gained a healthy respect for Fiat and I'm no longer worried about Chrysler and it's future I believe they are in very capable hands. Ok so back to the 500 when I drove the Sport on Saturday that was the first Fiat I had ever even sat in let alone driven and I have to say the engine wasn't noisy at all I was doing 80 on the highway and it felt like 45. The car was solid quiet it has one of the smoothest manual transmissions I've ever driven. It's also fun not very fast but absolutely peppy. The curious thing that happened was that I fell absolutely, hopelessly in love with that car I still get a huge grin when I think about driving it. This car can't be explained by it's stat sheet it will loose comparo test yes but it's ok because it is greater than the sum of it's parts. I now "get it" and I'm glad I have now caught the Fiat Flu. Thanks Christian and Thad for all the help and info over the last year and a half

[Fiat500USA]

Jeepnut wrote

I drove a demo model Rosso Sport Saturday and something curious happened. First a quick background though I am a huge Chrysler fan I honestly knew very little about Fiat (im 32 so i have no memories of them here)until Chryslers bankruptcy in 09 and my first thought then was oh great more arrogant European overlords. But I gave them the benefit of the doubt and did a little research and in that research I stumbled on Christians site which has been a tremendous source of info for the Fiat challenged like me. I have honestly followed the development of the US 500 and the Chrysler Fiat partnership since then and have gained a healthy respect for Fiat and I'm no longer worried about Chrysler and it's future I believe they are in very capable hands. Ok so back to the 500 when I drove the Sport on Saturday that was the first Fiat I had ever even sat in let alone driven and I have to say the engine wasn't noisy at all I was doing 80 on the highway and it felt like 45. The car was solid quiet it has one of the smoothest manual transmissions I've ever driven. It's also fun not very fast but absolutely peppy. The curious thing that happened was that I fell absolutely, hopelessly in love with that car I still get a huge grin when I think about driving it. This car can't be explained by it's stat sheet it will loose comparo test yes but it's ok because it is greater than the sum of it's parts. I now "get it" and I'm glad I have now caught the Fiat Flu. Thanks Christian and Thad for all the help and info over the last year and a half

Hi Jeepnut, I'm glad you found the site useful.

You're right, you either get this car or you don't, which is fine. It's not for everyone. When you get it, you're part of a world wide community of interesting people. I think it's nice company to be in.

[panther76]

Jeepnut wrote

I drove a demo model Rosso Sport Saturday and something curious happened. First a quick background though I am a huge Chrysler fan I honestly knew very little about Fiat (im 32 so i have no memories of them here)until Chryslers bankruptcy in 09 and my first thought then was oh great more arrogant European overlords. But I gave them the benefit of the doubt and did a little research and in that research I stumbled on Christians site which has been a tremendous source of info for the Fiat challenged like me. I have honestly followed the development of the US 500 and the Chrysler Fiat partnership since then and have gained a healthy respect for Fiat and I'm no longer worried about Chrysler and it's future I believe they are in very capable hands. Ok so back to the 500 when I drove the Sport on Saturday that was the first Fiat I had ever even sat in let alone driven and I have to say the engine wasn't noisy at all I was doing 80 on the highway and it felt like 45. The car was solid quiet it has one of the smoothest manual transmissions I've ever driven. It's also fun not very fast but absolutely peppy. The curious thing that happened was that I fell absolutely, hopelessly in love with that car I still get a huge grin when I think about driving it. This car can't be explained by it's stat sheet it will loose comparo test yes but it's ok because it is greater than the sum of it's parts. I now "get it" and I'm glad I have now caught the Fiat Flu. Thanks Christian and Thad for all the help and info over the last year and a half

that pretty well sums up my feelings as well. im 45, but honestly dont remember much about the old Fiat's.

[tokarev]

I own # 189  - back late seventies early eighties I had (2) X1/9's plus my sister had one too (X1/9). The phrase "fit it again tony" applied pretty well - the only problem was there was no Tony to fix it. If you didnt do your own work it was very costly to own a Fiat. Most fixers back then didnt know the first thing about a Fiats so you where throwing your money away having one of them try to fix your ride. I was a teen when I started messing with Fiats and didnt have any money for Tony or anyone else to fix my car. So dont get all bent out of shape when all the old sayings are brought back out - every make of car has them - and alot of them were very true depending on the model.

[jeanne65]

Agreed. Just substitute that "Tony" stuff with "Found On Road Dead" Ford stuff. I don't think they would put that in a Ford road test. I was surprised about that. It seriously degrades their professionalism.




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