First Impressions

[Fiat500USA]

sjmst wrote

Got mine!  499. Drove out to Fiat of Westbury with my son in my 81 Fiat Spider. I was about his age when I bought the Spider new.
The 500 is of course a nice car. Fun. Only drove a bit, will have a better review shortly. Dealer didn't do anything to make the delivery special at all. No car cover. In fact, took them over an hour and a half to get the car to me. Also, Fiat did not send front license plate brackets, as they did not realize that New York State needed front plates. Quite understandable; who could have guessed what the laws are in a tiny little backwater like New York state? So I secured my front plate with zip ties. They meant well, though.
And I did get a manual!

All in all SOOO nice to finally have my car!  

Congratulations Sam!! It's been a long time coming for a new Fiat, glad to see you get yours!

Many Happy Miles!
-Chris

[Joe Dolgetta]

Christmas in March!! I Picked up PE #447 Yesterday from Fiat Mall of Georgia, and everything was perfect. The studio isn't finished yet, but the staff was as excited about this delivery as I was. They made up for the lack of a Fiat Studio Atmosphere. As I drove off with the car, I sensed an instant love affair in progress. It's just to cool a car in oh so many ways. I know I'm going to have a blast driving it, and a blast telling people about it as it became very apparent by the number of thumbs up I got from motorist, that this car will attract attention. Weather hasn't been all that nice her in the Atlanta area, so here are some pics of Peppino tucked away in the garage.

[fredfrey]

Nice garage! Now where is your Ferrari and GTA Alfa? :P
We should start a garage photos thread.

[Joe Dolgetta]

The Ferrari is an 87 Mondial Cab, and I wish my 73 GTV was a GTA, however, my GTV is super nice. I'll have to get all three parked together soon, but my Mondial is up at my brother's house in New York. I parked it there after a car meet I drove it from ATL.

[Joe Dolgetta]

I meant to ask you about all your car listings....Now that would be an awesome picture!! No doubt you would need a panoramic lens.

[fredfrey]

More then a panoramic ... photoshop. The Alfasud is in Holland, the GTV is in Florida - the rest in NY. I have an old shot prior to the Super and Sud and before the Fiat Spider left the nest. After I get my 500 and Lancia, I'll have to shoot another one.

[Joe Dolgetta]

Very Nice!! I'll load a a couple of pics of my rides as soon as I get the Fiat and the GTV parked side by side. Here my Mondial with my grandson behind the wheel

[Gavin]

Nice photos :)

Cute kid...I can sense he is already on his way to a love affair with Fiat cars.


Gavin


ps...did you purchase the cover?

[fredfrey]

Yes, agreed. Nice photos. See, even a little kid knows proper gearshifts are cool!

[Fiat500USA]

Joe Dolgetta wrote

Christmas in March!! I Picked up PE #447 Yesterday from Fiat Mall of Georgia, and everything was perfect. The studio isn't finished yet, but the staff was as excited about this delivery as I was. They made up for the lack of a Fiat Studio Atmosphere. As I drove off with the car, I sensed an instant love affair in progress. It's just to cool a car in oh so many ways. I know I'm going to have a blast driving it, and a blast telling people about it as it became very apparent by the number of thumbs up I got from motorist, that this car will attract attention. Weather hasn't been all that nice her in the Atlanta area, so here are some pics of Peppino tucked away in the garage.

Congratulations Joe!!

Love the car and the car cover!

[prima 109]

Here's mine from the 31st.

[sjmst]

Here's some feedback: The fabric inserts on the sport seats stain...from water!
When the car is wet and you open the door, water drops on the seat. Virtually unavoidable. It leaves a light water spot. Not good. May have to try Scothguard.

[sjmst]

Driving home from work on the NJ turnpike tonight, a young guy in a new BMW m3 made it a point to pull up along aside me and give me the thumbs up. Love this car.

[Fiat500USA]

sjmst wrote

Driving home from work on the NJ turnpike tonight, a young guy in a new BMW m3 made it a point to pull up along aside me and give me the thumbs up. Love this car.

[sam500]

I remember an email I got from MINI a while back with all these hand signals that MINI drivers allegedly share in passing. I guess getting thumbs up from random strangers regardless of what they drive is the equivalent for FIAT drivers!

Just today, two thumbs up at a stop light, and an Audi S6 driver spending 5 minutes in a parking structure telling me how much he loves the 500 :)

[sketch]

There's a lovely gelateria across the street from where I work, Italian-owned and all.  One of the owners was walking by as I was crossing the street, looked at it, threw his hands up, and exclaimed "CINQUECENTO!!" along with a string of "bellissimo"s and other such things.  He had quite an emotional reaction... I think he may have spent his formative years in one!  He offered me a free espresso or cappuccino at the gelateria any time I wanted.

So glad to bring happiness to the faces of others, not just to mine when I take the driver's seat!

[sketch]

Oh yeah, so this is the first impressions thread, too!

I'm having trouble posting images from my iPad, so I'll give that a shot later.

In a word, I love it.  It drives and rides more like a car than a go-kart, which I think is one of its biggest advantages over the MINI.  Sport mode changes the character of the car, too, almost surprisingly so.

The biggest surprise, though, was headroom!  You may remember I had noted that in the demo model I drove a few months ago, I didn't really fit under the sunroof, even at the lowest seat height.  At 6'2", this wasn't particularly alarming, except that I had ordered the Prima with a sunroof.  I found a seating position where the controls were pretty far, but otherwise it would have worked after some getting used to it.

Well, I am happy to note that somewhere between preproduction and production, they changed something in the seat!

At the lowest position, in the 500's natural upright seating position, I have enough room between my head and the headliner for most of my hand!  It was a revelation.  The one problem I had with the car magically solved itself.

[sjmst]

Good story, Sketch, same here. Much postive feedback. Love the car more each say.