Looks
The Fiat 500 is a happy car there’s something about the chic, compact exterior with its classic shaped headlights and retrostyle chrome door handles that makes us smile. Fiat has put care and attention into the little things, retro wheel valve caps, a vintagestyle steering wheel and a dashboard painted to match the exterior colour. With half a million ways to personalise your Fiat 500, it should stand out from the crowd.
Practicality
Feeling more spacious inside than its size would suggest, the Fiat 500 is airy and bright with a designer feel and comfortable seats. The boot is larger than its rivals and the back seat folds for extra space. There’s enough room in the back for a couple of adults and the front seats slide forward to help people get in. There’s no fivedoor option: you’ll have to go for the larger and more expensive 500L model for that.
Driving
This is a perfect city car. It feels most at home driving around town, rather than on the motorway, with its light steering and good visibility making it easy to nip around in and park. We found the gearbox a little stiff and while the ride is comfortable in town it doesn’t like bumpy roads as much. Our favourite engine is the 0.9litre TwinAir: it has more power at lower speeds, making it more fun and more economical.
Safety
It scored a full fivestar Euro NCAP crash rating and is fitted with seven airbags including one for your knees the only car in its class to have this many. But technology that helps you stay in control if you skid standard on most of its rivals is only available on some models and costs extra.
Running costs
The older 1.2litre engine isn’t the most economical choice. The 0.9litre TwinAir is more expensive, but offers better allround value with Fiat claiming it will give up to 70mph and no road tax bill. Be wary of being too wild with personalisation as it could make your 500 harder to sell.
GH verdict
The Fiat 500 is one of the few cars we’ve driven that appeals to all generations.
Prices range from £10,420 to £15,720 fiat.co.uk
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