FIAT 500 News
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It might be cute, get great gas mileage and ooze the same kind of retro charm as cars like the 2012 VW Beetle and the 2012 MINI Clubman, but the 2012 Fiat 500 has scored just three stars for crash safety by the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA). While the little two-door Fiat 500 scored four stars in both the frontal and rollover crash tests, it was let down badly in the side impact crash test. Although the driver was fairly well protected in the side barrier rating part of the side crash test, scoring five stars, the Fiat 500’s limited rear protection let it down...
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2012 Fiat 500: Green Car Reports Best Car To Buy 2012 Nominee
GreenCarReports nominates 2012 Fiat 500 as one of the six contenders for its Best Car To Buy 2012 award, given to the car or cars that provide the best and most practical alternatives for car buyers who want to drive green.
John Voelcker -
"Small And Wicked" 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth Debuts At L.A. Show
Where the standard Fiat 500 minicar is all about "aaaaahhhhh", the 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth we revealed a few weeks back is much more about "GRRRRRRRRRR". This time the 500 has shed all its cutesy looks and gained a wide stance and aggressive bodykit. The style is in keeping with a long history of...
Antony Ingram -
Next Fiat 500 Minicar: Abarth 'Hot Hatch' Sports Version
The 2012 Fiat 500 Abarth model to be launched in November at the 2011 LA Auto Show will be the fastest, best-handling model yet in the growing Fiat 500 minicar line.
John Voelcker -
Electric Fiat 500 Spied Testing In Michigan, Intro For 2013 Likely
Almost two years ago, in January 2010, a mysterious electric version of the Fiat 500 appeared the Detroit Auto Show on the Chrysler stand. Then, two months later, Chrysler said it would sell an electric 500 in the U.S. market. Engineers at the company's Auburn Hills, Michigan, headquarters would...
John Voelcker -
2012 Fiat 500 Minicar Named IIHS Top Safety Pick Despite Size
The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has named the 2012 Fiat 500 minicar one of its Top Safety Picks despite the diminutive car's size.
John Voelcker -
Bamby Cars Limited has begun building a replica of the world's smallest production car, the Peel P50. You can park it anywhere, but there isn't much room for luggage.
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Libyan Rebels Find Even Bad Men (Qaddafi) Love Electric Cars
Let’s face it: If you ask Joe Public to describe the personal attributes of your average electric car owner, you'd probably get a description of a left-leaning, affluent and well-educated individual on the east or west coast of the U.S. A less-polite individual may even chose to add a few...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
2012 Fiat 500 Cabrios, Manuals More Popular Than Projected
Launching the 2012 Fiat 500 minicar in the U.S. market was a gamble to begin with. But it's one that is paying off in some unexpected ways. Fiat's top North American executive, Laura Soave, told trade journal Ward's Auto that the Cabrio model with the roll-back cloth roof is proving far more...
John Voelcker -
2012 Fiat 500C: Driving The New Minicar At High Altitudes
We won't soon forget our 2009 Smart ForTwo road test in California last year, in part because we found the little car serviceable even over the mountain passes between Los Angeles and San Luis Obispo. That memory came flooding back when we had the chance to drive the 2012 Fiat 500C at altitudes up...
Jonathan McGrew -
This Summer’s Six Best Convertibles For Great Gas Mileage
Summer is finally upon us and that means convertible owners will be cruising the highways with their tops down and the wind in their hair. Convertibles are traditionally more fuel hungry than their hard-top siblings due to the extra weight the vehicles carry, not only from their automated folding...
Viknesh Vijayenthiran -
2012 Fiat 500C: Worth the Soft Top?
So we have written about the 2012 Fiat 500 and a little bit about the 500C Cabrio. However, the thought came to our mind through a recent First Drive completed by our partner site, TheCarConnection.com, that maybe the Cabrio isn’t worth the extra cost. Now hang in there with us; the thought...
Jonathan McGrew -
The excitement for the Fiat brand is growing in the U.S. now that we know we will be able to purchase a Fiat 500 in the near future. Maybe it is the unique size or the cache of the brand from the past, but there is a definite air that the Fiat 500 will be a popular car in the U.S. even when historically sub-compacts don’t do well. Now that we are going to get our hands on a Fiat 500 we have turned our attention to lusting after all the versions that Europe has access to including the newly announced Fiat 500 TwinAir models. The term TwinAir describes the 0.9 liter two-cylinder...
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2012 Fiat 500 Cabriolet: Best Gas-Mileage 4-Seat Convertible You Can Buy
It's springtime, which means tornadoes for some of us, showers and muggy weather for others. It also means putting the roof down on convertibles after the long winter hiatus. Which led us to wonder: What's the best gas mileage you can get in a new drop-top car with four seats (or at least four...
John Voelcker -
2012 Fiat 500 Cabrio: When Less Money Gets You More
What is a person to do when they can’t swing 50 G’s on a new convertible, but still want to have some fun in the sun? The answer is coming in later this spring when the Fiat 500 Cabrio or Fiat 500C hits the showrooms. Who can resist a cute Italian? Especially one that will only set you...
Jonathan McGrew -
In the Red: Each Fiat 500 Electric Car Loses Chrysler $10k
There is nothing a company CEO hates more than not making a profit on a product, but as Fiat Chrysler CEO Sergio Marchionne knows, it is sometimes a necessary evil in the evolution of a new technology. Speaking at Fiat S.p.A’s general meeting on Wednesday, Marchionne spoke frankly about his...
Nikki Gordon-Bloomfield -
Calling Italian Car Fans! 2011 Fiat 500 Available to Drive At 2011 Denver Auto Show
The Fiat 500 is so close that consumers can taste it. However, if you want to testdrive one before you drive it and you live in a five state region of the Denver Metro area, the chances are you haven’t been able to get near one of the handful of cars they have here on this side of the pond...
Jonathan McGrew -
2011 Denver Auto Show Ride and Drive Programs Feature Small Cars
As our loyal followers here at AllSmallCars.com know, we are just bananas for small cars of all sorts of shapes, performance, price range and country of origin. Over the years we have reported on cars from China, India, Japan, Korea, Europe and, of course, the U.S. So when there is a chance for...
Jonathan McGrew -
If you have been following the trends of both MINI and Fiat you might wonder if going even smaller is the new “thing” for 2011. Recently, we reported on the progress of the MINI Coupe and while not everyone is raving about the design it is still an interesting car. Fiat apparently thinks so as well, however they have beaten MINI to the punch with the Fiat 500 Coupe Zagato, which was reported yesterday to be on its way to the production line. According to reports from AutoBlog the coupe’s production plans were confirmed by the head of Fiat, CEO Sergio Marchionne. As I alluded...
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2012 Fiat 500: ecoDrive Plugs In And Coaches Drivers Right From Their Laptop (VIDEOS)
Ever wonder how your drive to the office might be effecting your fuel economy? The engineers over at Fiat have and to help educate drivers have introduced the BLUE&ME USB port in conjunction with Microsoft and the eco:Drive program. The program reads the car’s systems and stores the...
Jonathan McGrew -
Fiat Official Reveals 2012 Fiat 500 Convertible Will Come To U.S. in 2011
Earlier this week we checked out the 2012 Fiat 500 and the first drive report. What we found out was that the Fiat will be a fun, but not particularly performance oriented mini car—at least until the Abarth edition makes it to the U.S. sometime in the future. However, those on the west coast...
Jonathan McGrew -
2012 Fiat 500: MINI Competitor Or Spaghetti Western?
Italian car aficionados have been looking forward to the return of Fiat for some time; in fact, it has been a rumor that the Fiat brand would come back to the U.S. pretty much since it left. Now is the time for the Red, White and Green to shine with the introduction of the 2012 Fiat 500 to the...
Jonathan McGrew -
EPA Rates 2012 Fiat 500 Fuel Economy: Not 40 MPG, But Close
With the first few Fiat 500 minicars now landing in Chrysler dealerships this month and next, the small car's fuel efficiency is clearly one of the main questions buyers will ask about. Now the EPA has released its final ratings for the car, though they're not yet on its FuelEconomy.org website...
John Voelcker -
2010 Los Angeles Auto Show: 2012 Fiat 500 Minicar Unveiled
The launch of the 2012 Fiat 500 at the Los Angeles Auto Show wasn't only the first new model from Chrysler's partnership with Italian automaker Fiat. It also added a new and attractive model to a category of cars that have always been an afterthought in the U.S. market: minicars, those even smaller...
John Voelcker