Fiat 500L Revealed

(Thursday 2 February 2012)

Fiat has released the first official images of the 500's big brother, which will make its world debut at the Geneva Show on March 6 and go on sale in Europe in the last quarter of the year.

The 500L (the L standing for "large") is about two inches longer than the hatchback on which it's based, and is described as having "MPV passenger space combined with the feel of a small SUV on the road" and as being a five-seater - not something that many people would claim for the 500.

Whatever mechanical similarities between the two cars, the 500L looks very different. It's probably fair to say that, with the 500, practicality was sacrified in the name of style, but this time it's the other way round. According to an office poll, the L has about 2% of the 500's cuteness, but the design seems altogether more purposeful.

Fiat talks of the shape being "cab forward", an industry term meaning that the windscreen is nearer the front than would be the case with a more conventional shape. The company brings up a reference to the 600 Multipla of the 1950s and 1960s, and calls that car "a precursor to the concept of the compact people carrier".

Fair enough, it could carry six people within a very short wheelbase, but the two up front were effectively the car's crumple zone, and if Euro NCAP tested one now it would probably be given a rating of about minus twenty stars. Since the modern 500 was the first car of its size to achieve a (plus) five-star crash test rating, we confidently expect better of the L.

Built at Fiat's Kragujevac factory in Serbia, the L will intially go on sale with a choice of two-cylinder 875cc TwinAir petrol, four-cylinder 1.4-litre petrol and 1.3-litre MultiJet II turbo diesel engines. UK prices are unlikely to be confirmed for several months yet.

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