One For The Heart
by David Finlay (25 Mar 08)

I stood with Peter, who delivers many of the cars I test, and we looked at the 500 just after it had come off the trailer. Now, I like to think that we're both manly men, able to discuss beer and football for hours on end (or at least we would be if I had any interest in either), but something about the little Fiat had clearly pointed us in the direction of fluffiness. "You just want to hug it, don't you?" I can't remember which of us said this - a phrase which I don't think either of us had ever used about a car before, and would not expect to again - but I do know that the other agreed immediately.

The 500, if you didn't already know, is a throwback to a previous model in the same way that the MINI and the Volkswagen Beetle recalls earlier cars with the same name, and the Chrysler PT Cruiser more generally refers to 1930s American cars which were converted into hot rods after World War II. It was of great help to Fiat that the 500 of half a century ago was perhaps the cutest mass-produced car in the history of the motor industry, but even without that advantage I'd have to say that the designers have done a superb, possibly unrivalled job of giving a 21st century car the flavour of a familiar classic.

I expected everyone I knew to fall in love with the 500 as soon as they saw it, and most of them did - occasionally to the point where it seemed that a change of underwear might be advisable. Others were less convinced, and I suppose this is one of those cars which you either "get" or you don't. Fair enough: I would happily spend hours surrounded by kittens, but wouldn't walk five yards out of my way to see a puppy, yet plenty of people have the opposite opinion, which they're welcome to. So with the 500 - some will be indifferent to it, others will think it's a masterpiece.

The 500's visual character is as important as it is successful. To some extent it doesn't have to be a particularly good car, at least to anyone who thinks that the looks justify the purchase. If you look at it in a detached manner, though, it is indeed a good car. I've been critical of several Fiat models in the past (resulting in a suspicion that I've fallen out with members of the company's PR department, which isn't true at all), and if I thought the 500 was a failure beneath its exterior charm I would say so.

But no. It has many very good points, and the bad points aren't too bad - or at least I would be prepared to live with them in return for having such an appealing little car parked outside my house. (Ah, you see? It's so difficult to avoid returning to that theme.)

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