Fiat Returning to the U.S.

Well Fiat did have a bad reputation which has improved a little in recent years. The Fiat 500 is a modern take on their old 1960's icon and has proved very popular, mainly with stylish women in their 20's.

If you think the Smart is funky, you'll love the 500. Just don't expect Japanese build quality.

 

I was always a MOPAR guy when I was young. I still wish I kept the Road Runner I had, but... I think the German's put Chrysler in ICU and now the Italians will bury it.

 

Cute car.

 

I'd love to see the 500 over here. With better reliability and a real engine this time around, it could rival the Mini. The so-called 'real men' with big trucks will look down their noses at it, but it could be very popular with many others.

 

I'm all for more competiton and more choices. The Abarth kind of looks like a Puffer Fish mated with a Mini-Copper.

 

Whelp, the display units at the San Francisco autoshow had their seat height adjusters broken off in 2 days of people playing with them.

not exactly a promising start.

 

Do you know what Fiat stands for?

"Fix It Again Tomorrow"


Stylish cars? Oh yes. Reliable cars? Hmmmm.

 

when my wife and i got married in 78', we both had fiat 124 sedans. they were great cars, rock solid and very reliable. and a lot of fun to drive. hers was a 73' standard and mine was a 72' auto. i think the tranny was made by gm? she blew a head gasket once, but it was a pretty quick repair. i did spend a lot of time with valve and carb adjustments in those day, but that was true of all cars. the biggest issue was the paint, it slowly wore off until they were down to sheetmetal and the cars rusted to a point where we couldn't get stickers. but they still ran great when we drove them to the junkyard!

 

Oh they've sorted the rust problem about a decade or so ago, but they do appear to be plagued by mechanical and electrical problems. Probably nothing major but just stuff like the guy above posted - trim falling off, electrical gremlins etc.

Put it in a way you'll understand; they couldn't have teamed up with anyone more appropriate than Chrysler!

 

They're selling an electric version of it in Europe, any word when that will get imported?

 

Speaking of cute little crap boxes, I would like to see a modernized rendition of the Renault LeCar with the cloth sunroof assembly. I had a BMW 318ti with the option (called a California package) and LOVED it. But alas, that is a feature that has never really taken on here in the US. It doesn't seem as though it was that long ago that I saw a modified electric LeCar listed on an EV sale board. Back when I was in high school, the Fiats were all the rage...and something called a Sunbeam that was very similar. I have a friend in Belgium who has one of the little 5-door van looking things...a Qubo I think...and says it has been great.

 

A cloth roof? Blimey, not seen anything like that since the early 1980's. You're lucky to get a convertible with a soft roof these days as most are folding hardtops. It's a shame you don't get a lot of the smaller stylish european cars such as Fiats and Alfa Romeos and some of the funky Citroens, but I really don't think Americans would accept some of the shoddy build these cars have. Japanese or Korean build quality it is not! I think Fiat are testing the water with the 500 as it sells here just on its cheeky looks.

The Fiat Qubo is probably a weird one for our friends in the US and is also looked on as quirky here in the UK. Have a nosey round the following websites for some stylish and funky small cars;

www.fiat.co.uk
www.citroen.co.uk - the ds3 is quite a looker
www.alfaromeo.co.uk - pretty much all their cars look the business. Just don't expect them to start every morning! You buy them for the love of the car and if the 500 is a success you might get Alfa back.

 

I heard it as, "Fix it again, Tony"

I remember seeing some of these on the street when I was a kid:


Had access to a 124 convertible in high school... way cool. Ate up the
MGs and Triumphs... the Austin Healey 3000 ruled though.

Later drove a used overhead cam(s?) 124 wagon for a number of years.
Had quite a bit of zip if memory serves. It had the grace to break its
cam belt as I shut it down one day. Didn't even bend a valve... one
lucky dude.

 

With all those issues sounds like a match made in heaven with Chrysler. With a little bit of luck they can both bring each other down for TKO-type bankruptcy and never see either one again.

 

I'd be tempted to agree, but the passing of Chrysler would mean a loss of the Jeep icon, and Fiat, well they appear to have suspect build quality (though better than it was), but you buy the car knowing this and they do have some funky cars.

Just buy one with your eyes open!

 

Like the mini, the Fiat 500 has grown to be twice the size its name-sake was back in the 60s.
Fiat unreliability in a bigger package. Harder to push!

F fix
I it
A again
T Tony.

 

I saw a red Fiat 500 recently. They are very distinctive on the road.

 

I'm not sure when they went on sale here - probably last Fall - but I've seen several lately. Not that I want one, though they're cute little cars.

 

Are Fiats still turds like everyone upthread is implying?