Abarth 500

Transmission Starts...

Right, here we go. Sometimes things just don't flow. No reflection on the car reviewed in this here entry, but, well.... I just couldn't get this one together.

Judge for yourself...

It's quite feasible that if I had 14 thousand or so sterling's I would march right now into a Fiat dealership and exchange them for an Abarth 500. I say Abarth, of course, because there isn't a single Fiat badge to be found on the little ball of fun.

Save the window stamps.

And possibly the engine.

But these are details. After all, if you were to peer underneath the bonnet of a Nissan 300ZX you would find Mitsubishi logo's all over the electronics.

Anyway;

Reservations first. I simply cannot get comfortable in the damn thing. The steering wheel is either too far away or the pedals are too close. Not great for easy town driving, then.

Out on the motorway the 500 is boisterous and beset with wind noise. Not great for long distances, then.

Out in the countryside, Y junctions will confuse and irritate, bikers will be invisible and surprising. The Fiat, ahem, Abarth may have a 5 star NCAP crash rating but you'll need it, the rear three quarter visibility simply doesn't exist. Not great for active safety, then.

Crap.

Things aren't looking good for the little (bugger it) Fiat, then.

Right, so what of the positives? What can rescue this car, and more importantly this review from its monstrously large lack of continuity?

How about this;

I Love The Way It Feels.

It wants to be driven,

it wants to go fast, it wants to be appreciated.

It has soul, vim, it is fizzy, funny and light. If ever there was a car that deserves to be given a pet name or referred to as 'she', this is it. The steering (weird town mode aside) is communicative. Indeed, there is something about this car that I can't quite land a digit upon. This is something that I look for in all machines. It has something. Something alive about it.

Damn it!

That's not enough is it? The logical positivist in me hates things like this, but they exist. The Fiat/Abarth 500 has something extra, it contains passion. It is not without its faults but it has my heart and that counts for so much more than the crushing ability of an Audi S4, or the well built reliability of a Toyota. Passion is the very reason I write about machines. It is what gets me up in the morning. For that, despite the incoherence of the 500, I'll take one.

When I have the money to do such a thing, that is.

That is when passion starts paying the bills effectively.

yea.

Transmission Ends...