Modern vintage in the Fiat 500

The Fiat 500 has a lovely little growl to it, like a baby tiger

Vintage glamour meets technical sophistication in the Fiat 500.

Small and cute, the Fiat 500 has a real old style feel to it, but it’s crammed full of modern technology.

The Matt Black version I was driving features satin chrome mirrors and door handles and is one of a number of Fiat 500 specials.

The Fiat 500 has a real distinctive looking interior

Inside, the styling is something worth talking about. There’s a vintage looking dash, complete with casino machine type hazard lights button. And unusually, the electric windows are operated by buttons on the centre console.

The car’s interior is a lot bigger than you’d expect too, both in the cabin and the boot.

You certainly won’t be ooing and aahing about the legroom in the back, but for someone of my height, that’s 5ft 5, it’s adequate.

The sports style seats are also deceptive, they don’t look particularly comfortable, but in fact they are.

The Fiat 500 also has a really good sound system and features radio/CD/USB/Aux.

It really goes the extra mile with the USB, playing all 72 songs on my driving memory stick. Bluetooth, was also really easy to set up and to use.

Sports seats, sports suspension, air conditioning, Start&Stop, gearshift indicator, hill-holder, Blue&Me, leather steering wheel and seven airbags come as standard on this model.

The Fiat 500 has a lovely little growl to it – like a baby tiger.

The Fiat 500 is a lot bigger on the inside that it looks from the outside

Fiat claims the TwinAir Turbo engine is the cleanest mass-produced petrol engine in the world and of the two driving modes available in the five speed manual model I was driving – Eco and Normal, I preferred the latter. Eco was fine for city driving but in general I found Normal mode much peppier.

While the Fiat has no problem reaching 120kph or holding its own on the motorway, because it’s small and light it does have to battle against the elements, especially on the open road on wet and blustery days – but nothing to worry about. Visibility over your right shoulder also is not great.

Overall though, I loved the Fiat 500 experience. It’s an interesting looking and cute little city car, that’s surprisingly spacious and it’s fun to drive.

Only 200 of the special edition Fiat 500 Matt Black have been produced for the right hand drive market, which means the chances of confusing your’s with someoneelse’s is slim.

The Matt Black Fiat 500 costs from €16,445.

Tech spec
Engine: 0.9 TwinAir (manual, petrol)
Acceleration: 0-100kph in 11s
Maximum Speed: 173kph
Combined fuel consumption: 4 l/100km
CO2 emissions: 95g/km
Annual road tax: €104 (Band A)

Visit Fiat.ie or the Fiat Ireland Facebook page for further information.

A version of this article first appeared in Metro Herald