Fiat 500

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The world had been waiting for something interesting to happen in the car world for a long time now. No, not 'interesting', but 'really interesting'. Proper excitement. Up pops the 'new Fiat 500' from the dangerously-close-to-closing Fiat factory. Not since the 'new Mini' has a car received such critical acclaim before it's even released. And before that it was the 'new Beetle'. Coincidence then that all three were all reinventions of classics? Icons of their day. They're all 'new '. Perhaps we all have a hunger for, and a heart-felt connection with, our past – our youth and childhood. Or maybe we all suffer from a love of old things but a desire for modern things. Perhaps all these 'new classics' fill our need for modern and traditional. Or perhaps we all want to be individuals in this world of mass production, high street chainstores and mediocrity. Car manufacturers are obsessed with playing safe, going for cars that just 'do the job', 'fit the market' and 'appeal' to everyone. Do people actually want a quirky designed modern classic though? Just look at the amount of Ford Focusses (or is that Foci?) on the roads. Well, I guess that's why we have mainstream and niché markets. Surprisingly (or not) the Fiat 500 has just received one of motoring's top accolades, 'Car of the year 2008' winning outright with 385 votes, ahead of the Mazda 2 (325 votes) and the Ford Mondeo (202). Cars are scored on design, comfort, safety, economic operation, driveability, performance, practicality, respect for the environment and, price and value for money. Have you seen the Mazda 2? Does that get your heart racing? Not really. Does Mazda offer 500,000 accessory combinations. Hardly. It's all about the individual... Take a look at www.fiat500.com/eng and then get your order in!

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