German Car Zone

Italian firm uncovers plans for retro design drop-top 500.


Fiat's going to roll back the years – literally. The firm will pull the wraps off a new soft-top 500 at the Geneva Motor Show in March. And in keeping with the city car’s retro design, it will have a similar roof mechanism to the original 500’s.

The newcomer will use a full-length fabric roof that slides back to store on top of the parcel shelf. It will retain a glass rear window, plus full-frame doors and the hatch’s roofline. The Swiss show will also see the debut of the 500 Abarth SS hot hatch. This has a 1.4-litre turbo engine which delivers 155bhp. Expect these new versions of the 500 to arrive in dealerships by the end of the year.

http://www.autoexpress.co.uk/news/autoexpressnews/215460/fiat_500_cabrio.html

Very cute, like a Tamaguchi. It will be all over the place once it's out.

This is the next logical step of course. They really need to get this car over here, it would do huge business.

M

Yeah but that would leave a huge problem, it's a tiny car and some Americans are not so tiny. So Fiat would have to re design the seats and maby some other components

But i see where your coming from alot of younger girls over there would love this car.

Nichole Richie and Tara Reid wouldn't agree with you on that one

If the Americans can cope with the tiny Smart then the Fiat 500 won't be a problem for them

Right. Seats and what not are very minor details. Smog and crash certification are the biggest things...uh and a proper dealer setup. I don't think most Ferrari/Maserati stores are ready to sell such a potentially high volume car.

M

Thanks, was just using them as a example starter, and I've also heard that the front of the car(nose) has to be risen for some strange reason which i can't think of which has got anything to do with Americans

Haha I like your style but even if that did happen there would still be alot of people complaining about it

My gay friends loves that car along Mini cabrio,i guess now i know why i don't like those mini-cabrios cars

Ferrari dealers wouldn't have time to sell Fiat 500 which cost less than what people spend on options for their Ferraris, no only that but many greedy Ferrari dealers mark up new cars with 20-40k so selling the Fiat 500 would be a waste of money.

This car will be selling like bread and butter and will need one hell of a dealer network in order to be a success in the US. I can't think of any manufacturer they would team up with.