By Frank S. Washington
NEW YORK,NY — As I drove the Fiat 500c, the “c” stands for cabrio, through the Big Apple headed north, a phrase came to mind: This is it!
The cabrio is the convertible version of the Fiat 500 coupe and it could very well be the halo for the brand as it re-enters the North American market. That’s saying something since the Fiat 500 is a subcompact car.
The halo is all about the cabrio’s convertible top. But first let’s talk about the car.
The 500 (cabrio or coupe) is powered by a 1.4 liter water cooled four cylinder engine that makes 101 horsepower and 98 foot-pounds of torque. That engine can be mated to either a six-speed automatic transmission or a five-speed manual gear box. The automatic is rated 27-32 in city and highway driving while the manual has a 30-38 mpg rating.
We had the automatic which was fine with me. And though our test car had a small engine, it had enough oomph to handle the traffic here. In other words, we weren’t bullied on the road.
A guy driving an expensive but gas guzzling SUV pulled up next to us and derisively yelled “do you think they’re gonna sell that many of them here?” We groused back, ‘yeah.’ In New York you gotta stand up for yourself.
Anyway, the Fiat 500c comes in two model trims: Pop and Lounge. We had a Lounge. It featured the six-speed automatic transmission with manual shift capability, front- and rear-fascia chromed accents, chromed mirror caps, fog lamps, 15-inch aluminum wheels, premium cloth seats, satellite radio, automatic climate control and a premium sound system with sub woofer.
It was a very comfortable cabin. The seats were sofa like, handling was precise and the suspension handled the rugged streets here without any ill effects. That suspension was pretty rigid going over pronounced bumps but that’s the price you pay with a short wheel base.
Once out of the city, the six-speed automatic transmission up shifted smoothly and it had no trouble with gear selection on the hills. The engine worked to get over some of the inclines but it didn’t work hard. There is a difference.
But what sets the Fiat 500c apart is its cloth convertible top which looked like leather. The best way to describe the covering was that it slid open along the roof rails rather than lifted off. What’s more, unlike on the original car, the top was fully powered and versatile.
First, the top comes in three colors: black, tan or red. Coupled with the 14 available exterior colors which transmit inside because the color of the dashboard matches the exterior color and the combinations begin to multiply. Add two interior “environments” of black or ivory and one dozen seat colors and according to Fiat there are 500,000 “ways to stylize and personalize” the Fiat 500c
Let’s get back to the top. It has two settings. The first will retract it back to the CHMSL, while the second takes it back to the top of the trunk. That’s the one drawback that I saw. When fully retracted, the top is higher than the back seat head rests and that obstructed the rearward few. However, it’s an idiosyncrasy that I think folks who like this car will readily overlook.
That top can be opened or closed to the first setting at up to 60 mph. For the second setting the top’s maximum open and close speed is 50 mph. What’s more, the top can be halted anywhere along its tract, just push the button. It short, it is a customized opening depending on taste.
By the time you read this the car will be on sale, the 2012 Fiat 500c was being shipped while we were on the May test drive program. Prices start at $20,000 for the Pop and $24,000 for the Lounge.
Our test car which had leather trimmed heated front seats and a beige top was $25,550.
We spent a great deal of time on New York State highways, I plan to test drive this car on city streets to check out its street credibility but I think it will do just fine.
Frank S. Washington is managing partner/editor of AboutThatCar.com and AboutThatCarBlog.com.
This was printed in the July 15, 2012 – July 28, 2012 Edition
