My wife and I are in Italy for a few weeks for a holiday . Our rental car is a new manual 500L 1.3 diesel .
I think L stands for Lazy when it comes to anything that looks like a hill. Straight roads and 130km/h autostradas seem to be ok. Very spacious inside.
What I am amazed at and the reason I am posting this is the love affair Italians seem to have with the 500. They are EVERYWHERE ! At any intersection in Milan you'll see a few, every third car parked on the street seems to be a 500. Lots of Abarths too. Even saw a matte black Abarth. As we walked down the street during a 5 min stroll we would have counted perhaps 15 500's zip past . Could not help smiling . Collect mine at the end of the month...

Yeah, wish we had the twin air L here... But certainly Italy looks after their own and I imagine the government protects and encourages their local manufacturers.

Quite astounding to see the range of Fiats on offer too- both new and older models...I'm also amazed at how tolerant the drivers are over here- after about 1200 kms of driving I'm yet to see the stereotypical 'crazy Italian driver'. My fellow Aussie drivers are generally much worse ...

Agree, here in Australia, drivers are just plain stupid. Majority of them.

Seeing quite a few Lancia's here -a brand that disappeared from Australia in the 80's. I think Fiat send all their failed designers to work at Lancia- they are an acquired taste.

I would beg to differ - I do not mind those new Lancias at all

Had a Delta hire car in 2008 - not too shabby and way better than the Bravo, had a Ypsilon hire car in 2006 with the 1.3 Mjet - pulled like a little train

See if you can get up close and personal with the new Ypsilon (based on the 500) very stylish and so better finished than the 500

Enjoy your trip - hope you are enjoying it (and getting along better with the 500L)

The 500L is doing well on the flat , it is room and comfy but wallows a little on corners .
I'm sure the Lancias ride and handle well, but they do look odd. The 500 seems to have a lot more style ...when I get a chance I'll post some pics ....