John R Smith
Member
Well, this is probably asking for trouble (so crossing fingers and touching wood) but I thought I would just post this to say that I really do like my little 500 1.4 Sport – and I hope that you all are equally happy. I have been running the red Bambina for three months and just on 2,000 miles now, and it has been great fun all the way. We have travelled the Cornish lanes together on icy mornings, in torrential downpours, on hot sunny afternoons for weekend explorations, and through the dense Truro traffic on workaday commuting. The Bambina has held her own on fast dual carriageways and at the traffic lights grand prix, often giving a nasty shock to owners of much more expensive and theoretically quicker machinery.
So far everything has worked without fault (see what I mean about tempting fate?), and I have really enjoyed the luxury of air-conditioning, heated mirrors, powerful screen-washers, trip-computer and all the other modern bits which may be totally familiar to you but which were new to me. One aspect which has surprised me is the great improvement in engine power and responsiveness as the car has run-in. I didn’t realise it at the time, but the 1.4 16v was actually very tight when it was new. Fuel economy is improving, too. This is something to bear in my mind if you take a test drive on a low-mileage demonstrator.
Fiat and the media have promoted the 500 as a city car, of course. What they may not have realised is that it makes an ideal rural car, too, because down here we have hundreds of miles of narrow, twisty, hilly single-track lanes. In Cornwall you need something that is small, quick and handy, easy to park and manoeuvre, and which won’t give you a hard time if you hit a patch of mud too fast or slightly misjudge a hidden corner.
Best of all for me, though, is the little Fiat’s character, which although it may be built in Poland, still seems Italian to the core. I am a long-standing Italian car and motorcycle nut (although I say it myself, in a previous life I was pretty good with Ducati engines), and I have always longed for a Ferrari. However, I think I have now accepted that I am never likely to own one, so the Bambina will have to serve instead. Fine, my 500 is red, she’s got six gears, twin overhead cams, plenty of valves – and when the tacho climbs past 6,500 in third the noise is pretty damn Italian too.
Still wouldn't mind a go in a 250 GTO, though . . . .
John
So far everything has worked without fault (see what I mean about tempting fate?), and I have really enjoyed the luxury of air-conditioning, heated mirrors, powerful screen-washers, trip-computer and all the other modern bits which may be totally familiar to you but which were new to me. One aspect which has surprised me is the great improvement in engine power and responsiveness as the car has run-in. I didn’t realise it at the time, but the 1.4 16v was actually very tight when it was new. Fuel economy is improving, too. This is something to bear in my mind if you take a test drive on a low-mileage demonstrator.
Fiat and the media have promoted the 500 as a city car, of course. What they may not have realised is that it makes an ideal rural car, too, because down here we have hundreds of miles of narrow, twisty, hilly single-track lanes. In Cornwall you need something that is small, quick and handy, easy to park and manoeuvre, and which won’t give you a hard time if you hit a patch of mud too fast or slightly misjudge a hidden corner.
Best of all for me, though, is the little Fiat’s character, which although it may be built in Poland, still seems Italian to the core. I am a long-standing Italian car and motorcycle nut (although I say it myself, in a previous life I was pretty good with Ducati engines), and I have always longed for a Ferrari. However, I think I have now accepted that I am never likely to own one, so the Bambina will have to serve instead. Fine, my 500 is red, she’s got six gears, twin overhead cams, plenty of valves – and when the tacho climbs past 6,500 in third the noise is pretty damn Italian too.
Still wouldn't mind a go in a 250 GTO, though . . . .
John
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