35Daily Record, June 13, 2008ROAD RECORDDriven byNNEEWWSSmotoringWee car, big futureIAN JOHNSON
says the fabulous
new Fiat 500 sets a
higher standar
d for the
Italian mar
que to r
each with
their next generation of motorsMANY motoring
journalists who
dr
ove the Fiat 500
on its r
ecent
launch centr
ed on the car8217
s
obvious bling appeal.B
ut after a w
eek at the wheel of
one of these amazing little cars in
diesel form, fashion statements
w
er
e left in the slo
w lane to be
overtaken by sheer everyday
enjo
yment and astonishing
pr
acticality.
This view is underpinned b
y
the fact that the 500 8211 C
ar of the
Year 2008 8211 has just been crowned
B
est S
mall C
ar in the annual
What
D
iesel Car Of The Year awards.
This latest industr
y r
ecognition
is y
et another top honour to be
collected by the baby Fiat which
first hit the str
eets in J
anuar
y
.
The 75bhp 1.3-litr
e MultiJet
turbodiesel is the jew
el in the
cr
own for the 500.
Although the car can also be
or
der
ed with a pair of petr
ol
engines
, this silent and punchy
engine has to be almost
impossible to beat in a car such as
this.
F
or instance
, I dr
o
v
e it on a mix
of runs in a busy week and, most
of the time, I was not hanging
about. Yet the car averaged 57mpg
and took long motorway trips in
its str
ide
.
Designed by Fiat Centro Stile,
the new car
8217
s clev
er chic styling
boasts visual cues from the iconic
500 from the past.
B
ut far fr
om being a one-off
retro lollipop, this car is
significant of the way ahead for
Fiat 8211 a quantum leap in quality,
safety and technology 8211 it pens
almost a DNA for futur
e cars fr
om
the Italian marque.
I, for one
, became r
ather tir
ed
of saying 8220could do better8221 when
testing some F
iats of the past.
Now there is some encouraging
ar
ound them. My
favourite came in the
palest of blues
, which
extended into the
dash. With the control
panels in cr
eam plastic,
it looked amazingly
1950s
, yet was so
modern in its approach.
The new F
iat has been awar
ded
a maximum fiv
e-stars in the Euro
NCAP crash test programme,
placing it at the v
ery top of its
category in terms of safety.
This is the first time that a car of
such compact dimensions has
achieved such a rating, and the
first time such a car has
been fitted with
sev
en airbags as
standar
d.
wr
iting on the wall for this
manufactur
er with cars like the
500 and the latest B
ravo.
F
iat hav
e taken an almost
boutique appr
oach with the
mar
keting of the 500.
Ther
e ar
e
specific tr
im lev
els, but it is
possible to almost design the look
of y
our o
wn car82168216T
h
i
s

c
a
r

i
s

s
i
g
n
i
f
i
c
a
n
t

o
f

t
h
e

w
a
ya
h
e
a
d

f
o
r

F
i
a
t

8211

a

q
u
a
n
t
u
m

l
e
a
pFactfile: Model:
Fiat 500 Lounge
Engine:
1.3-litre turbodiesel
P
ower:
75bhp
0-62mph:
12.5
seconds
T
op speed:
103mph
Economy:
67.3mpg
CO2emissions:
110g/km
W
arranty:
Three
years/60,000
miles
Price:
16310,705
On
sale:
NowIT HAS to be the most
expensive Fiat 500 in the
world 8230 thanks to artist
Tracey Emin.At 163200,000, the 500 was one
o
f four special examples of the
s
upermini, designed and
painted by the English artist.
T
he sum far exceeds the first
o
f the Tracey Emin designed
cars, called I Told You Not To,
sold for 16342,000 last October.
This latest work, pictured
below, entitled Dark, Dark, Dark,
was up for grabs at a charity
a
uction in London8217s Royal
Naval College, last week, which
r
aised 16325million for charity
A
bsolute Return for Kids.
The 1200 guests included
former Prime Minister Tony
Blair, actress Uma Thurman
and Liz Hurley.
Charlotte Locks-Moro, the
charity8217s events executive, said:
8220The 163200,000 raised is not only
an amazing amount of money
for a car
.
8220But it was also a significant
sum towards the
total we raised
for charity
.8221INTERNATIONALDEPARTURES57378DELIVERYMILEAGE08 FIAT 500 POPMP3 PLAYER, REMOTELOCKING
ELECTRICDOORSMIRRORS, ABSWITH EBD
BODYCOLOURED BUMPERSPromisesDeliveredBTCALLS5p PER MINUTE, OTHER PROVIDERSMAYVARYAND MAYBERECORDED FOR QUALITYOR TRAINING PURPOSES. OFFERSSUBJECT TOSTATUS,
TERMSAND CONDITIONS. MODELSSHOWN FOR ILLUSTRATIVEPURPOSESONLY.PAISLEYRENFREWRD573770844 815 4261
GLASGOWNORTHSPRINGBURN RD573770844 815 4301
GLASGOWSOUTHA
LLISON ST573770
844 815 4207
A
YRGALLOWAYAVE573770844 815 40621 YEARSROADTAX
ONLY16335PRICEFROM1637900NOWBOARDING
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