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500 + One

By on April 30, 2008
Photo © Elena Derevstova
Following my proclamation last month that the three door new FIAT 500 is not suitable as a family car we were inundated with a letter. Not so, says FIAT Japan. Across Europe many a mama, maman and mutter are using FIAT’s new Bambino to run the kids to school, before popping out for a latte.

So it was that a Cinquecento appeared in my driveway, set for a play date with another car I had dismissed out of hand for this column, a Mini One. Actually, this is a pairing that I’ve seen before. 35 years ago my own mother used to run no less than five kids to school in a Mini Clubman (behavior that would prompt a call to social services in this day and age), while her sister used an original FIAT 500 as her daily driver. Those cars were the cream of the mini-car crop back then, and so it is today, but how do they shape up as a practical family transportation in these litigious times of child seats and airbags?

The first thing you’ll note about BMW’s interpretation of the Mini is that it’s not, by any measure, mini. As wide as a Tokyo Taxi and almost as long as a Toyota Vitz, this car might better have been named the Maxi., if it weren’t for its disproportionately cramped interior. Front seat passengers up six feet tall can make themselves reasonably comfortable, but doing so makes the rear seat uninhabitable for anyone with legs, or sat in a modern child seat.

The new 500, while still far larger than its 50 year old predecessor, is a bit narrower and appreciably shorter than the Mini, but feels a lot airier inside thanks to a higher roofline, larger windows, and a glass roof that extends all the way to the windshield’s frame. Black and white checkered seats coupled with a white fascia and steering wheel add to the air of roominess, but there is no getting around that the lack of rear doors is a real handicap for those with kids of child seat age.

Neither car could accommodate a standard sized stroller comfortably either (cramming our Graco ADT in to the Mini took less than a minute, but extracting it took five times as long) so, to be honest, those with kids under five should probably scratch both cars from their short lists.

But those whose children need no help buckling themselves in, are in style Nirvana. Let’s face it, both cars are permafrost level cool. The mini will likely appeal to folks who appreciate good design, but for whom form is not the top priority. People who buy IBM laptop computers because they’re robust, functional and also sleek. Steve Jobs’ legions of fans however will probably opt for the 500. Got an i-Pod, i-Phone and an Air Book? Then you’d best round out the collection with a white Cinquecento.

Mechanically the two cars follow different design philosophies as well. Our test Mini was the least powerful, lowest grade One which still manages to garner 95 horsepower from a 1.4 liter engine, and feels downright sporty, despite sounding surprisingly agricultural at tick over. The 500’s motor however is built with less emphasis on performance but more on economy, and thus ecology. We got an astonishing 15kms per liter over a weekend of city, highway and countryside driving, far better mileage than the Mini returned on the same drive.

This may partially have been due to the FIAT’s three mode gear box. It can behave as a standard automatic, or in city traffic pushing a small "E" button tells the car to shift earlier reducing engine revs and thus gasoline consumption. In this mode the 500 will shift into its highest gear at just 50km/h, but should you find yourself at the foot of a winding mountain road, shift the gear stick to the left to select manual mode, allowing you to wring the little 1.2’s neck up to 6,000rpm through the five speed gear box.

Both cars have no problem cruising at way over Japan’s highway speed limits and remain surprisingly stable in crosswinds when compared domestic cars of a similar size. They’re comfy too, but again have diametrically opposed interior design edicts. You sit low in the Mini, racer style, enveloped by high doors and a low roof line. In the 500 you perch high on stylish retro seats, surrounded by glass, enjoying a panoramic view of your surroundings.

But these cars are less about looking out of and more about being looked at. Everywhere the cars went, they drew admiring glances from pedestrians and fellow drivers. Minis are far from rare on Tokyo’s streets, but base grade Ones are, which has had the bizarre effect of making their cheap steel wheels exclusive. Think about it, when was the last time you saw a car *without* alloy wheels?

You needn’t worry about exclusivity in a 500 as they have only been on sale for a couple of months, and with global demand outstripping thier singletheir  factory’s supply, they’re going to remain a pretty rare sight for sometime. Should you be lucky enough to get behind the wheel of one, you’ll find it hard not getting caught up in its sheer Italian-ness.

Driving down Yokohama’s Motomachi shopping street, I found myself humming the theme tune to Lupin III (an original 500 features the popular Anime), then as I parked in front of Starbucks I wished I’d made a bit more of an effort when I got dressed that morning. Distressed jeans and a Uniqlo sweatshirt didn’t really do the 500 justice.

Finally, as I sat sipping a cappuccino (I usually drink tea) I took a double check as a young couple who whizzed past me on a scooter looked uncannily like Gregory Peck and Audrey Hepburn. That spelled the end of my Roman holiday. The Cinquecento’s charm had clearly infected me; it was time to take it home.

About Justin Gardiner