When Fiat first mooted the idea of bringing back its iconic 500, the reaction was decidedly mixed. In the form of the Trepiuno concept, first shown back in 2004, the Nuova 500 was undeniably cute (if somewhat larger than its forebear), and interest was piqued. Even if the design seemed spot on, those in the know wondered aloud whether there was space in the market for yet another retro-styled city car alongside BMW’s MINI.
The answer seems to be yes. First reports have the new 500 handling like a charm, replicating the original’s compact packaging (taking modern safety systems into account) and creating a genuinely nippy city car. Built in Poland alongside the forthcoming Ford Ka Mk2 (with which it shares certain components), we can also expect a brace of derivative models to follow, including perhaps a cabrio, 4x4, tuned Abarth version and maybe even a mini people mover along the lines of the seminal original Multipla. The 500 will be available in the UK from 2008.
