A car sized like the current FIAT 500, introduced to the U.S. market for model year 2011, makes so much sense for city-dwelling residents of a somewhat densely populated neighborhood like mine. Have you ever spent close to an hour circling a nine-block area looking for parking after a five hour drive? I have. I don’t own a car, and many rental car agencies close their doors at 6:00 PM. What this means is that unless I’ve cut my weekend trip short(er) in the hope of getting the car back on time, I’ve simply scheduled to turn it in the next day if there’s no drop-box for the keys…which then means street-parking.
These due Cinquecenti make it look deceptively easy to fit into any, old spot – in this picture, anyway. I’ve had to pass up a spot in something as little as a 2009 Ford Focus 2-door because it wouldn’t fit. That’s when a car like a 500 becomes your hero – especially at the end of a long weekend when all the students from the nearby university are returning by car from their adventures and joining in the great, metropolitan parking game of automotive “musical chairs” that takes place here in Edgewater. Sometimes, after squeezing into that perfectly parallel-parked spot with other cars creeping forward behind me, I’ve almost felt like lighting a cigarette out of relieved, accomplished satisfaction.
So help you, if you’re coming home to this neighborhood late at night and have to park on the street. Whereas these two examples have their butts sticking out only slightly, a driver of any car even slightly longer would have to give up. Even a modern MINI Cooper hatch would be a little too maxi to pull off what’s been squeaked-in here. At the end of a long day, when all you want to do is be done with driving and enter the comfort of your own home, the ease of parking your FIAT 500 on the street could make owning a car this size make a lot of sense.
Edgewater, Chicago, Illinois.
February 2017.
Wow, an hour to find parking, that is nuts! I can definitely see the appeal of a small vehicle, but I am unsure of the long term reliabity of micro cars. Here is Portland, OR Geo Metros, Ford Fiestivas, Ford Aspires, and original Beetles are the most common 20th Century subcompacts I usually see. Parallel Parking in a stick shift is not super easy for me so I usually try to park at the end of the curb cut. Sometimes I park an inch or so off people’s bumper. In Portland the police usually do not care which way you are facing outside of the downtown core.
I’ve lived in a couple of large cities. In New York, both of the two FIATs in the last photo would have gotten a ticket for being inside the crosswalk.
Don’t be so sure they didn’t here. When I lived in Lakewood Balmoral (which is what, 3 miles from these shots?), I guarantee you both would have been. Chicago is all about making you foot their bills. Now that I’m in Rogers Park you don’t see the same levels of petty policing. Not bougie enough, I guess…
It also depends on how well you know your alderman. It is Chicago, after all.
Agree! The meter maids that haunt the French Quarter of New Orleans love to ticket cars that park like this.
It’s still easy to find street parking in San Francisco’s Outer Sunset. Plus, it’s SO quiet and peaceful. I lived for almost ten years at 48th Avenue and Ortega. Many happy memories.
Wicker Park/East Village isn’t a treat to park in either. If I didn’t have a garage spot, I’d either ditch the car or slowly go insane.
Related complaint — people don’t know what “city” driving is.
I had to explain that to my mechanic that my two mile commute involves passing though 28 traffic lights or stop signs, another 10 random stops (bus, pedestrian, etc) and takes 25 minutes on a good day.
Some of us complain, but Tucson isn’t really bad. Most of the city’s development has taken place in the age of dominance by cars. My seven-mile daily commute has 12 lights and four on-demand pedestrian crossings. Getting to work takes between 15 and 20 minutes. Now, parking in our small downtown (barely a square mile, if that) can be tight, especially if one is looking for free parking. And it’s tight around the University of Arizona when classes are in session. But businesses usually have their own parking lots. The density here is nothing like what others describe.
“The density here is nothing like what others describe.”
And that is one of the reasons why I plan to retire in Tucson. Seattle is going through a war on cars with arterials shrinking from 4 to 2 lanes for bike lanes. It has resulted in a royal mess.
Did you live there when Speedway (yes, a real street name) had reversible center lanes? Good lord, what a nightmare. The traumas we received in the U of A emergency room could be truly horrible.
Don’t try Santa Cruz in the Summer, whatever you do! There is ONE east-west through-street besides the tourist-clogged PCH/Hwy1. 15 miles to the second town over, Soquel, takes an hour on a Saturday in July.
And that is why I would never live in a city. I drive in one, but would never live in one!
I live in a mid sized city currently, but yes, you couldn’t pay me to live in a big metropolis.
Where I live, it takes about 20min to get all the way across town taking the interstate, maybe 30-40 for rush hour. Plus, there is typically enough room to parallel park big cars and trucks.
Parking is just one reason for ownership, but in your case, it would be a big reason. I have one, the base Pop model, and parking is not my issue. First, I dig small cars. I either want a very small car or a land yacht. I have driven both, and while different, they both have their charms. For the most part, a commute is done solo, and it is rare that I ever have a passenger. This is the smallest car that I liked, stylistically, that worked for me. A small car is often the better choice for single people. Singles tend to live in urban environments, parking is more of a concern in urban areas, and so the circle continues. If you live in the city and want to drive a 1959 Lincoln Continental, I won’t judge you (and honestly, I will be really jealous!) but I will not shed a tear for you when you can’t park it anywhere. All choices have ramifications, and in the end we are responsible for our own choices.
“I either want a very small car or a land yacht.”
+1 to that! I have never been able to figure out how to reconcile those competing desires, short of moving to a house with a bigger garage. Somehow getting a medium-sized car is no substitute for one or the other extreme.
Boy, did I learn the hard way to respect the advantages of cars like this in the city.
Moving back to Brooklyn briefly in 2013 with an ’03 2WD Durango that had to be street parked in the dead of winter was anything but fun. Never mind finding a spot to fit the thing into, but God forbid snow melted and refroze as ice. In that event when alternate-side parking day came around I’d be hauling 10lbs of cat litter down the block to get the blasted thing out of the spot without completely destroying the bumpers of the vehicles parked at either end. Add the fact that said behemoth was equipped with a trailer hitch that had rusted into place preventing removal, and you’ve essentially got a 19′ long, 5000lb white elephant that’s either racking up parking tickets or sitting and idling for hours (burning dinosaurs like a drunken sailor) hoping against hope that TWO vehicles the size of these 500s happen to vacate spots one behind the other at the same time.
And this is why our Durango ownership was rather brief, despite otherwise having quite good luck with the vehicle overall.
There’s someone around here with a giant four-door F-150 crew cab pickup that street parks. I have no idea how they do it.
There’s a 1970’s Cadillac that parks on 25th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues in Manhattan. Just the hood is astounding, not to mention the size of the trunklid. Manhattan has two street cleaning days on each side of the street. I have no idea how they do it.
There are a few Smarts around there though, which do make sense if you want to own a car with no off street parking around there. In an area like that with no driveways there is probably a little Smart sized space left over somewhere.
A few of those Fiat owners did not choose wisely the cars they chose to crowd into. The owner of the ’90s Taurus would be awfully tempted to “feel” his way out of his parking spot.
That’s called Italian parking.
As a very happy Fiat owner (’13 500c Abarth), I love what I can get away with parking. About the only way I can do better is either my Yamaha scooter or Harley FXR. The bags on my Triumph Sprint and Yamaha Venture Royale dresser completely negate the narrowness advantage of two wheels in this situation.
The real beauty of the Fiat though is that it’s not just a city car. I’ve found mine is very comfortable on mid length trips (say, Richmond to Baltimore) which is something I would have found very uncomfortable in my ’05 Scion xB. The 500 actually has the legs to do longer distances without driving you mad thru engine noise, vibration, etc.
That’s right Syke. A modern, powerful and well-optioned A- or B-segment car model, like your 500c Abarth, is also perfectly suited for longer freeway-trips.
Sure, cars in these segments can be low-power strippers. But they might as well be a high-power go-further-kart with all the goodies and gadges aboard to make travelling more comfortable and pleasurable.
Another example below, a 150 hp Opel Adam S (1.4 liter turbo).
Hmmm… I test drove one before I bought my current vehicle and it reminded me of my 1986 Ford Escort XRi 3, similar acceleration, similar unruly torque steer. Not that I minded but I came to the conclusion me in a flame red Adam just looked too stupid and dangerous for my license, so I passed. It was mostly on back roads so I have no idea on its Autobahn capabilities but I don’t doubt that if you drive it like a sensible old man it would do the job.
I’ve read about your intentions of buying a Fiat, but never knew you actually purchased one. Happy miles and good ownership, sir!
We’ve actually gone whole hog FCA. About a month before I picked up the Fiat, my wife got a screaming deal on a very low mileage ’15 Dodge Dart GT. She’s over the moon with the car, and we’re already started modifying both vehicles. 1″ lowering on her car and red brake calipers are next on the list.
And if the Dart is an example of a ‘failed’ automobile, I’d love to see a successful one. There’s a lot of customers out there who went lockstep for the Civic foolishly.
IMO they should’ve launched the Dart as a hatchback first, to leverage the less crowded segment and more “outside-the-box” buyer pool, with a sedan to follow later.
I think they should have saved a lot of money and just put a Dodge face on the Alfa the Dart is based on, and done a trunk model of it as well. It flopped anyway.
The Dart seems too low and sprawly anyhow. It is wider inside than the Alfa but no one cared.
With Pontiac gone and Chevy turning into “Korea Kars West”, I’m also casting longing glances at FCA.
Darts are/were pretty well equipped, the brutal depreciation on those cars makes them very attractive to me. I love the idea of Tigershark-powered Rallye or GT with a six speed auto box. (My ankle isn’t going to put up with traffic anymore).
Additionally, the Abarth models really would scratch my itch for a small, fun commuter car that I could track on weekends if I liked. I would really like a minimally optioned one for max attack, but the reality is at my age, I probably won’t be modding the car, it’d be a fun track toy.
I’m glad to hear that most owners of Abarths are happy with their cars, I thoroughly remember the “Fix It Again, Tony” days. Anything from FCA seems to rate very low on Power and CR these days, so of course I’m a bit hesitant to jump into one.
My younger daughter and fiancee will need a car soon, they’ll ask me advice on what to buy. I like to think that a Fiat 500 Pop or a Mitsubishi Mirage would be a good deal for them (no kids yet). They really need an inexpensive to buy and own car and not much more. The 500’s are more available around here, it might work out well.
I agree. I own a 2012 – have for 5 totally trouble-free years in May – and I’ve driven mine on a half-dozen round trips from NorCal to SoCal. Some owners complain about the relatively high seating position l, but I think it works to the driver’s advantage, I’ve noted no fatigue after driving 400 miles one way, something I couldn’t say about my previous ’04 Civic Si or ’07 350Z. The car makes me smile every time I drive it.
A pic of my Fiat stablemates…
I have never driven the 500 Abarth but I love the Fiat 500. For two folk, the car is quite roomy inside. I had one as a 2 week rental car while Apple Ford Of Columbia MD was breaking…..er…I mean fixing my Ford Fiesta(the manual trans was having reverse issues that were covered under warranty) They paid for the rental car but only the smallest one that Enterprise had. The Enterprise staff member was very apologetic about the car and said this was the only car Apple Ford would cover. I was not sad as I had been wanting to drive the Fiat 500. The car was actually very nice to drive. It kept up with traffic on Rt 495 and I was able to park in one of the small tight spots at work . A day after I picked up the Fiat, it snowed about 3 inches of snow. The fiat handled it very well. All in all the 500 was a car I would consider buying.
In October of 2015, I was in the market for another car and the little dealership I have bought cars from (and became friends with the folks there) had a 2012 Fiat 500 Pop on the lot. It had 12,000 miles on it and they wanted $8999(plus tax and all that other happy horse crap). They had a 2011 Chevy Colorado on the lot also for $7995. As the Fiat had been on the lot for a year and nobody was interested in it, I offered $7999(the same price as the truck) but the owner would not budge. So I bought the truck instead(which I still have) now the Fiat has been marked down to $7500 and still has under 14000 miles on it.
This is the car the US never got, and that (most likely) gave Fiat their Idea for a premium Super Mini: the VW Lupo.
It was built and sold in Europe from 1998 till 2005 and they made about half a million of them.
Same size and concept as the Fiat 500: fun to drive, nice quality, cute looks and a very nice interior.
I own one that looks exactly like the one in the picture. I like it a lot because of it’s easy parking in Holland’s overcrowded city’s, but also because You really don’t need any more car than this, most of the time.
Since they don’t make Lupo’s anymore, my next car could very well be a nice appointed Fiat 500 …
But VW can sell you the ( ridiculously named ) “UP” now, so you don’t need to take a gamble on a Fiat…..
The ‘Up!’ (mind the exclamation!) of today, is just another bread and butter small car, built with much more cost cutting than the Lupo; relatively much cheaper as well. Not comparable to the charms of the Lupo, Fiat 500 or the Opel Adam.
The Fiat 500’s btw, are nice, well built durable cars; at least the 4 cilinders are. They sell them with 85Hp, or 100Hp. Turbo blown 2 cil. (!) in Europe, but I would avoid those.
Check out the new Up! with the new 90 HP – according to reports it transformed the car to a mini-GTI. And one the warranty is finished, chipping it to 110 will make it even more of a fun car.
I’d been looking and looking at the Fiat from the day I decided the xB had outlived its life here (aka, I’m bored and needed a new car). What convinced me to dive on it was a quick stop at a local buy-here/pay-here lot where Maggie used to buy her cars before we got her credit sorted. They had a ’12 Pop in the yard, absolute base with 122,000 miles on it.
Knowing us well, the owner tossed me the keys with the admonition to have it back before closing time. I put some gas in it and spent the next hour running the bejeezus out of it. Was impressed with the performance, build quality, handling, pretty much everything. Was almost tempted to pick it up for the price he offered me, with intentions of tearing it down and modifying the hell out of it. Just the same, I needed a good daily driver, so I went with something a bit newer and a lot better appointed.
Another case of a supposedly ‘failed’ car in America. If this is failure, then there’s a lot of opinionated idiots out on the Internet. The last car I enjoyed this much was my Porsche 924S.
I think there was/is a lot of worry as to where to get the Fiats serviced or get parts for them. (Just like with Suzuki). The only place to get the 500 new was at a “Studio” which is Fiat’s term for dealership. The closest Fiat dealer to me is in Gaithersburg MD which is a bit far for parts and repairs. Now I read that FCA has started allowing Dodge dealers to have Fiat franchises in the same building that Dodge dealers will be able to service Fiat vehicles. That might allow more Fiats to be sold because the cars can be taken to Dodge to be serviced(so there is no more fears about what to do if your Fiat dealer folds.
Repair wise if you are handy with working on cars, working on a Fiat should not be to bad. Take the beauty cover off(that thing that says Fiat and Multiair) and start wrenching.
The trouble with VW in the USA is that unlike in the 1950’s to 1970’s when they sold cheap and easy to work on cars(such as the Beetle and Van/Bus) is that VW decided that they were an “upscale” company and priced their vehicles so that they cost the most in their class. Take the 1999.5 to 2005 Jetta. The base model offered in the USA had a 2.0l 4 cylinder that gave out a whopping 114 horsepower but cost more to buy then that same era Toyota Corolla with the base 1.8l 4 cylinder that put out 130hp and had both high reliability and a high resale value.
There really is no incentive to buy a VW in the USA over something else
Parked that tight against the other cars? How will they get out without damaging the bumpers?
City Parking! Your bumper is made for that! In the good old days of manual transmissions and chrome bumpers, you could just use your car to push the other guy back a bit with just a little application of the gas pedal. The silver Toyota Camry’s in my area (vintage 2007, including my own) all show a lot of wear on their bumpers from parking bumps.
Now a days with near total penetration of automatics, I guess you need to carry 4 3-inch-long 1/2″{ pipe nipples to get the same effect.
I see more and more of these on the street.
*These.* These are everywhere.
These are great and really needed. I’ve seen some aftermarket ones that are permanently attached to the front and rear fascias and that look, well not great, but O.K.
Even though I don’t miss the big, ugly 5mph bumpers of the 70s and 80s, I do miss the bumper rub strips and bumper guards that used to be optional on just about everything.
In Europe, full of Crowded city streets, these actually sell well.
Off topic, but guys, the Mitsubishi Eclipse is back!!!!!
Sort of.
Introducing the 2018 Mitsubishi Eclipse Cross
My stepson is attending law school in Baltimore City and has to go to class at night after his day job. He bought an Abarth SPECIFICALLY for this very purpose… to be able to park it anywhere, so he can get to class on time. It has worked out very well for him.
Then there are people like me who lived in Manhattan and owned three cars, back when there was the daily requirement to move your car for alternate-side-of-the-street parking. A Dodge Dart, a Plymouth Barracuda and Studebaker Champion. When I was lucky, one of them was on loan to someone else to park.
Chicago, at least, let’s you leave your car sit still, once you’ve found a space….. except for the infamous “ha-ha-surprise-street-cleaning-is-today-didn’t-you-see-the-no-parking-sign-we-put-up-yesterday-happy-$50-tickets”. Really, one day they come along a post these signs (bright Orange, at least) to tell you that tomorrow you have to move your car. Too bad if you’ve left town, or don’t come home that night.
Even worse were the “it’s-now-12:01-am-July-15th-$120-ticket-because-your-city-tax-sticker-experied-at-11:59-PM” ticket I got on multiple cars on more than one occasion outside my house in Lincoln Square. I think all the officers used to worked the midnight shift on July 15th just to see how many of those tickets they could write.
Every city has it’s ticket surprises, I suppose.
I bought a used Fiat 500 because it was cheap. Resale value seems to drop like a rock in a small town with plenty of parking. Now that parking was mentioned, I can see a niche for this car besides simply cheap. Aside my 2dr. Wrangler in the garage, the Fiat makes the Wrangler look too long. Not many cars could do that.
City parking can truly get insane; in Boston private spots have sold for $50,000 to over $300,000, depending on location. That’d buy a LOT of Fiats.
In Vienna they now sell flats separately from attendant the park spot in the garage or courtyard at anything between €10,000-25,000. This was never the intention when the house was built but became reality once street parking became impossible or expensive.
FIATs are awesome!!
Just last week I leased a new electric 500, the 500e. Though it’s in the shop at the moment for a brake line leak, I am thoroughly enjoying it. It’s a premium small electric, with sharp handling, big silent torque and a nice interior. Feels very solid on the freeway, and of course it rules in the city. It’s a Bosch drivetrain made in Germany. Too bad the 500e is only available in Cal. and Ore.
if ever my festivas were pried from my “cold dead hands” my new zombie hands would probably drape the wheel of one of these, ‘specially an Abarth. i started out on LTDs and Ranch Wagons but gravitated to smaller compacts and subcom for the last 20 years. not because i’m a tree kisser or cheap. i just find a small manual car delivers a more engaging drive and logical use of space for a single person. maybe when i turn into a retired putz i’ll check out a G90 or similar but for now, it’s 12ft. or less.
+1. I have an old Miata and a 500. I used to drive land yachts, and still would if I had one, but they are silly for a daily driver for a single guy. I also owned a Ranger pickup, which was okay, but I never really needed that bed unless moving. When you are the only occupant of a car for 99% of its use, you have to ask yourself why you are buying something with 4 doors that seats 9 and gets 25 mpg of boring, boring driving? I smile every time I start up either one of my rides. Isn’t that what an enthusiast wants in a car?
+uno
The thing I like about the Miata is that as small as it is, there is so much room to work on things in the engine bay. It is very well laid out
I like some float in my boat and swagger, I don’t care if I’m typically the one in it.
In an urban environment where street parking is extraordinarily difficult and, for whatever reason, I just had to have a car, I’d pass on the 500 and suffer through the ownership of an old smart car.
Knowing Chicago well and Edgewater in particular, I’ll park further west in less dense areas [with no permit parking] and take bus or hoof it.
Update: as of this morning, the driver of the MINI in front had the same idea: “Hey, FIAT… Wanna split a spot?” 🙂