Tests and Features

Good things come in small packages, even very small packages. Made for agile maneuvering in crowded cities and squeezing into tight parking spaces, miniature cars are not for everyone. In fact, the decision to buy one often comes more from the heart than the head—because they’re just so much fun.

A fun car doesn’t have to be fast, and a fast car isn’t always fun. Somewhere in between is typically where the sweet spot is – a vehicle that satisfies the guilty pleasures while still delivering performance you can use on a daily basis. The 2013 Fiat 500c Abarth is …

It conquered North America in 2011, and now a new wave of Italian cars is headed to our continent. Four trims of the 500L are joining the 500 family, which now includes five distinct models. Many people will assume that the “L” in its name stands for “large,” but at …

When I was a child, I remember going to a junkyard with my father and seeing the burned out carcass of a Fiat 500 heaped upon a pile of similarly decommissioned vehicles. As a vehicle that I'd yet to see in any other condition, I eagerly went home and flipped …

One of the first questions people ask me about small cars is, “How does this vehicle handle in winter?” They already know that the car isn’t terribly roomy, that its performances are respectable at best given the modest engine power, and that its fuel consumption is very economical. But for …

Magali Eysseric and Patrick St-Louis: our test drivers of the month and the Fiat 500. The premise of the He said, she said chronicle is simple: we lend a press vehicle to a couple to test drive for two weeks. The only thing we ask them to do is to …

At the age of 8 or 9, going to the junkyard on a Saturday afternoon with my dad ranked amongst the best possible ways in which a day could be spent. This, of course, was back when going to an auto wrecker involved a pair of coveralls, a keen eye, …

Launched in Europe in 2008, the Fiat 500 makes its North American debut this spring. If Chrysler’s predictions are correct, most units of the Cinquecento sold in Canada will be sold in Quebec, where more than half of the country’s Fiat dealerships are located. And many Fiat dealers are hoping …

In 1957, as Italy was slowly and arduously recovering from the Second World War, Fiat unveiled a small car that would give Italians the means to get around. The 500 – the Cinquecento, as the Latins say – helped get both the country and the national economy rolling again. As …