Budapest sun archive
To discuss sponsorship opportunities click here
When
What
Where
Time
Find a film
|
Zsolt Balla eats the city with the all-new Fiat 500 and finds that it is a must have (especially when one has someone else's money to buy it)
Get used to being in the permanent focus of yearning looks from all the chicks in town! I don't know how useful a feature that is for a girlie-car, but I admit, I relished every second of it. The new Fiat 500 is just hot. Cool, I mean.
Remember Meg Ryan's fake orgasm in When Harry Met Sally? Of course, you do. Well, that is sort of a normal reaction from any girl, who first sees the smoking hot new Fiat 500. "It's so cute that one would want to tickle it," as somebody put it. And really, the Cinquecento stands out even when you compare it to those meant-to-be-cool design cars, such as Mini Cooper, Smart or the Lancia Y, that occasionally stir the the otherwise boring car design scene.
Not only is it more reminiscent of its original, than, for example Mini Cooper was of Mini Morris, but, being a real four-wheeled Vespa scooter, it is also redolent of Italy, the fifties and of girls in white summer-dresses.
The design, which is obviously the main raison d'étre of this vehicle doesn't stop at the doors. The steering wheel, the control panel, and even the seats are designed to suggest a very organic and unique spirit. The materials used are of high quality, colors are well designed and the shapes are the sort of ultramodern retro, some very pricey sport cars aim for. Except that without, for example, Alfa 147's arrogance it all turns out to be friendly, cosy and highly attractive. It's like an inverse Jetson family: instead of imagining the 2000s decade in the fifties, this car is a statement of how we imagine the fifties in 2008; remembering only the nice and subtle details with charm and nostalgia. After all, this car was made in Italy, the ultimate home of design.
Under the bonnet
Some may find it a flaw, but the Fiat 500 continues to be Italian under the bonnet, too. Although my wife found the driving experience of the 1.3 16V Multijet diesel engine more than satisfying (she compared it to her Honda Accord 2.2 i-CTDi street-monster), when I compared it to my skillful, city-devouring Nissan Micra, I was slightly dissapointed.
The diesel engine had to be driven in gasoline-style, sacrificing the comfort of low rev-areas on the altar of better performance. The track of the gearshift was somewhat long and slow to fully adjust to Budapest's vicious traffic. The engine was clearly not designed for the occasional street races one has to participate in, when people want to overtake you simply to take a look at the car from the front. I even found that, some parts of the control panel were not as handy as they were nice.
Still, after carefully tallying all these weaknesses of the car, I had to conclude: who the heck will ever care!?
You'll find yourself driving around in the coolest, sexiest, mind-bogglingest piece of metal in town, and you can make new friends (hey, gorgeous! Yes, I mean you!) simply by giving a gracious glimpse through the windscreen. So just stop boring me with technical details, will you?
After all, the Fiat 500 was so seducing that, by the end of the one-week test drive, it managed to develope in me, the most female attitude towards a thing that costs over three million forints.
I want one.
And I want it now.
Zsolt Balla
21.11.2008
|
|