Fiat 500 in the States????

Nicks_Micro_Machine · 07-27-2009, 11:48 AM

This morning I was driving my smart around Long Island and out of nowhere a new Fiat 500 was next to me on the highway. Am I missing something here? When did we get the Fiat 500 here in the US? Also it had Michigan plates on it.

forestacademy · 07-27-2009, 11:51 AM

That's what camera Phones are for. Where are your pics, you could outscoop the Auto Mags

Nicks_Micro_Machine · 07-27-2009, 12:06 PM

I had my hands full. I had the roof down and a big oriental rug rolled up on the top of the car and holding it while driving 65 on the highway but I can describe the car. It was white with tinted windows and a cute tribal decal under the window on the back and it had Michigan plates.

BigWarpGuy · 07-27-2009, 12:08 PM

The articles I found online indicate 2010 is the target date for the US. Perhaps there are places selling them in Canada and they bring them to the US? Canada had the Fortwo before it was sold in the USA.

Fiat 500 site.

**jwight** · 07-27-2009, 01:31 PM

Michigan plates - most likely Chrysler test fleet. Imported as test vehicle(s) under some sort of waiver I'm sure.

**rfernatt** · 07-27-2009, 01:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jwight

Michigan plates - most likely Chrysler test fleet. Imported as test vehicle(s) under some sort of waiver I'm sure.

That's what I was thinking - imported 'real world' test mules to shake the vehicle down in US conditions (weather, fuel, traffic, etc.) and make any usability tweaks before US introduction.

wiltjk · 07-27-2009, 02:05 PM

The Fiat 500 is one sweet vehicle and I look forward to its entry to further promote size-smart cars!

Godfather · 07-27-2009, 02:40 PM

Michigan has a bunch of "manufacturer" plates around, all on cars undergoing testing.

sandalscout · 07-27-2009, 06:31 PM

It was a new 500, right? There are at least 75 original 500s in the states, there is a website for the owners. I almost bought an original for $4000 about 8 years ago with my father-in-law, sort of a toy for us, and a gift for my mother-in-law. She's Italian and learned to drive in one. We took her to look at it, as a surprise, and she refused to even get out of our car to look, she hated them that much when she was growing up.

Bobb Todd · 07-27-2009, 06:44 PM

I drove a new Fiat 500 this April when I was in France and I wasn't impressed.

Good fit and finish but sluggish for a 1.2 litre and only got about 45 mpg [Imperial]. I much preferred the Toyota Aygo we had last year with a 3 cylinder 1 litre. It was peppier, had good long gear ratios and got 60 mpg {IMP] at 120 kph.