NF500 / 2007 / November

We’re going through changes here at NF500, some of which you may have already noticed.

The first part of our enhanced features is a new, fully featured vBulletin forum installation. We received a few requests for a more feature heavy forum, and from our experience with MINI2.com we’re pretty well versed in the workings of vBulletin and felt it was the most flexible and future proof forum software choice.

More updates are in the pipeline, so keep watching this space. Have no fear though, we will keep our focus on providing all the new Fiat 500 news we can gather from around the web and elsewhere.

While you’re waiting for more news, take a peek at the new forums and get acquainted, or indeed reacquainted with your fellow Fiat 500 fans!

The TRC Marangoni Fiat Super 500 will be presented at the 2007 Essen Motor Show in Germany held from 1 to 9 December. The Marangoni Super 5-0-0 is the work of Marangoni’s Car Tire division created in partnership with the Florence-based tuning company TRC Italia.

The TRC Marangoni Fiat Super 5-0-0 features a Carzone Specials aerodynamic kit, a highly-innovative Mariani overboost system, Tarox braking system with 10-pot calipers and 320 mm diameter disks, KW coilover suspension, all-stainless steel exhaust with outlet in the middle of the rear bumper, and Oxigin chrome 7.5 x 17″ alloy wheels.

The TRC Marangoni Fiat Super 5-0-0 is based on the Fiat 500 Sport with the 1400 cc engine.Marangoni considers that the TRC Marangoni Fiat Super 5-0-0 can be viewed as an endorsement of the rebirth of “made in Italy”. The bright red color of the body and the four Marangoni Zeta Linea 205/40 R17 ultra-high performance tires with directional tread pattern, featuring sidewalls decorated in the Italian colors, further reinforce this concept. As well as the tires, the overboost system, the brake calipers, the exhaust and the interior accessories that TRC Italia installed on the Fiat 500 are also Italian. The TRC Marangoni Fiat Super 5-0-0 will be showcased at the main European tuning events throughout 2008.

The Zeta Linea design is available also in the 195/45 R16 size, with which the Fiat 500 Sport is equipped as standard.

According to press reports in Italy (and now slowly spreading across the web), Fiat are considering increasing production of the new Fiat 500 by introducing manufacturing of the supermini to their Termini Imerese plant, situated in Sicily.

The plant currently produces the Lancia Ypsilon, and rumours suggest that Fiat may introduce one or two further models to the line in the near future, with the favourites being touted as the new Fiat 500 and Fiat Panda.

We may be used to them being referred to as car showrooms, but in a new press release, Fiat in the UK appear to be wanting to change all that with the announcement of a new “Experience Centre” to be opened in London. We’re not sure how the new Experience Centre will size up the the Fiat Playa, but it’s an interesting concept none the less.

Full press release follows:

Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd has started work on a new customer image point and sales centre in London, which will open its doors to the public in early 2008.

The site, at Wigmore Street, in the heart of the capital, marks a welcome return to central London for Fiat, which last operated a dealership in the city with Fiat Motor Sales in 1995. But the new site will be much more than simply a traditional car showroom.

The spacious, two-floored flagship location, to be known as Fiat Marylebone, will be an ‘experience centre’ which will not only engage customers and Fiat enthusiasts with web-based information and digital interaction, but will double as an event venue for fashion shows, receptions and marketing activity.

With plans for 10 full-time staff at the venue, an activities area for themed events and a quality Fiat merchandising centre have also been included in the proposal.

There will, of course, be opportunities to discover more about Fiat’s stunning range of new cars – including the forthcoming 500 – and to order a new vehicle, but the 1,000m2 site’s non-showroom environment is also designed to enlighten, inform and entertain visitors while introducing them, through a personalised service, to the fantastic world of Fiat.

This is all about the life and character of London, brought together into our new location,

says Tony Dittli, managing director of the new site.

It’s exciting, lively, bright and says a lot about us.

We expect people to come from around the country to see us. They will be able to enjoy the friendly atmosphere and experience the whole new approach to displaying our brand. And if they like what they see, they can contact their local dealers when they return home. That’s the idea of it.

The London flagship will set a new benchmark for us,

says Andrew Humberstone, managing director of Fiat Group Automobiles UK Ltd.

In allowing us to present our cars in a new way, it will give us the ability to satisfy customer needs in a manner befitting of such a large and influential city.

Fiat Marylebone will be situated at 105 Wigmore Street, W1. Working in conjunction with it, a new aftersales centre is being set up a short distance away. This site will offer servicing and repairs for London’s Fiat owners.

The Fiat has been voted “Auto Europa 2008″ by the Italian Union of Automotive Journalists (Uiga). This is the most important accolade awarded by the Italian specialised press.

Established in 1987, the prize is awarded to the car built and sold in Europe that offers the best combination of technology, pricing and style for the final consumer. The vote, which took place last weekend in Riccione, attributed 640 points to the new super-compact from Fiat, placing it ahead of the Kia Ceèd (408) and the Peugeot 308 (325).

The official prize-giving ceremony will be held next Spring during the annual Uiga meeting. This is the tenth car from Fiat Group Automobiles to receive the title of “Auto Europa”. Previous winners have been the Alfa 164 (1988), Fiat Tipo (1989), Fiat Cinquecento (1993), Fiat Punto (1995), Fiat Bravo/Brava (1996), Alfa Romeo 156 (1998), Alfa Romeo 166 (1999), Fiat Panda (2004) and the Fiat Grande Punto (2007).

This award adds to the already impressive array of prizes under the Fiat 500’s belt, namely: “Car of the Year 2008″, “EuroCarBody 2007” and “World’s Most Beautiful Car”. The COTY award was secured with a total of 385 points attributed by a panel of 58 specialist journalists representing 22 European countries. This is only the second time that an A-segment model has won this award – the first being the Fiat Panda in 2004. The title of “EuroCarBody 2007”, the most important prize worldwide for car bodies, is attributed by a total of approximately 600 specialists from 15 international carmakers, all of them experts in bodywork engineering, materials, processes and production. Lastly, the “World’s most Beautiful Car” award was given to the Fiat 500 by an international panel of design and visual arts experts. With the maximum score possible of 18 points, the Fiat 500 won the “City cars and small cars” category for expressing “a return to the sculptural values of the golden age of car design”. The same prize was also awarded to the Fiat Bravo, in the “medium saloon” category.

These prestigious accolades for the Fiat 500 join two other important prizes recently awarded by the international press to the Fiat Grande Punto and Scudo. Just a few months after its Latin American launch, the Grande Punto was voted “Auto Interamericana 2008” by the Interamerican Federation of Automotive Periodicals (FIPA), consisting of 63 journalists from 19 American nations, including Brazil and the US. Similarly, the Scudo has also been enjoying an extraordinary success, and has been voted “International Van of the Year 2008” – with 108 out of a possible 140 points – by a panel of journalists from 20 European nations specialised in light commercial vehicles.

One interesting aspect of the 2008 Car of the Year website is a section entitled ‘The Voting Grid’.  Sounds riveting doesn’t it?  But bear with us.

The Voting Grid shows all the judges, where they come from, how they voted and why. Splitting the vote into nations, it appears opinion on on the Fiat 500 is most strongly divided in Germany where judges granted the car either 10 or 2 points and nothing else.  France, Great Britain and Italy generally appear smitten and Portugal comes over largely unimpressed.

We’re not sure if the voting could be labelled the automotive equivalent of the politically charged Eurovision Song Contest, but it is quite interesting to see how different cars are received (by the press at least) in different countries and cultures all the same.

Well, it is now officially official, the Fiat 500 IS Car of the Year 2008, and here is the official Fiat press release to mark the occasion…

The international jury presiding over the Car of the Year award, made up of 58 specialist journalists from 22 European countries, has elected the Fiat 500 Car of the Year 2008 with 385 votes, ahead of the Mazda 2 (325 votes) and the Ford Mondeo (202).

In addition to winning the Car of the Year 2008 award outright, the super-compact Fiat distinguished itself by obtaining votes from most members of the jury: 57 out of 58 included it in their short-list, and 33 made it top in their personal rankings.

This is the second time – the first was the Fiat Panda in 2004 – that an A-segment model has won the most prestigious award in the world car industry. This extraordinary record brings total Fiat Group Automobiles wins to twelve: the Fiat 124 (1967), Fiat 128 (1970), Fiat 127 (1972), Lancia Delta (1980), Fiat Uno (1984), Fiat Tipo (1989), Fiat Punto (1995), Fiat Bravo/Brava (1996), Alfa 156 (1998), Alfa 147 (2001), Fiat Panda (2004) and the Fiat 500 (2008).

Launched on 4 July this year, the new Fiat 500 immediately aroused huge interest and very favourable comments made by more than 7,000 people from 63 countries (more than 1,000 journalists were accredited) who homed in on Turin for its début: institutional authorities, financial analysts, businessmen and celebrities from the worlds of entertainment, fashion and sport.

Critical acclaim was immediately confirmed by intense customer interest. More than 105,000 orders were taken in just four months in only two countries (Italy and France), while interest continues to grow in the rest of Europe, (for example: 6,300 orders have already been placed in Germany where the car went on sale just a few weeks ago). As of today, in Europe, the Fiat 500 stands second in the A-segment with a share of 14.1% (behind the Fiat Panda with a 21.2% share).

The Fiat 500 is the manifesto of ‘new Fiat’, a model that is in all respects the physical demonstration of the company’s new approach, the renewed strategies of the brand, a different way of interpreting the car. That is why the Fiat 500 has set new benchmarks in its segment. For example, this is the first time that a car barely 3.55 metres long has been awarded a 5 star crash safety rating by Euro NCAP, and this is the first time that a car in this segment has seven airbags fitted as standard (it is also the only super-compact to fit a knee-bag), with the advanced ESP available on all models (standard on the 1.4 16v 100 bhp).

In addition, this is the first time that a model has been launched with the entire range of power units (1.2 69 bhp, 1.3 MultiJet 75 bhp with DPF and 1.4 16v 100 bhp), built to respect emissions limits set by Euro 5, and all this more than two years in advance of the legislative deadline.

This is also the first time that a ‘small’ car like the Fiat 500 has been able to boast such a broad range, which is made possible by choosing from: four trim levels, three engines and 12 colours (among these are six vintage colours that evoke memories of the ’50s and ’60s, and the three-layer white, a sophisticated paint process that up to now has only been adopted on supercars).

Customers can also choose from 15 interiors including the prestigious Cordura and Frau Leather, nine types of road wheel, and 19 sticker treatments, for a total of more than 500,000 variations.

In addition, 100 original accessories have been designed for the Fiat 500 – among which the most surprising are an electric aroma diffuser and colour-coded key fobs – along with the most advanced infotelematic systems: for example a multifunctional portable navigator from the Blue&MeTM platform.

The Car of the Year award started in 1964. To enter, new cars must go on sale in at least five different European markets in the course of the year. Judgments are expressed on the following parameters: design, comfort, safety, economic operation, driveability, performance, practicality, respect for the environment, price and value for money. A first selection is made from all the new models marketed in the course of the year (this year 33 cars were involved) and seven are shortlisted. Each member of the jury has 25 points to distribute among the seven cars, with a maximum of 10 points going to their first choice.

The award ceremony for Car of the Year 2008, organised by the German magazine Stern, will take place in Berlin on 28 January 2008.