NF500 / 2008 / June

Those clever bods with calculators (or crystal balls, or both) who predict future used car prices for the motor trade have altered and improved their estimations on the value of the Fiat 500 in three years.

The predicted residual values on some 500 models have increased from 42 per cent to 46 per cent of original list price. That equates to a positive adjustment of more than £350 on the car’s value on a typical three year/30,000 mile contract. For buyers funding the car through contract hire or personal contract purchase (PCP) that should reduce rentals by more than £20 per month.

As is often the case in the motor trade, the entry level model, the Fiat 500 1.2 Pop is rated as having the best residual value at 47 per cent after three years.

The residual value guides have reacted positively to the success of the 500 and have increased their used predictions accordingly. This is good news for those who have already bought one and it should help reduce monthly costs,

says Adam Pumfrey, fleet and remarketing director, Fiat Group Automobiles UK.

The 500 has also generated a great deal of interest from small and medium sized companies for test drives as it offers drivers a high profile company car that is low on fuel use and CO2 emissions.

Normally HAMANN-Motorsport is seen as a tuning company for BMW and for offering styling and tuning upgrades to luxury cars. But this time the Laupheim-based technicians have taken a break from the norm and devoted themselves to something rather unexpected, the Italian built Fiat 500.

Those clever bods at HAMANN took to the task with great enthusiasm for the cool little retro sports car and developed the new and extensive HAMANN Sportivo tuning programme. The range includes wheels, exhausts, suspension, brakes and tuning gear for the Fiat 500 range, all designed to improve style and performance for those who just couldn’t, or don’t to wait for the official Abarth 500 upgrades.

Available across the Fiat 500 range is the HM sportivo wheel, which HAMANN claim offers both improved style and fantastic handling. The matt black varnish rim in one piece has a diamond-polished outer edge and is offered in the size 7.0 x 17. HAMANN recommends matching tyres in the sizes 195/40 ZR17 or 215/35 ZR 17 by its technology partner Hankook, but we’re sure any other high end rubber will do just as well. A complete set can be yours from 1,420 €.

The HAMANN-set for lowering chassis leads to a further improvement in handling the car and ensures that the vehicle centre which is made up from four progressively spun springs is lowered by 30mm.

For the 1.4 petrol, HAMANN have prepared a sport exhaust system. The system includes a muffler (from 390 € onwards) with two round end pipes made of high-grade steel (70 mm diameter), a pre-muffler with metal catalyst and a sport fan manifold. All components can also be obtained individually.

Also for the 1.4 Fiat 500, HAMANN developed a stable sport braking system for improved stopping power. The set consists of two perforated and ventilated brake discs (diameter 280 x 28mm) at the front axle in connection with red 4-piston fixed yokes and steal flex brake lines. The back axle can be upgraded with brake discs measuring 240 mm in diameter.

For the 1.3 Diesel Fiat 500, HAMANN have joined other tuning houses in offering and ECU program upgrade, which increases power to 90 hp / 66 kW at 4,000 r.p.m. (standard: 75 hp / 55 KW) and a maximum torque of 230 Nm at 1,750 r.p.m. (standard: 145 Nm at 1,500 r.p.m.).

As for a final flourish to your HAMANN Fiat 500 make over, how about an aluminium pedal set including footrest and a car mat set with an embroidered HAMANN sportive logo?

You may remember a while back a Tracey Emin Fiat 500 went under the hammer for charity and sold for £42,000.

Well, despite recent tales of doom and gloom surrounding the economy in the media recently, her latest Fiat 500 to go up for auction, this time a little number titled “Dark, Dark, Dark”, sold for an incredible £200,000.

Absolute Return for Kids charity (ARK) raised £25 million for children at a gala reception in the Royal Naval College, Greenwich last week, with an auction in which this one off Fiat 500 was included.

Thanks (once again) to top news spotter KevinB for finding out the sale details.

Fiat CEO Sergio Marchionne has reaffirmed the company’s desire to launch the Fiat 500 brand in the United States. However, and in contradiction to quotes from the Fiat CEO published by Forbes only a matter of weeks ago, Marchionne stated his desire to introduce a second Fiat 500 production site in the USA.

The full quote, taken on the sidelines of a foreign policy forum in Venice, reads

We are examining ways and means to manufacture the cars in the United States, I don’t want to bring it over made. I want to manufacture [in the North American free-trade area]

You have to feel a little pity for any American eagerly awaiting the Fiat 500, the situation gets more confusing with every turn.

According to a report by AM-online, Fiat in the UK will have 12 specialist Abarth dealerships in the UK by July 2008, of a total of 14 planned outlets for the Fiat family’s sporting brand.

Apparently some Abarth dealerships will have their own stand alone sites alongside or near to current Fiat franchises, while others will have an Abarth zone integrated into their current showroom space.

In the AM-online article they also reveal it will cost existing Fiat dealers anything from £40-£80,000 to become an Abarth franchise, which that investment potentially being repaid within a year.