You might have an idea that Fiats are small rollerskates, zipping along Roma stradas like a Fellini film no one can understand. About 50 years ago, you’d be right.
But no one buys into that idea anymore. Or at least they shouldn’t. American Fiats are like Fellini’s second cousin living in Newark, N.J. Put a modern-day 500 next to the original Cinquecento and guess which one blocks the sun? I’ll give you a hint: It’s the one that’s less snug than most of Anita Ekberg’s wardrobe.
That’s perhaps the biggest appeal of the brand new Fiat 500L. It feels nothing like a 500 — of which, it shares no sheet metal — and even less like a Fiat. In fact, the roomy five-door hatchback feels closer to a minivan than a minicar. Che cosa é questo?
The 2014 Fiat 500L is in fact the first Fiat jointly developed in Europe and America and it shows. The new sedan (or crossover, depending on how you look at it) is more than 2 feet longer than the 500, 42 percent larger, 20 percent longer, 9 percent wider, 11 percent taller — it’s just bigger. By a lot, OK? There is even 124 percent more cargo room, if by chance you actually thought a 500 had cargo space to begin with.
The 500L represents the next monumental step for the brand after parent company Fiat took Chrysler off the government’s hands five years ago. When the 500 was launched a few years ago, despite a schizophrenic marketing campaign, the small commuter was only a scarf in the brand’s overall American outfit. The 500L represents much more of a dress in that overall brand design.
And oh, yeah. It’s a dress. This car couldn’t appeal more to women if it were called “Will & Grace.” Whereas I was stone cold blasted for calling a Fiat 500 a woman’s car, the 500L actually wants to be. Fabriccio De Baca, a Fiat designer by name and trade, told me the 500 was the “Mamma car” of the Fiat brand, which makes 500 the cheerleader daughter. There, I said it.
But “mamma” has moves. For starters, the 1.4-liter, turbocharged four that produces 160 horsepower is adequate when mated to the six-speed manual. That’s a big ask, I know. But buy the manual. And I can’t make it any clearer. Buy the manual. Put that coffee down. Buy the manual.
For the 95 percent of you that will disregard that warning, I’ll let you know why. The six-speed Euro-Twin clutch (that ironically Fiat doesn’t sell in Europe) is geared so low it’s almost impossible to wring enough out of the engine to make it worthwhile. If you’re looking for Exhibit B in the Pyrrhic victory in the wars on fossil fuels look no further than lots of gears with lots of room in between them. Exhibit A is the fact that we’re still well over $3 a gallon, and will be for our lifetime.
The benefits of offering an automatic transmission that keeps the excitement lower than a Disney film are these: mileage goes up, noise goes down. The 500L’s transmission shifts lower than a snake’s belly. So low, in fact, it feels like the 500L’s engine is lugging at points. “What will I ever do?!” I hear you not asking your paper aloud this morning. I’ll tell you: Buy the manual. Insist manufacturers offer more than cloth trim and a handshake with a manual. Eventually, we’ll realize that wringing the best out of an engine is an OK for the tradeoff of 3 calories to press our foot to the floor and rowing our own slushboxes.
For now, that recommendation will likely fall on deaf ears. What matters most here is the inside of the 500L. The 5-seater, with 40/60 split-folding rear seats, is plenty spacious inside. The “L,” so says Fiat, stands for “loft” that either refers to the tall ceiling and open greenhouse that creates or that the roof looks like it’s floating on the glass. I guess.
Oh, and the 500L babies. There’s plenty of room for car seats, spilled Cheerios and flailing arms. There’s a feeling you get when driving the 500L that’s unmistakable: Small families are completely welcome here. Fiat says the 500L’s main competition are the Mini Countryman and Volkswagen Tiguan, but I’d offer another, the maligned Mazda5 miniwagon/van. That vehicle encapsulates what Americans fear worst about a car; that it’s smarter than they are. I dare say the 500L is too smart for it’s own audience.
That’s because starting at just shy of $20,000 and only reaching $25,000 when opulently equipped (P.S. Fiat is offering $2,000 in navigation systems for free from now until December) the 500L is a standout value among cars that are twice its size and twice its price.
The only problem: You’ll have to get past that idea that Fiats are only for Italians and interstate shoulders. Which is to say, the 500L should change your mind.
Aaron Cole is managing editor of the Aurora Sentinel. Reach him at acole@aurorasentinel.com