Fiat: Little wonders

The Fiat 500's roof folds back at the touch of a button up to speeds of 60km/h. Photo / Jacqui Madelin

It;s not a convertible as we know it Jim, but it's almost as much fun. Mind you, it helps that this is Fiat's cheeky 500, a piece of automotive jewellery that happens to work, too.

My drive was conducted almost entirely with mum-in-law aboard; not a natural buyer, you'd think. But she appreciated the classic design touches, liked the city-friendly footprint combined with surprisingly competent open-road abilities, and even approved the fabric roof. It concertinas open like a sunroof, withdraws the full length - or folds the rear glass down and sinks on to the boot lid.

Yes, the roof edges remain in place, compromising the open feel. But they also stiffen the car to boost its handling ability over most weeny convertibles. The casualty to the neat set-up is rear vision which, thanks to bulky C-pillars and the folds of fabric, all but disappears. Still, the roof operates at the touch of a button to speeds of 60km/h so there's nothing to stop you lifting or dropping it as traffic demands. Meanwhile the solid sides hold your hairdo in place, while still allowing that carefree, sunny-day feeling.

Either way, you don't compromise the already limited boot space. Fiat saved money by developing a set-up that leaves most of the basic car intact, so there's still 185 litres back there.

But what mum-in-law most enjoyed was the voice control of the phone, for this 500 uses Fiat's Blue & Me Bluetooth. Pair your phone, say "dial" and at the voice prompt, speak the number you require. In my case, the lucky recipient of our call heard two women laughing so hard speech was all but impossible.

The 500 does that to you - it's fun. But it's also a sensible small car. The 1.4-litre engine delivers its urge via a six-speed manual transmission with two modes: sport and normal. Normal was a touch too relaxed for me, and I tapped the sport button for perkier delivery except when cruising - no doubt why my achieved fuel economy was a nudge over a litre per 100km higher than the claim. Still, I was thoroughly enjoying the expenditure; the 500 is nippy around town and handles interesting roads with more aplomb than many a small car.

Other sensible features include steering wheel controls, plus five airbags and stability control that contribute to a five-star crash test rating.

Not so sensible is the price. At $35,490, it's up there for a car this small. Fiat justifies that by taking the design high ground; by the quality of the detail - the paint-matched dash a particularly nice classic feature - and by this convertible's system offering the same level of practicality as the standard hatch, with most of the summer-lovin' fun of a soft-top car.

FIAT 500C

We like
Funky design, perky nature, classic cues

We don't like
The price. Engine over-relaxed unless in "sport" mode; no cover for passenger vanity mirror means visual distraction

Powertrain
1.4-litre in-line petrol, 74kW at 6000rpm, 131Nm at 4250rpm, six-speed manual drives front wheels

Performance
0-100km/h 10.5 seconds, 6.1l/100km

Safety
Five airbags, ABS brakes, ESP

What it's got
Electrically folding fabric roof, climate-control air, voice-control Bluetooth hands-free, six-speaker MP3 audio

Vital stats
3546mm long, 185-litre boot, 35-litre tank