# Fiat Wants to Have the "iPod of Cars" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 4, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510 "2007-07-04T17:49:01Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/1 "2007-07-04T17:49:01Z")
[No kidding.](http://sciam.com/article.cfm?alias=fiat-wants-cinquecento-to&chanID=sa003&modsrc=reuters) > [@](#): > > It was the small car that could park in the tightest of spots on the piazza, as Italian as prosciutto and espresso. On its 50th birthday, the Cinquecento is back, and Fiat \ wants it to become the iPod of cars. > > Fiat is launching a new version of the three-door Cinquecento – meaning “500” in Italian – at a huge, televised ceremony in its hometown of Turin on Wednesday, with the car making its comeback after being out of production for 32 years. > > Slightly bigger than the original, it is part of the aim of Fiat’s chief executive to emulate Apple by making its cars as stylish as the U.S. company’s computers and electronic gadgets, including the iPod portable music player. Going by the way the [thing looks](http://www.fiat.com/cgi-bin/pbrand.dll/FIAT_COM/home.jsp?BV_UseBVCookie=no), I’d say the marketing department has their work cut out for them. ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 5:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/2 "2007-07-04T17:50:20Z")
It looks like the child of a Beetle and a Mini. ---
**Author:** ![Hanna](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b3f665/32.png) [@Hanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hanna)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 5:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/3 "2007-07-04T17:56:45Z")
I like it! /MINI owner ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/4 "2007-07-04T18:01:46Z")
[QUOTE=Boscibo] I like it! /MINI owner [/QUOTE] You _do_ know what Fiat stands for, don’t you? :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![Morgenstern](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Morgenstern](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgenstern)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/5 "2007-07-04T18:19:20Z")
Fix it again Tony. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/6 "2007-07-04T18:28:01Z")
Well, like the iPod, it’s small enough to mail back to the manufacturer when it needs a new battery. ---
**Author:** ![Mindfield](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mindfield/32/19759_2.png) [@Mindfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mindfield)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/7 "2007-07-04T19:04:33Z")
Stylish: You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means. I dunno, man. Maybe the Italians, having grown tired of the smooth lines and raw horsepower of Ferrari, think that’s sleek and sexy. Me, I think driving with a clickwheel would take some getting used to. Mind you, if the car ever stalls, you can hold UP + the horn to have the car reboot itself… ---
**Author:** ![Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e480ec/32.png) [@Least\_Original\_User\_Name\_Ever](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Least_Original_User_Name_Ever)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 7:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/8 "2007-07-04T19:28:51Z")
I want the “car of iPods”. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/9 "2007-07-04T21:00:37Z")
I like the looks of the New Beetle. I didn’t care for the MINI at first, and preferred the original. But now I think the MINI is a fine looking car. I like its styling better than the New Beetle, and wouldn’t mind one in the stable. But the Fiat? No. Unless I’m looking at the wrong one, it looks to me like just about any other subcompact car. The original has style. The new one doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Rick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9f8e36/32.png) [@Rick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/10 "2007-07-04T21:04:13Z")
[QUOTE=Morgenstern] Fix it again Tony. [/QUOTE] Feeble Italian Attempt at Technology. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 9:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/11 "2007-07-04T21:08:55Z")
Maybe by “iPod” they mean they want it to have a touchwheel to steer and a button in the middle to do everything else. Because it is as ugly as a mediocre sin, like coveting thy neighbor’s ass. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/12 "2007-07-04T23:26:24Z")
I have a special place in my heart for FIATs. My first car was a FIAT [850 Sedan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_850) . Don’t let the “sedan” fool you, it was [tiny](http://www.carproductions.com.au/garage/850sedan.html) . I named him Topo Gigio. His life was cut short by a damned tourist who was busy paying attention to the SYT next to him instead of the road and accordioned me between his car and the one in front of me. The insurance totalled poor Topo and my father used him for parts for his 850 Spider which he’d never let me drive. It was a damn good car! _sniff_ I miss him. By the way, the FIAT Panda looks cute, I wonder if I could get one in Black and White? ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 11:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/13 "2007-07-04T23:35:32Z")
[QUOTE=Wile E] I have a special place in my heart for FIATs. My first car was a FIAT [850 Sedan](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_850) . Don’t let the “sedan” fool you, it was [tiny](http://www.carproductions.com.au/garage/850sedan.html) . I named him Topo Gigio. His life was cut short by a damned tourist who was busy paying attention to the SYT next to him instead of the road and accordioned me between his car and the one in front of me. The insurance totalled poor Topo and my father used him for parts for his 850 Spider which he’d never let me drive. It was a damn good car! _sniff_ I miss him. By the way, the FIAT Panda looks cute, I wonder if I could get one in Black and White? [/QUOTE] What is an SYT? ---
**Author:** ![kittenblue](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ba8739/32.png) [@kittenblue](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kittenblue)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/14 "2007-07-04T23:38:07Z")
Oh. wait, I think I figured it out…Sexy Young Thing? ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [July 4, 2007, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/15 "2007-07-04T23:47:43Z")
[QUOTE=kittenblue] Oh. wait, I think I figured it out…Sexy Young Thing? [/QUOTE] Or Sweet, but your version might be more apropos. She was significantly younger and better looking than him. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 6:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/16 "2007-07-05T06:55:25Z")
[QUOTE=Mindfield] I dunno, man. Maybe the Italians, having grown tired of the smooth lines and raw horsepower of Ferrari, think that’s sleek and sexy. [/QUOTE] Go to any Italian city. Count the Ferraris, count the Fiats, then report back. They’ve always been popular cars, because they’re cheap. Thankfully, nowadays that doesn’t mean they fall apart and/or break down within a week. I agree with the others, it just looks like a dull small car. If it wasn’t for one line quoted from La Stampa would the OP even have bothered with this? ---
**Author:** ![zagloba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/977dab/32.png) [@zagloba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zagloba)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 7:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/17 "2007-07-05T07:11:26Z")
Compare it to [the original](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_500). Hey, reviving one of the cars from the original Italian Job worked great for BMW – why not try another? As GorillaMan suggests, I bet you saw many more Cinquecentos in that movie than you did Minis. Fiat is definitely going to the nostalgia well on this one, just as VW did with the New Beetle. But the Beetle did much better in the US than in its native Germany, while as far as I know the Cinquecento was never sold in the US. ---
**Author:** ![CynicalGabe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/3e96dc/32.png) [@CynicalGabe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CynicalGabe)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 8:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/18 "2007-07-05T08:19:37Z")
Fiat wants to build an overpriced car with a 3-year life expectancy? I think Ford has that market niche covered… ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 8:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/19 "2007-07-05T08:30:09Z")
It [looks](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_Nuova_500) somewhat cheeky, but I’m not sure about the roofline. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [July 5, 2007, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510/20 "2007-07-05T10:09:40Z")
I don’t know what they mean about the Cinquecento being out of production for 32 years. Fiat had a model with that name in the '90s. Anyway, the new one looks like just another “city car”, of which there are [numerous models](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_recent_automobile_models_by_type#City_cars) already on the market. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/fiat-wants-to-have-the-ipod-of-cars/410510.md?page=2)