European Car of the Year 2008 Fitted Out with Hair-Dryer Compatibility

The Fiat 500 is European Car of the Year 2008, and little wonder. It is smart, sassy and, for what is basically a small, soft blob of metal, enormously covetable. But it is also, essentially, half a century old. The first 500 rolled out of Italian factories in 1957 - a comically diminutive, rear-engined buzz-about, generally regarded as the first ever "city car". By the time production ceased, in 1975, the "Cinquecento" was looking tired, flat and, in the world of battleships like the Ford Granada, increasingly likely to get run over. For a good 40 years, the 500 was destined to have a limited appeal beyond enthusiasts and people with a strong sense of irony.


Of course, there will be one or two differences between the new 500 and the old models. The original, meagre but willing 479cc air-cooled engine has been replaced by front-mounted engines in more generous sizes, from 1.2 litres upwards, so the chances are the new 500 won't sound like someone blowing a raspberry down a mailing tube.


Also, it will be fitted out with the comforts that we have to come to take for granted in even the most modest cars: electric windows, remote locking, probably even compatibility for a hair-dryer. And it will be fatter all round than the original 500, making it far harder to reverse it into the gaps between other parked cars in such a manner that the bumpers end up parallel with the pavement (standard practice with an old Cincquecento in Rome, among other places).