If we're going to save the planet by taking less space and using less fuel, let's do it with flair, with style, with verve. Let's do it with the go pedal pushed to the floor and big grins on our faces.
Let's do it in Fiat 500s — almost impossibly stylish, available in an array of unmatched hues, graced with a small-displacement, advanced-technology engine that loves to run hard and doesn't use a lot of fuel doing so.
It's the first Fiat sold in the U.S. since the brand bailed in 1983. The 500 is a mini-car, an homage to the Cinquecento (chin-kwe-CHENTO — Italian for 500), a "city car" sold by Fiat from 1957 through 1975. The current 500 has been on sale overseas since 2007 and in the U.S. since March.
Aside to sticklers: Yes, Fiat sold other cars since 1975 under the Cinquecento/500 moniker, but even Fiat dismisses them as interlopers, not true to the soul of the original, and says the current version is the real deal.
We spent hundreds of miles on a variety of roads in a variety of 500s, warily waiting for things to go wrong or fall off. Has to do with personal experience with U.S. Fiats of the 1960s and 1970s.
Nothing did, and a fine time was had in the process.
High points:
•Front-seat comfort. Easy to enter and exit. Well-shaped and well-positioned chairs make it easy to forget you're in a car smaller than a Mini Cooper.
•Responsive drivetrain. The small four-cylinder is rated just 101 horsepower but loves to give it all to you, revving quickly and growling like a small dog that thinks it's an attack mutt. High-performance folks won't slip into glossy-eyed delight, but neither should they get sour.
The five-speed manual is a breeze to shift and the clutch engages gently and near the top of the pedal travel, minimizing the threat of killing the engine in slog-and-chug traffic.
The optional six-speed automatic crisply grabs the next gear, either up or down, without delay or shudder.
•Adjustable personality. Sounds like a mental disorder, but in this case it means that a "sport" button on the dashboard makes a big difference in steering, gearing and going. It firms the wheel feel. In the automatic transmission, it holds lower gears longer for scoot at the expense of mileage. It makes response to movement of the gas pedal more aggressive. No change to the suspension, which is plenty firm as-is.
•Engaging appearance. The exterior is cute, but not goofy or cloying. The interior is a treat of shapes and colors.
Verdict: If you like the way the Fiat 500 mini-car looks — and that retro styling is a powerful lure — nothing in our drives suggests you should shun it.
•Good mileage. Everybody's hot on 40 miles per gallon nowadays. The 500 is rated 38 mpg. In our driving it came closer to its advertised numbers than most cars do. We'll take honest, consistent 30s, delivered with joy, over a theoretical 40 any day.
But — there's always a qualifier, right? — before you commit to the Fiat, you should know:
•Back seat's tight. Expected because the car's truly small. If you're short and can drive with the front seat slid forward, the back will be useful. Otherwise, not so much. Headroom's tight, too, especially in cars with the sunroof.
•Cargo space isn't flat. The back seats fold to expand the space, but they don't drop level with the floor, and that creates a two-tiered compartment.
•Center pod's too wide. It'll rub uncomfortably on many drivers' and front passengers' inboard legs. And it has an edge where parts join that feels abrasive against your knee or leg
