Category: Fiat

The words ‘style’ and ‘Italy’ are synonymous, with some positively stunning automotive works of art having been produced over many years. There’s a lot more pizzazz in their lines than you will find in the conservative machines from most other European nations. Fiat has produced some excellent shapes, none more admired than that of the cute Fiat 500 Nuova ‘Bambino’ in 1957, a car that was so badly missed that it made a retro-car return in 2007. The shape was obviously inspired by the original, though mechanically it’s completely different,… Read more

Fiat’s onslaught on the Australian market continues. Keen on becoming much more than an interesting niche player, the Italian auto giant with a long history of design flair and sportiness is now importing the Panda. Joining the oh-so-cute Fiat 500 and the relatively conservative Fiat Punto, the Panda is definitely out of the ordinary in its looks. Fiat Panda has been made since 1980, with over six million built to date, but this is its first time it has migrated down under. The current model was introduced in Italy late… Read more

Fresh from the excitement of slashing prices and therefore greatly increasing sales of the Fiat 500 in Australia, the new importer has reintroduced its Punto hatchback. Unlike the cute Fiat 500, and the trendsetting Fiat Panda that’s due downunder late in 2013, Fiat Punto is aimed at relatively conservative buyers. Hence it has neat but somewhat subdued styling. While the Punto has lines that are smooth and likely to prove timeless, it certainly didn’t create any visual interest from during our introductory test drives out of Brisbane. In Europe the… Read more

Fiat Australia has a plan. It wants to transform the streets of Australian cities so they look like those in Rome, Paris, London, Milan and many other fashion conscious European cities. Anyone who’s visited Europe recently will have seen Fiat 500s by the thousand. The retro shape of the new 500, based on the tiny Fiat 500 Bambino launched in 1957, works brilliantly. Even better, owners customise their Fiat 500s them inside and out in many imaginative ways, further brightening up the cityscape. New Fiat 500s first arrived in Australia… Read more

Though Italian car maker Fiat is a giant player in Europe it has been sadly under represented in Australia until very recently. That’s probably because the previous importer seemed to concentrate on the halo marques in the Fiat empire – Ferrari and Maserati – at the expense of the affordable models. That situation suddenly changed midway through 2012 when Fiat’s head office took over of the Australian arm of the company from its previous private importer. As further background to this story, Fiat took control of American car maker Chrysler… Read more