Spotted in the wild: Fiat 500 on the street in Michigan
by Sam Abuelsamid on May 18th 2009 at 10:23AM 
click above for a high res gallery of the Fiat 500 on the street in Birmingham
By now, we all know that if Chrysler is to have a future as an automaker, it is going to need some modern small cars. The plan is to fill that void with products that have their origins at Chrysler's new Italian overlords at Fiat. Anchoring the line will be the diminutive Fiat 500, 2008's European Car of the Year, which may or may not get rebadged. Either way, the little machine is already being evaluated on American roads.
This past weekend as we strolled down Maple Rd in Birmingham, Michigan, we spotted one of those Fiats just sitting there by the curb. Since Birmingham sits in the heart of where many engineers and executives from U.S.-based automakers and suppliers live, it's not at all unusual to find foreign brand cars sitting around with M plates, although they usually aren't taped into the rear window. It's entirely possible that this particular car doesn't even belong to Fiat/Chrysler. It could belong to any of the automakers, we'll just have to wait and see.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Mark 10:41AM (5/18/2009)
I live in Italy and these cars are fantastic. I truly hope that Fiat build an EV 500 as it would be just fantastic!
Reply
required 11:43AM (5/18/2009)
I too really like this car (much better than what BMW did with the Mini) and hope they make an electric variant.
UH2L 12:27PM (5/18/2009)
Yes, it could be a competitive vehicle purchased by any other auto maker. They often bring non-US-spec cars over to evaluate.
Reply
ufgrat 1:03PM (5/18/2009)
I seem to recall someone spotted a Fiat 500 in the GM research garage while the Volt was being test driven a couple weeks ago.
Reply
win39 4:11PM (5/18/2009)
Since the new Ford Ka shares the same platform it will be interesting to see which one gets here first.
Reply
Chris M 4:58PM (5/18/2009)
Hmmm, rebadged, it could become the new Dodge Neon in North America - assuming Fiat would want to continue that brand.
Fiat has been out of the US market for a long time. I'm wondering what other designs Fiat will bring to North America, now that Fiat has Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep to work with.
Reply
required 5:48PM (5/18/2009)
I don't think they would call it anything different as that would be like calling a corvette or mustang a neon. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiat_500
Len_A 7:59PM (5/19/2009)
That's not a car. That's a roller skate with a tin can over it.
Reply
Electricnick 3:55PM (5/19/2009)
The Fiat 500 is a perfect EV conversion case. It won't compete with the Mini. Buyers interested in a 500 will do it for looks and that certain "cool" factor, whatever our thoughts on it. Minis are already pretty common on the roads.
And for those who like to rehash the Fiat poor 80's quality, we'd like to remind them that most car quality back was appalling in today's standards.
The Electricnick.com team.
Reply