Autoblog Green

When dealing with Fiats, size is relative. The Linea is the largest model that the Italian automaker currently produces, but it's still rather small by American standards, coming in at roughly the same dimensions as the Ford Focus and Saturn Astra. In other parts of the world, the Linea is available with engines ranging from a 76-horsepower 1.4L to a 152-horsepower 16V 1.4L. We'd be happy with an updated version of Chrysler's current four-banger so long as it was mated to an automatic with more than four forward ratios (click on the photo above to continue).

The current Fiat Bravo is a direct descendant of the Brava that Fiat previously sold in the United States. Now, it's available only as a five-door hatchback. Perfect, we'll take it. As you would expect, the Bravo is offered with a range of diesel engines in Europe, but we wouldn't bet on any of them making it Stateside. Instead, we'd be happy with the 1.4L T-JET powerplant that offers up 150 turbocharged horses and 170 lb-ft of torque.

The Fiat Panda is extremely popular overseas, having won the European Car of the Year award in 2004 when it was last redesigned. We've heard especially good things about the Panda when equipped with the 100-horsepower 1.4L FIRE engine and six-speed manual transmission. Even with this performance engine, the Panda manages to score 43.4 miles per gallon in the EU combined cycle, which would likely translate into mid-30s in the States. For the ultimate in efficiency, a twin-cylinder 900cc engine is available that emits just 69 grams of carbon per kilometer, but as much as we'd love to see it, we just can't imagine that model making it to the U.S. Time will tell.

Fiat's Grand Punto is a very good looking car, having been styled by the legendary design house Giugiaro. As with other Fiats, engine choices include two gas-burning models and three diesels, the best of which is a 16V, 1.6L MultiJet diesel that offers 118 horsepower and 236 lb-ft of torque. An Abarth performance edition is also available with a 150-horsepower turbocharged 1.4L gas engine that we would love to see make an appearance in the U.S.

Here we are at the number 1 spot with the most desirable little Fiat of them all, the redesigned 500. When the Nuova 500 was launched in 2007, it was one of the most highly anticipated new cars in European history, and we think it could steal quite a few sales away from the extremely successful MINI in America. This seems like the most likely vehicle to be sold in the United States, and it could even see production in an underutilized Chrysler plant in North America. Given that American tastes often favor power over outright economy, the 133-horsepower Abarth model seems like a natural fit. We'll take ours in classic white, please.