The thickness and heft of the options catalogue for the new Fiat 500 has (excuse the awful pun) been well documented. As anyone who’s seriously considered or
dering one of these fashionable little cars will know, you can have one in any colour combination you like, with one of several interior colour and trim themes, and that’s before you’ve started with the accessories. But at Geneva this year, there’s one that comes with its own lift and espresso bar.
You couldn’t miss Fiat’s gigantic tribute to its hugely successful supermini at this year’s show. It’s literally the size of a house; you walk in via the wheelarches. Inside it there are interactive video displays on which you can view the 500 in all its guises and permutations. There’s a lift where the back seats should be, taking you up to the mezzanine level, where you can look at video screens positioned where the windows would be.
But what impressed me most was the scale-sized front seats, steering wheel and gearknob. Seeing them makes you feel like you’re in “Honey, Fiat Shrunk The Geneva Motor Show.” I don’t usually go much for this kind of show gimmick, but I have to hand it to Fiat for this one: it put a giant-sized smile on my face.