Spied: Fiat 500 Cabrio
September 10, 2008 by Alborz Fallah
Last month Fiat Australian only sold 48 500s, in that same period, Toyota found 1,924 new owners for its Yaris car and Suzuki sold 1,019 Swifts. The Fiat 500 then, isn’t doing all that well.
To spice things up a bit, Fiat have been rumoured to be working on a a 500 Cabrio. Finally, we have the pictures to prove it.
The newcomer will be a cabrio coach or semi-convertible that has a retractable textile roof. It’s more of a targa allowing for limited redesign work of the body.
Why would Fiat build the 500 Cabrio this way? Two reasons: first to cut costs and secondly to distance the 500 Cabrio from its competitors like VW’s Beetle convertible.
Would a new 500 Cabrio help increase sales in Australia? Or is the car simply just too expensive?
Read our review of the Fiat 500.
Print it: 
*****PRIMO!*****
FIAT’s are simply to expensive in Oz.
They are the budget brand of Italy and one of the cheapest in Europe, yet here the marketing dept. think they have some sort of “prestooge” factor.
NO!
The market has spoken, should be a tiny bit more than imported Toyota’s of similar size, NOT a massive premium and mark up.
PRICES/SPECIALS will come, they MUST move stock.
Cheers
F-0
The cabrio would sell, but wont be in huge numbers in Oz.
A very nice vehicle but the $/kg is plain silly
Get real ATECO [aka LNC/SpencerMotors]
Cheers
F-0
Yes it’s a nice car but $30,000. Mama Mia! plus usally there is only one or places in a capital city to service. Parts.. Forget about it.
Yes they look good but at the end of the day it’s just metal glass and rubber!
I have shoebox’s with more leg room than a Fiat 500!
The thing is so tiny inside when compared to a swift or yaris.
Trendy Yuppies need only reply.
Bet it drives and handles better than a Yaris or swift.
Agree price is too high.
Why would Fiat build the 500 Cabrio this way?
Because it won’t need as much stiffening work in the floor. Adding stiffening adds a lot of weight.
I would get more satisfaction from using the $30k as toilet paper than using it to buy a car like this.
a great little retro. much better than the mini & beetle and far more in keeping with the original icon.
just adjust the pricing to ’sell’ and not ‘i wish i was in the south of france’
Way to expensive!, and its a fiat which deosnt help..
Come on Barbie, let go party.
They won’t ever sell in volume if it is based on price alone. That is probably not their goal. Fiat will need to do a lot of work to build value into this car and convince buyers it is worth it.
Our prices are in line with Europe, that’s the problem, converting Euros/Pounds + Shipping into AUD.
The 500 is a brilliant car in its own right and if I could afford one right now I would have one with a 1.4 and leather in a heart beat. Or in a months time I would kill for an Abarth 500.
And Kinetic, it has more leg room and boot space inside that a BMW Mini and that is the market it sits in not you bargain basement super minis.
I suggest that people should see and experience this car in the flesh before you judge. Plus $30k seems to be the buzz word on this blog but you can pick one up for $23K. That’s $8K less than a Mini.
Go on guys take one for a drive and have some fun and stop worrying about the super mini in you pants that your so desperately trying to hide!!
Id imagaine if fiat took over importing itself we would see price drops just like when merceded took over importing smart
Over priced rubbish…
Fix It Again Tony…
hey Jimbo … as u state the price listed on the website is indeed 23k, but once u add dealer delivery, stamp duty and rego its abt 27k … still cheaper than the mini, but thats without alloys and no stability control for the 1.2L manual.
i can get a mazda 2 genki auto with safety pack for much less than that!
it needs to be priced atleast 6k below what it is at the moment ….
sure its cute and all those other things, but value for money it is not…
si1982, true “value for money it is not”……. Is $31K a reasonable price for a Mini? I would rather have a 1.4 Fiat 500 for $26990 plus on roads that a Mini for $30990 plus on roads. The 500 is bigger on the inside and has arguably more talent on the road and comparable performance.
Yet people seem to think the price of a Mini is reasonable.
Also a Fiat 500 and a Mini are about as comparable to a Mazda 2 as a Mazda 6 is to a Mercedes C Class!!!!!
Anyway I hope sales do pick up as it is a great car. The Australian public has a habit of missing the point of cars like this, as they did with the Renault Clio and now the completely brilliant new version is only sold in its pocket rocket form here now and it s**ts all over Mazda 2’s and the like.
Both 500 and Mini are over priced rubbish…!!
Jimbo – i didnt say that the mini was not overpriced … i think its ridiculously over priced… infact both these cars…
the clio that according to u “s..ts” all over the mazda 2 and the like is also a very expensive car.
also the reason why mini is able to charge the premium that they do is coz of their association with BMW – premium brand in Australia. However, the 500 is a Fiat which is just about as far away from premium as you can be…. had it been an Alfa they could have justified the price tag.
Peel-back roof just like the 1957 version. Charge a 1957 price and they might just sell a few.
Otherwise……not.
si1982, you stated…”the 500 is a Fiat which is just about as far away from premium as you can be…. had it been an Alfa they could have justified the price tag”
You have just said that Mini is premium because it is attached to BMW.
Therefore isn’t the 500 attached to Alpha and dare I say it Ferrari in the same way??? i.e. the Abarth shares some components (be it only a hand-brake assembly) with a Scudierra. If it was the Fiat Panda I would agree with you but the 500 was specifically built to be a premium supermini like the Mini is.
Go and see one in the flesh and you will see why I have such admiration for this small and seemingly ridiculous car. The build and trim quality is outstanding (enough to put your Mazda 2 Genki to shame) and in all of its whimsical ridiculousness it actual possesses a surprising level of usability.
It’s all about DNA.
Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is a nucleic acid that contains the genetic instructions used in the development and functioning of all known living organisms and some viruses
Nothing about cars here… just saying.
The fiat is about marketing… just saying.
LOL, DanMan…..true, all true, I know there is a fair amount of marketing and retro fashion going on here but I don’t know I just love this car.
And I would happily part with $30K+ for an Abarth 500, and the more I try to justify its cost the more I feel like a d**khead. And Si1982 has made some good points too.
But damn it; I wouldn’t be a car enthusiast if I didn’t appreciate cool aspect of a car. The day I resign myself to rationalising every car by cost, size and affordability is the day I have lost the will to live, straped on a cardigan and bought a Toyota.
Doexyry…d…deox…um….it can’t be! I thought DNA meant the National Dyslexics Association and I should know cos I’m a life member.
nyah.
Golfschwein…
Well played sir. you get my vote for the fuel card. Funny on a few levels. Bravo! *Golf clap* (ohh that was unintentionaly funny too)
My comment from last week is still “awaiting moderation”. Not sure what I might have said that needs to be that looked into.
But anyway, people who have knocked the car haven’t driven it. I’d buy one over a Mini. Go test drive one to see why. You should probably test drive a mini too, because I doubt you’ve driven one of them either.
SteveC
How does “overpriced, underpowered and underequipped” grab you?
It’s a fashion car, clear and simple, whereas the Yaris and the Swift are practical cars.
How’s it doing compared to the New Beetle and the Mini is more pertinent, I think.
Having recently driven one… for 25k drive away as a minimum, its just not value, the interior is cheap… the Automated manual is a clunker (and auto is key in this market).
And the driving position for someone more than 6ft tall is horrid.
It’s pricey for what it is.I bought My Nissan Tiida back in 2006 when they were sourced from Japan with the Style Pack consisting of upgrade trim,alloy wheels and power windows on road for 25 Grand.Great Value for money with a proper automatic none of this Fiat Dualogic nonsense.Practical too.Will look at another one or a Corolla come trade in time in 2011.