I am just back from a wedding in Lichfield, over the Easter weekend, and a small hire car worked out cheaper than taxis so it was a nice surprise to discover that Avis' promised Renault Clio 1.2 somehow morphed in a Fiat 500 Multijet Diesel 1.3 - It's one of their "Select" cars and I even had a choice of colour, White, Yellow or Grey. I've always thought that they look stunning in their shade of Ivory white so that's what we picked.

First aquaintances were mixed - Yes the car looks fantastic, more so when you know you have the keys but even though the car is much bigger than the original version, it is still a little cramped. The boot just big enough to take 2 trolly cases but more importantly, the space for the driver was less than generous. On top of that there is insufficient room for your left foot when not operating the clutch and there is a cubby hole in the centre console whose opening lip sticks in to your leg. Funny how little annoyances colour your impression of a car.?

Moving off dampened my enthusiasm further - The steering felt lifeless, the engine under powered and the whole experience not at all like what you would expect from a small Italian run about. It was a bit like my first experience of an Alfa 159 in 2006 - All expectations from the design disappointed by a car weighed down with technology and safety features.

Arriving at the hotel was a relief and I had no further desire to get to know the car better.?

On the morning of the wedding, the groom, his father and I went to get their cars washed. The groom had just traded in his Audi A2 TDi for a Fiat Bravo 1.4 T-Jet (150 bhp) and was enjoying himself on the roundabouts. I suddenly remembered the city steering button on the dash of the 500 and decided to see if it made any difference? Well to say the car was transformed is a bit of an understatement. Suddenly the expected liveliness returned and the car became eager to be chucked about with the 185/55/15 tyres offering almost unstickable levels of grip. The car remained dead level despite what hooligan steering inputs were used!

The only thing holding me back now was the feeble engine output. As I got to to know the car I began to appreciate it's other qualities. Yes the steering wheel was only adjustable in one plane and was stuck in more of a bus drivers position than I would like but once I had adjusted to it's little differences it became a more pleasant place to be. It cruised along nicely at 80mph on the m-way and offered secure sudden braking, as needed when I overshot the entrance to the hotel.

Would I buy one for myself? Well on the first day I wanted nothing more to do with it but as time went on, it began to worm it's way into my affections. There were still things that Fiat could do better .....like fit a radio that held a good radio signal, fit one touch up as well as down electric windows, etc but I was left thinking that an Abarth essesse would be a very interesting drive!

So to the subject of the thread title - Here are a few pics of the two Fiats together.

E - I'll take that as a compliment!!?

And did you stop reading half way through..?

I'm not that tall, 5 foot 10, so an average body length. If a manufacturer pays too little attention to the user interface when designing a product ... sales will suffer - The car should "fit" an average human irrespective of the overall dimensions. I've been looking forward to driving a 500 since they were launched in 2007 and after this experience one of the most acute memories is of discomfort for my left foot!? In fact I was being asked all weekend long what I thought of the car and the majority of my comments were less than complimentary (at least early on) so much so that by Saturday night a cousin approached me with "I hear you don't rate the 500"!

My point is that I don't subscribe to blind faith in a product or a brand especially when spending big chunks on a product like a car. Car design is such an advanced art these days it is very disappointing to uncover some basic oversights which could have been engineered out at conception.?