Fiat 500L goes large

The Fiat 500, a city car now ubiquitous in towns and cities the world over, will soon to be available in a five-door ‘large’ version. The details released by Fiat about the 500L are scant, but its measurements are 414cm by 178cm by 166cm high.

The diminutive and fuel-efficient Fiat 500 car has captured the hearts of motoring journalists around the world; even Jeremy Clarkson wrote that he would sooner have the £10,000 Fiat 500 TwinAir on his driveway than a £1m Bugatti Veyron.

The Fiat 500 Twinair produces a road tax-avoiding 95g/km CO2 and a claimed 68.9mpg, but is not powered by batteries or biofuel. Compared to Fiat’s 1.2-litre 4-cylinder petrol engine, the petrol engine has more power, but emissions that are 15 per cent lower.

Fiat 500: Back to the future

The engine configuration harks back to the original iconic, twin-cylinder Fiat 500 of 1957. In its most basic guise, the TwinAir costs £10,665.

Nissan responded to the Twinair last year with the Micra DIG-S concept, a car that also achieves 95g/km CO2.

A spokesperson for the Environmental Transport Association (ETA) said: “The Fiat 500 TwinAir challenges the view that the greenest cars are rarely desirable – lightweight cars are rewarding to drive, use less fuel and are kinder to the planet.”

The Fiat 500 TwinAir

Kei cars come to Britain

In Japan, the need for vehicles restricted in size, engine displacement and power in order to bypass tax, insurance regulations and the requirement in some areas that parking space be available before the vehicle is bought, gave rise the Kei car class.

Regulations rather than consumer demands gave birth to the Kei car class in Japan, and it is rising petrol prices and road tax breaks for cleaner vehicles that have paved the way for cars like the Fiat 500 TwinAir and the Nissan DIG-S in Britain.