Fiat 500 1.2 Pop Convertible review

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Fiat 500 1.2 Pop Road Test

Test date 03 August 2009 Price as tested £12,300

For Clever roof design, cute looks, better drive than hatch

Against Price hike over hatch, poor rear vision, jiggly ride

Just when you thought the Fiat 500 couldn’t get any cuter, along comes this cabriolet version to make you think again. For reasons of historical accuracy (see History section, right), ease of use and, no doubt, expediency, the 500C is not a full convertible in the conventional sense, where the entire top of the car can be folded away out of sight.

Instead, its fabric roof concertinas backwards electrically, leaving the roof rails entirely unaltered. Indeed, rival manufacturers can already be heard sniffing that “it’s just a big sunroof, not a proper convertible”. Will that affect its popularity? We think not.

Something else, though, is more likely to dent its chances of becoming as wildly popular as its tin-top sister: Fiat’s decision to charge an astonishing £3000 extra for that roof.

Not even Mini charges that big a premium for its full convertible. As we shall see, that’s not quite all you get for the extra money, but with even this base-spec 68bhp 1.2 Pop retailing for £11,300, the breadth of customers both able and inclined to buy one will naturally be somewhat reduced.