Autocar - First for car news and reviews

Our spy photographers have snapped the new Fiat 500 cabriolet out testing.
Fiat is striving to sneak the new 500 Convertible under the £10k barrier to make it one of the cheapest soft-tops on sale in the UK. According to Fiat’s head of marketing, Luca de Meo, the open-top 500 is likely to carry a 1500 Euro premium over a 500 hatchback. Translated into Sterling at current rates, that’s around £1200 extra.
With the Fiat 500 hatchback ranging in price from £810...Read the full article

Firstly, the Nouva 500 (1957-1975) had a folding canvas top only in the first few years. It was soon replaced by a solid roof with a canvas sun-roof (slightly larger than normal).

Since the 500 never had a real convertible version, I think what we see in these photos would be a real mistake. To my honest (yet biased) opinion, a much smarter move would have been reviving one of the 500 based roadsters of the 60's, the Bianchina or even the Vignale Gamine (by buying the brand from Ford, I'm sure the Americans would be happy to get rid of that).

That way Fiat would have created another niche model, created more buzz and remained true to the origins of the 500 - not just copy the Mini cabriolet.

My opinion, anyway.

Well I think the 500 will be unique. The only other car with a remotely similar system on sale today is the C3 Pluriel, but even that can turn into a full cabrio. This new 500 reminds me of the 2CV's roof, which has absolute character and fun. I will have to buy one at some point!! Well done Fiat - hope we see it soon!

 rtwingo, the new 500 won't be a real convertible, but it will look like the first 1957 Nuova 500:

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/144/337352589_b2255f05fa_b.jpg

I think Fiat is not copying Mini, but it's giving the 500 its original personality.