The Driver - Summer 2016 The Driver - Summer 2016 | Page 25
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his particular version, though,
is an interesting one, if for no
other reason than it takes the
retro thing—the 500’s calling card, if
you will—to the nth degree.
You see, the 57 Edition debuted
in 2014 as that marked the 57th year
since the original Cinquecento was
released—in 1957. The 2016 edition
is a little anachronistic, then, but
that doesn’t seem to bother Fiat.
What seemed to actually bother
Fiat, however, was the fact that the
standard 500 wasn’t retro-looking
enough; having a similar profile and
a few stylistic nods to the original car
just wasn’t going to do the trick.
So, the 57 Edition goes the whole
nine; body-colour matching 16-inch
wheels, classic Fiat badging and three
colours that recalled the pastel patina
of the late 50s. My press car is decked
in a Celeste Blu (Fiat’s spelling)
exterior colour, while the roof is
partially finished in a very classic
shade of slightly off-white. It works
well in some lights, but can seem a
little dirty in lower-light conditions.
Inside, it’s called “Avorio”, which is
Italian for “ivory” although I see more
“Marrone” (brown) here than I do
white. Then again, I guess you aren’t
really looking at the seats when
you’re driving, but more the dash
and wheel. It matches the roof, too,
so there’s that. But how dirty is that
wheel rim going to get?
The interior is pretty luxurious to
take in, though; the tint found on the
seats and door trim is an interesting
cross between gingerbread and
baseball glove, and is of a luxury that
you wouldn’t necessarily expect from
a sub-30K car; bonus points for the
fact that your special “57” key fob
matches the tint. Also featured in this
57 is a $750 power sunroof as well as
a $495 TomTom navigation system.
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