The Fiat 500 in today’s time is perceived as premium hatchback and more of a lifestyle statement. It has shed the status of the people’s car the original carried. One should remember that the original Fiat 500 was more of a necessity and need designed for the Italians for a healing economy post-war. The original 500 was supposed to be purposeful and affordable.

David Obendorfer an industrial designer recently came up with graphical sketches of a Fiat 500 MPV. According to David, the Fiat 500 MPV is based on Fiat’s Panda platform (like the 500) but with more space and two extra doors.

David was interest to play around with the Fiat 500 and to come up with other possibilities as he himself is a Fiat 500 owner and wanted to see how the car would look in other forms.

David wanted to transform the 500 into an actual family hatch and thus his design is a larger 5 door car. It stays true to its original roots and from a few angles one cannot find severe disparities between the 3 and 5 door models.

Fiat 500 MPV Image Gallery

We say, it’s good to set a style statement, sometimes with the family as well.

[Renderings sourced from - AutoBlog.it]

We are not sure if Fiat will bring out a spyder version of its 500 hatchback as shown here. The company unveiled the convertible model last year dubbed 500C at the Geneva Motor Show (pictured below). It doesn’t qualify as a “Spider” as the pillars and the connecting members are very much in tact.

Burlapp cars speculates the Fiat 500 Spider could be priced below the upcoming Mini Cooper Spider. No substantial information is available at this point, but we’ll continue to monitor the developments on this topless Italian chick, if any, closely.

Fiat has launched a new online store for its exclusive merchandise to celebrate the anniversary (53.5th year??) of the iconic Fiat 500 and the launch of its highly acclaimed Twin Air engine.

Fiat’s online store has a very simple and easy to use layout which Fiat 500 enthusiasts can browse through to shop over 130 products including accessories, apparel, gifts, scale models and other official merchandise. The site would also offer 200 odd car accessories for the Fiat 500.

The website is divided into four sections: ’500 World’, ‘For You’, ‘For Your Friends’ and ‘For Your Car’. The Italian tricolor theme and Fiat 500′s cheeky styling theme would be decorating a majority of the designer merchandises on offer. Like the coffee maker pictured above.

The main news however has been pushed to the side by Fiat’s new online store: the Twin Air engine (pictured, above right) is a 900cc 2-cylinder engine which would come as a naturally aspirated version as well a turbocharged version. This engine use Fiat’s ‘Multiair’ technology and could be tuned to produce between 64 hp and 104 hp. This engine would be offered on the facelifted Fiat 500 coming soon and Fiat’s Topolino cars.

Source: Repubblica

Here’s a rendering showing how the 2011 Fiat Panda could look like. The car in the rendering draws clear inspiration for its design from the Fiat 500 and also possesses Fiat’s new family look as seen on the Fiat 500 and the Fiat Punto Evo.

The next-generation Fiat Panda will be based on the Fiat Mini platform, which also underpins the current Panda, the Fiat 500 and the Fiat Novo Uno.

The Panda will share a lot of the mechanicals from the 500 and the Novo Uno, such as engines and chassis components. The Panda will also be available with Fiat’s new Twin Air range of twin-cylinder petrol engines.

Fiat will be investing 700 million Euros into its Pomigliano d’Arco factory in order for it to roll out 2,70,00 units of the new Panda. Fiat will be banking heavily on this model since the current Panda has done very well for the company by selling more than 1.5 million units and also winning the coveted European Car of the Year Title in 2004. The new car definitely has a big reputation to live up to both for the company and for itself.

Source – Fiat Blog

Fiat inked the pact with Irish solar manufacturer SolarPrint, and by doing so joined the bandwagon of companies interested in fitting solar panels to car roofs that will supply power to onboard devices.

The photovoltaic material used on the roof is low-cost but is effective to power accessories like air conditioner, electrical motors and items like cabin lights which can reduce fuel consumption by up to 15%.

Companies like Audi, Volkswagen, and Toyota already make use of this technology to keep the cabin cool when the engine is turned off.

Fiat could adopt this technology on its other vehicles including the Grande Punto, Bravo and Doblo in the future.

Source – CNET

Auto Designer Rob Thorman believes that a car should be regarded as a member of the family in order to make sure that waste is minimized. He has come up with a concept named ‘Ben’ that he thinks can be adopted in the family by giving it your surname. Cool eh?

Smaller than a Fiat 500 with seating for 4 adults this car is powered by in wheel 30kw electric hub motors that are charged by a 300V lithium-ion battery. The car also has in wheel active shockers to make the ride more comfortable.

Quite an innovative idea, isn’t it?

Rob Thornham Ben EV Image Gallery

Source – Eco Friend