Monty Python’s Eric Idle wrote that title song for the movie The Life of Brian. It seems Fiat, 44 years later, have turned it into their own philosophy.
The last two weeks were a curious time for the Fiat brand. And they restored some of my faith in the fact the Italians have not completely lost that peculiar way of doing things that makes their cars so … well … peculiar.
Let’s start at the end. Fiat have just revealed it is no longer painting their cars grey. Yes, you read that right. Grey is boring and Fiat is not, so no more grey cars.
Olivier François, the brand’s CEO, set up quite a fun event in Lerici, where he dipped the new Fiat 600 – the first model not to be available in grey – in a giant bucket full of orange paint. It was a very Italian stunt, very ‘colourful’.
Mr. François told reporters: “We broke the rules: we decided to stop the production of Fiat grey cars. This is challenging and disruptive and it is aimed at further reinforcing Fiat’s leadership as the brand of joy, colours and optimism. This choice further communicates to people the new ‘dolce vita’ values and the Italian DNA embodied by the brand.”
I know this is marketing, but it is pretty cool marketing, right? And undoubtedly bold. For instance, in England, grey is the best-selling colour: one in every four cars sold in the English market is grey! British people, hear me out: you need more joy in your lives.
Fiat’s CEO also disclosed that axing the grey colour is accompanied by a new brand tagline: “Italy. The land of colours. Fiat. The brand of colours.” Also quite cool, I think. In a world where everything has been done, Fiat might just have come up with something boldly new.
This path to rediscover optimism will link available colours to the Italian’s sun, sea, earth and sky, hence the names Gelato White, Sicily Orange, Paprika Orange, Dipinto di Blu Blue, Italia Blue, Venezia Blue, Rugiada Green, Forrest Green, Rose Golden and Cinema Black.
At the moment, the Fiat range is comprised of five models: the 500, the electric 500, the 500X, the Panda and the Tipo. The pledge to go all-electric in 2030 is easier said than done, so changes are coming. However, Fiat will definitely maintain their status as a maker of small cars – which is our perfect segue into the next piece of news the brand released recently. There is a new Topolino in town. Not available in grey, of course.
The Topolino is one of the most cherished names in Fiat history. It actually means little mouse and that is how the Italians called their first Fiat 500, between 1936 and 1955. The new one is even quirkier than the original and mechanically based on the Citroën Ami, looking as good as the Ami looks weird.
Although it has the Topolino’s name, the new model clearly draws inspiration from the Nuova 500, or the car we usually call the original 500. For a modern, small city car (that is actually not a car, more on that later), the Topolino is as retro as it gets. And not since the 2007 Fiat 500 came along did the word cute applied so well to a four-wheeled machine. It’s just so cute, isn’t it? I mean, what’s with the thick ropes replacing the doors? The small round lights? The even smaller turn signals? Cute, cute, cute.
Fiat have not shown any interior or rear-end pictures, but while I cannot guess what the rear will look like – the front is pretty different from the Ami – I am absolutely sure the cabin will be almost similar to the Citroën, but with a lot more imaginative range of trim selections. That top of the dashboard in the picture looks incredible.
There is also no indication yet of technical specifications but, like I said, the Ami is not a car, it’s a quadricycle. It cannot go on the motorway. The Ami, for instance, has a 5.5-kilowatt-hour lithium-ion battery pack making a curious eight horsepower. Real-world range is 50 to 60 km. The Fiat will likely be the same, meaning it will be a city runabout or, even better, a beach-side runabout, much like the (coachbuilder) Ghia built 500 Jolly and 600 Jolly were more than half a century ago.
The Topolino will be built in Morocco and my guess is it will cost in the vicinity of €10,000. For many Mediterranean villa-owners that will matter not a jot, as the Topolino will be a must-have fashion accessory like a pair of Jimmy Choo’s or the latest Rolex.
All in all, well done Fiat. Grabbing the attention of the public with two very distinctive decisions that show someone still understands Italians must do it differently.
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