Fiat

Wildly characterful Italian design, with some very clever engineering bits.

Genius packaging means a remarkably comfortable cabin, although the body-colour dashboard rim can be a bit too reflective in South African summers. Cabin safety spec is deeply impressive with 7 standard airbags.

Cars at twice the price can’t match its fun factor. Laughably easy to park in even the most challenging mall or venue parking garages.

The 875cc twin-cylinder engines are very characterful. And make decent power and torque for their size (62kW/145Nm), being turbocharged. These engines don’t suffer power loss at altitude, unlike most other compact cars with naturally aspirated engines, making the 500 a confident city car for highway driving on the Highveld.

Having half the number of cylinders of a conventional compact car engine also means only half the number of valves and other service items to be replaced, if you factor in long-term ownership maintenance.

Low sales volumes mean 500 parts aren’t cheap, though. But hijacking/theft risk is negligible. Best buy is the 0.9l Club, in a wild colourway. Avoid the Cabriolets with the fabric soft-tops.