Fiat 500 S TwinAir | Shed of the Week
In years gone by, there was plenty of Italian chic for tiny money - well, happy days are here again...
After last week’s V10 madness, we’re back to the little ‘uns this week with this Fiat 500. Not just any old 500 though. More on that in a minute. Appropriately for a small car, the ‘new’ Fiat 500 was built in Tychy, a town in Poland, from 2007. Sales have been anything but small though, the number of units shifted so far having passed the 2.5 million mark more than four years ago.
Mrs Shed fancied a Fiat 500 from the day they came out. Besides the retro styling, she loved the sausage-finger-friendly switchgear and the large speedometer. Unfortunately, as noted in the only other Fiat 500 to appear in SOTW a good few years back, Shed felt unable to satisfy her longing for chunky knobs and bulging speedos, so he never gave her one. He didn’t give her a 500 either.
That might change this week though, with the invasion of this 2013 TwinAir into our sub-£2k selection of MOT’d motors. The TwinAir name could easily apply to Shed’s Homer Simpson style balding pate, but in the case of Fiat (and Alfa Romeo who put the same engine in its Mito) it referred to a long-stroke, single cam parallel twin displacing just over 900cc normally aspirated or just under 900cc in turbocharged guise, where it produced 85hp, a briskish 0-60mph time of 10 and a bit seconds and a top speed of around 107mph.
Annoyingly, our shed is a 2013 car, so it doesn’t benefit from the power hike to 104hp that came in the 2014 refresh. On the plus side, our shed has had just three owners in its 98,000 miles, and price-wise it’s comfortably under our top limit at £1,795. The running costs shouldn’t be too painful either, the annual vehicle tax bill in the UK being not much more than the price of a packet of fags at £20.
Fuel costs might be a little higher than you might expect, however. An engine size of 875cc and a claimed max torque figure of 107lb ft at just 1,900rpm sounds like a good template for high mpg, and the official combined consumption of nearly 69mpg would seem to bear that out, but some owners have cast doubt on Fiat’s torque claim, bemoaning what they felt was a complete lack of it (probably a turbo mismatch?) and shortcircuiting it by caning their cars in search of the 85hp that didn’t turn up until 5,500rpm, just 500rpm short of the red line. Driven in that fashion, as it often was, the TwinAir delivered considerably worse mpg numbers, like in the 30s – but boy was it fun to thrash. It felt unburstable and sounded like little else, the nearest being a 2CV with several times the power.
Before we focus more closely on the TwinAir, it’s worth talking about the first four-cylinder 500s as they didn’t score all that highly on the reliability front. Problems could occur in the suspension, most notably with country and western sensation Rusty Mounts, but also with corroded springs and rear axle beams. And corroded exhausts, sumps and brakes. Bleed nipples on rear drum-braked models seized and handbrake cables snapped.
Mechanically, the 1.2 four-pot engines were at heart pretty robust, but some of them did like to drink oil and the gear selector cable could part company with the gearbox. Ancillaries like coils, water pumps, radiators, coolant bottles and heater outlet pipes on the thermostat housings were all prone to failure. Many of the other issues you might have with a 500 could be traced back to the ruinous effects of water, which could find its way into the clutch master cylinder reservoir or past poor door and hatch seals. Blocked drains would soak ECUs with predictable results. Warning lights might madly flash, speedos might flicker, and the wiring and release handle for the rear hatch could play up. Separately, air con systems could suffer from heater box and recirculation flap motor troubles, and the pivots for the door handles were notorious for breaking.
Zooming in on the TwinAir, owners have again noticed rusty suspension parts and dodgy coolant tanks. Failing rear engine mounts have generated nasty vibes. Some turbos have died and the module for the UniAir valve control system – the world’s first electro-hydraulic system of its type – could give up the ghost if you tried to save money on oil because that could clog up the module’s oil strainer and cost a lot of money (over £1,000) to put right. These engines do seem to be quite fussy about maintenance in general and oil in particular (levels, quality and freshness), so you’ll be hoping that the service history we’re told this car has is more full than partial.
You’ll also want to try the driving position before buying. The seat can seem high and you can’t lower it, and the steering wheel isn’t adjustable for reach. Still, the MOT runs to next August and it has just a couple of advisories for a worn front tyre and a minor exhaust leak. Shed knows all about that. His small grandson Gable-Ended can really stink the place out after a plateful of beans.
It’s obviously a conscious choice by fiat and I think they’ve shrewdly appealed to a market that’s either used to or aspiring to crossovers, suvs and day vans (my neighbours drive is a fiat 500 and a vw caravelle)
For me though (as mr average at under 6 foot and less than powerfully built) it’s the worst driving position of any hatchback I’ve driven (or been driven) in.
So I bent the rules and said: if I get 2 cars - and divide by 2 - is that ok? - er yes, that brings you under the 4 litre cap
Awful seat, nearly as bad fuel consumption as my 63 (yeah not really as bad - lol !)
The best burn ‘up’ I ever had was in the twinair - 50 miles across country chasing a diesel polo… Battle of the sloths…
All of which happened below the NSL
Good fun little car - enjoy Twinair..!
But it didn't like 4th at 30 or 5th at 40 like the little 1.2 did, which aided economy when bimbling around town. The 1.2 enjoyed being thrashed at under the nsl just as much and was a hoot to drive. I never had an issue with the driving position, totally different to my na eunos but never an issue.
Don't be too worried about rusty suspension arms, knackered springs or inefficient handbrakes on previous MOTs. TADTS and parts are cheap.
Goddaughter jumped in with me on the way back while we followed her Dad and sister in his Taycan.
The entire journey was spent with the girls exchanging either edited photos of me driving or gifs and memes of Gru, Mr Incredible in his car or Hightower.
Had a habit of overheating in hot weather and traffic which we never got to the bottom of, until we sold it to a trader as she needed a larger car, soon after the head gasket went; dodged an expensive bullet there!
A fun car which we both miss but I think it's one of those cars that has been done, never to be done again.
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