Object of Desire: FIAT 500 Giardiniera

I really hope to acquire one of these as an Autodromo "delivery van" some day.

Wrong Wheel Drive

This made me laugh.

FIAT - Floundering Italian Advertising Talent?

I just caught an eyeful of the supposed "first new FIAT commercial" aimed at the US Market, via jalopnik. And folks, I almost lost that Tiramisu I had for dessert.  Porca Miseria!

FIAT has two monumental challenges in re-entering the American market. Not only must it overcome the fears of notorious Italian unreliability and indifferent service it engendered in older consumers 30 years ago, but it must essentially launch a NEW BRAND for the majority of their target entry-level buyer segment, who are too young and too car-ignorant to have ever known what a FIAT was in the first place. And if this ad is any indication of what they are bringing to the table, Sergio Marchionne may as well stay soakin' in that hottub with Berlusconi until they cook up something sexier.

If have rarely seen such bland, meaningless stock imagery combined with such artless cinematography of the actual car. The first shot where we actually see the product (after 35 nauseating seconds!), the car drives over a distracting manhole cover in the road. Couldn't they have chosen a different snippet of footage to start off with?? Combine this with the computer generated "flower-petal" imagery (at 0:41 and 0:52) which is blatantly yanked from the original VW beetle and iMac campaigns from c.1999, and seems utterly out of place in this commercial. 

The messaging touts the car as an expression of the "Italian Way" yet we never are shown the original car or how pervasive and loved it is throughout Italy. No, instead we are subjected to cloying imagery of an archetypal Italian Grandma kissing a child, and fields of olive trees. The only reference to FIAT's history is the parade of badges towards the end, which will bewilder most Americans (who, as I said, have no real idea what a FIAT is) and only emphasizes the fickle nature of the company's branding over the years.

In the end, I am left trying to take stock of what I am supposed to come away with.  Where is the "Zoom Zoom" or the "Let's Motor"?  "Life is Best when Driven" probably sounded cool in Italian (I have a strong suspicion this ad was done by an Italian agency because the cheese factor reeks distinctively of Parmeggiano) but in English it just sits there in all its inglorious passive voice.

I could rant like this for hours, but I think i'll shut up and let you watch it already!

La Dolce Vita, it ain't!

And the music was awful too, wasn't it? But at least they didn't use Opera...

Street Sighting: FIAT 500 Abarth replica

I snagged these shots in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. I have no idea where the owner was, but I kept hoping he would show up while I was standing there. I sort of doubt this car is a real Abarth, but it does have some fun go-fast details, and was clearly fresh from the restoration shop. Click the pic for more shots.

Prune It Again Tony

While walking the streets of Milan last week, I came upon this curious sight.  I suppose these Fiat 500 planters were meant to show off the new-ish retractable roof they now offer.  Or maybe tout the car's (dubious) Green credentials.   Whatever the message, they sure are fun to look at!