A Measure of the 500's Broad Appeal!

Caitlin Hemby, 16, hasn't driven much. Robert Latimer, 88, has. Both wanted Fiat 500 minicars and bought the first two sold by Fiat of Lakeside in Macomb Township, Mich., near Detroit.

Latimer is a retired Chrysler modeler and prototype maker who farms several hundred acres near Richmond, Mich., northeast of Detroit. His interest was piqued by what he'd read about the 500, so, he says, in March, "When they opened the dealership I went down to buy one."

Now, says the 6-foot-tall Latimer, "I make plans to go where I don't even want to go, just to drive it."

Hemby was to get her first car as a birthday present last September, but says she waited for the 500's arrival in March because she couldn't find anything else with the Fiat's blend of fuel efficiency and charming looks.  "I love driving it," says the 5-foot-2-inch-tall junior at Seaholm High School in Birmingham, Mich. "If I were a car, this is what I'd be."

A short teen new to driving and a tall farmer who's a veteran of everything from Harley-Davidson motorcycles to trucks and tractors — Fiat U.S. chief Laura Soave hopes that range is not a quirk, but rather a measure of the 500's broad appeal.

It needs to be broad. The little car, which starts at $16,000 and is the first Fiat sold in the U.S. since 1983, is the foundation for the Italian brand's return.

"The 500 sets the stage," Soave says.

More has been done with less. Volkswagen began in the U.S. selling two Beetles in 1949.