... Just Kinda Lazy

Yep. A little too lazy in fact. Being involved with academy, in addition to forgetting my password again simply means no writing since December. How unfortunate. Lucky for you instead of plastering out a simple "sorry, we'll be back" story, we'll be putting out an actual article. Now, what'll the topic be...
Mmmmm... Italian. No, not Italian food (as much as I love it). Italian cars.

When we think Italian cars, we think Lamborghini and Ferrari surely. BBC's Top Gear has reviewed many Ferrari autos, including the exceptional 458. Obviously the Italian auto industry is known for its super cars just as much as it is known for the little quirks most of the cars seem to have. What about the Italian car for everyman? Italy? Yes, Italy produces cars for every Italian man, but not every man. Such as the world around every man. And normally you'd be right. But not anymore.

Enter the Fiat 500. If you remember this little car from the 1950's you would remember it wasn't much. It was simple and cheap, and that was about it. But Fiat has had a new version out in Europe for quite some time now. It's completely different from the 50's Fiat, but retains some of the looks. The engine is in the front instead of the back. And it's not simple anymore. What have we here?

One of the authors is in love with Mini. Along with the fuel savings, I think he likes Mini because (currently) it's German made by BMW. It's small, well made, and it's quick, especially the John Cooper Works (JCW) version of the Mini. In the Fiat one can automatically know just by looking at it that it has most of these features as well. It's small and fuel efficient, but what we don't know is, is it sporty? Again, I cite BBC's Top Gear for providing the answer:



Yes, it is the Abarth version of the car, but instead of comparing to the standard Mini, compare it to the JCW Mini. It still doesn't look good. While the JCW Mini speeds from 0-60 in 6.2 seconds, the Abarth Fiat 500 does 0-60 in 7.4 seconds. In perspective, the Mini is more than a second faster. But, keeping in perspective the Mini JCW costs around $40,000 at my local dealer. From what I have been able to track down, the Abarth has been speculated at around $20,000 for the U.S.
Comparing the performance specifications and the Top Gear video, is a second worth $20,000? What do you think?