Nadia Jaftha’s weekend missions around Cape Town in the Fiat 500
Vlogger, style guru and cyber bestie, Nadia Jaftha, introduces the Fiat 500…
Living and driving la dolce vita
Somehow, this adorable car touched people’s hearts and became a symbol of how to live, laugh and love – Italian style. This, my friends, is what they call la dolce vita, the sweet life. Who’s not going to put up her hand for a slice of that tasty pie? Fiat’s new 500 has made little cars jump pretty high up the wanted list for 2017 and has virtually cornered the market for designer, compact city cars thanks to its combination of style and affordability. It’s simply happiness personified. You can’t help but smile when you spot this saucy little mouse on the road.
Sexy in the city
It’s all eyes on me and my bambina mia. It’s the kind of car people notice and remember, because it turns heads everywhere it goes. You just can’t help falling in love with its cheeky curves and sassy style. Dynamite really does come in small packages. This one is loaded with explosive features that you would normally expect to find in a bigger car. Oh, did I mention that it oozes sex appeal from just about every angle? I’ve put together a little look at my favourite weekend missions around Cape Town so you can see just how cool this little car really is and how much fun you can have in it…
Day 1
Full-On Fun – Hitting the hotspots around the city AM to PM. Just being myself!
One look at that perky profile and those big, beautiful front lamps and I know this car is designed, devised and desired by fun-loving people.
Hopping out for a day in town with my besties, you’d think a lack of space would be a problem, but it’s not. The Fiat 500C is actually very comfortable and the cute little boot is roomy enough for all our shopping and the rest…
Day 2
Just Chilling – Coffee, chatting, shopping, that’s my kinda life
It’s time for my caffeine fix and the Saturday brunch crowd is already choking the streets in their massive 4x4s. East your heart out, yummy mummies – I just skip in and out of the gaps and zip through the traffic in my little bubble of sunshine. It’s just so lovable, I can’t deal!
The steering is quick and light and the Sport button on the dash lets me turn-on-a-R2 coin. Cool, huh?
Day 3
Beach-Babe Time – Cruising down the coast, loving life. Taking it eaaasy…
I adore all the retro features Fiat has included, like the signature steering wheel and darling dashboard with that rather enormous gauge with all the techie stuff you need.
Like I’ve always said, a girl has to have high standards, and the Fiat 500C goes all the way to the top, even popping out of it. I’m craaaazzyyy about the über-cool convertible top. Oh, can you tell?
Fiat 500 Fab Facts
In 1960, it was hip. In 2017, it’s still cool. How many times have I heard people saying “if it’s not broken, don’t fix it” and that goes for winning formulas like the Fiat 500 and mama’s pasta. These are the things I adore about this cheeky car.
→ Safety-wise, the FIat 500 has seven airbags, ABS with EBD and ESC plus Anti Slip Regulation, Hill Hold and Hydraulic Brake Assistance for emergency braking.
→ It has an amazing little two-cylinder engine that really gets it going. The 0,9 Twinair Turbo produces either 63 kW in the Pop and Pop Star, or 77 kW in the Lounge version. It might be small but when you get up to speed, you’ll be surprised how this baby takes on the big bad motorways with ease.
→ It’s really great on fuel consumption and has automatic stop-start, so when you’re stuck in back-to-back traffic or waiting for that red light to finally change, it will switch off the engine to stop burning fuel. Once you un-heel the brake pedal, it will instantly purr-back into life.
→ The new Fiat 500 could cause you a wardrobe meltdown as it comes in a rainbow of colours, including pretty pastel mint green, lipstick red called Pasodoble Red and my personal favourite, Giallo Sole, a bubble of sunshine yellow.
→ The TwinAir Pop costs R187 900 for the manual basic car with the Uconnect audio system with aux-in and USB.
→ The Pop Star features a glam panoramic fixed sunroof and at R199 900 for the manual, or R210 900 for the auto, it’s fantastic value.
→ The Lounge has an upgraded Radio Nav and the interior is all fashion-designer fabrics or luxe leather. It’s R227 900 for the manual and R238 900 for the auto.
→ Both Pop Star and Lounge are available in the 500 hatch and this 500C cabriolet where the cloth roof folds back onto the boot and you can let the sunshine in. Bliss!
I’ve really enjoyed driving it, as it feels expensive and just oozes attitude!