wrote in message
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Have you seen the crash tests at 40 MPH....SCARY to say the least.
They better make it beefier than the Euro models.
After looking at the Smart for 2 crash into a heavy Mercedes ( drivers
side impact on both, head on ) , I'd trust a Smart before a Fiat 500.
If you want to see REAL scary crash tests...go look up the Chery
Amulet, a total DEATH-TRAP. The Russian junk fares no better.
There's an awesome crash simulation of the Smart (radio-controlled)
hitting an angled cement barrier at 70 MPH. The occupants would
survive. They could still open the passenger door.
I wonder if they'll try to resurect the Isetta. God help us.......

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I've owned three Fiats, a 500, a 850 Spider and a 850 coupe. The first two
were in Italy and I couldn't ship them back to the US because they didn't
meet safety standards, even back in the 70's.
I bought the coupe in the US and kept it for a while. None were exactly
"quality" cars, but we survived by not crashing into anything.

The early Fiat 500s were basically disposable cars. I think they had 20 hp.
In Italy, back in the 60's, you could buy a brand new one for about $700 and
they were driven for about 30K miles then thrown away.

We used to get a big kick out of seeing three generations of an Italian
family, all cram-packed into a Fiat 500 heading off to the soccer stadium in
Naples. The one we had looked like this:

http://www.happyrent.com/hrincentive...l-fiat-500.htm

Eisboch