Fiat’s 500 — with its tiny footprint and retro-themed styling — is cute, but a new special edition version is ditching cute and aiming for cool. The 2013 500 Cattiva — which Fiat says is Italian for a “person or situation that’s naughty yet cool” — is a limited-production version with aggressive styling cues.
The Cattiva model features blacked-out headlamp, tail lamp and parking lamp bezels along with 16-inch Nero black painted aluminum wheels. Other exterior additions include a glossy black roof and matching spoiler. Inside, there’s Nero/Grigio (black/gray) cloth sport seats with silver stitching; leather is optional. The instrument panel is finished in a matte black, and the black theme continues with a leather-wrapped Nero shift knob and sport steering wheel.
The special edition model can be based off of the 500 Sport with the 101-horsepower, 1.4-liter four-cylinder and standard five-speed manual transmission; a six-speed automatic is optional. Turbo Cattiva versions are also available and use that model’s 135-hp, turbocharged version of the 1.4-liter.
Sport-level Cattivas start at $19,150 and the Turbo at $21,150. Regular Sport versions start at $18,300, and Turbos at $20,300 (all prices include an $800 destination fee). The 500 Cattiva goes on sale at the end of this year.
News Editor Jennifer Geiger joined the automotive industry in 2003, much to the delight of her Corvette-obsessed dad. Jennifer is an expert reviewer, certified car-seat technician and mom of three. She wears a lot of hats — many of them while driving a minivan.