We all know and love the Fiat 500 even though the Italian brand doesn’t sell too many in the United States of America. There are a few good reasons for this state of affairs, including the woeful reliability record.
Of the 9,200 vehicles that Fiat sold in this part of the world in 2019, the 500 city car accounted for 3,267 units. The starting price of $16,495 makes it a hard sell in this segment if you remember that the larger, better equipped, and more reliable Toyota Yaris Sedan kicks off at $15,650 excluding freight.
In addition to being a strange proposition for the U.S. customer, the 500 has a whole lot of complaints on the NHTSA website and the dealership network isn’t exactly helpful when it comes to servicing. Typical for an Italian model, the most complaints on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concern the electrical system. The powertrain is ranked second.
The question is, what if Fiat upgraded the 500 with the know-how of Dodge and SRT to make it a little more American? That’s exactly what Kleber Silva did with the help of Photoshop, and the resulting renderings are strangely - dare I say it - good. The Dodge 500 SRT, though, wouldn’t sell either.
Starting with the front fascia, you can clearly tell the face swap comes courtesy of the Dodge Dart. The late Sergio Marchionne famously slammed it and the Chrysler 200 at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, saying that he doesn’t know “one investment that was as bad as these two [nameplates] were.”
The sides are beautified with double-spoke alloys, bigger brake discs with red-painted calipers, and the Hellcat logo on the B-pillar trim even though the 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI V8 engine doesn’t have room under the hood of the Italian runabout. Even as a mid- or rear-engine conversion, the Hellcat would be almost impossible to integrate into the lil’ Cinquecento.
As for the rear, the Brazilian pixel manipulator went with full-width taillights as you may find on the Dart and Charger sedans from Dodge. Two small SRT and Hellcat logos ornate the hatch door and the front grille.
In addition to being a strange proposition for the U.S. customer, the 500 has a whole lot of complaints on the NHTSA website and the dealership network isn’t exactly helpful when it comes to servicing. Typical for an Italian model, the most complaints on the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration concern the electrical system. The powertrain is ranked second.
The question is, what if Fiat upgraded the 500 with the know-how of Dodge and SRT to make it a little more American? That’s exactly what Kleber Silva did with the help of Photoshop, and the resulting renderings are strangely - dare I say it - good. The Dodge 500 SRT, though, wouldn’t sell either.
Starting with the front fascia, you can clearly tell the face swap comes courtesy of the Dodge Dart. The late Sergio Marchionne famously slammed it and the Chrysler 200 at the 2017 Detroit Auto Show, saying that he doesn’t know “one investment that was as bad as these two [nameplates] were.”
The sides are beautified with double-spoke alloys, bigger brake discs with red-painted calipers, and the Hellcat logo on the B-pillar trim even though the 6.2-liter supercharged HEMI V8 engine doesn’t have room under the hood of the Italian runabout. Even as a mid- or rear-engine conversion, the Hellcat would be almost impossible to integrate into the lil’ Cinquecento.
As for the rear, the Brazilian pixel manipulator went with full-width taillights as you may find on the Dart and Charger sedans from Dodge. Two small SRT and Hellcat logos ornate the hatch door and the front grille.