Fiat's newest release is technically not even a car. The Topolino is a quadricycle — a tiny, three-quarter-scale runabout that shares its mechanicals with the Citroën Ami but looks considerably cuter doing it. The name means "little mouse" and originally belonged to Fiat's first 500, built from 1936 to 1955.
The numbers are charmingly modest. It costs €9,890, weighs 487kg, and its 5.5kWh battery drives all of eight horsepower. Charging takes about four hours on a household socket for a claimed 75km of range — realistically 60-65km — and running costs work out at roughly €1.30-€1.60 per 100km depending on your home electricity price. Top speed is capped at 45km/h, and motorway use is out of the question by law. There's no air conditioning, the heater is best supplemented with a jumper, and if you want music, singing is your only option.
So why would anyone bother? Because, as the reviewer found during four days with a coral-coloured example in Portugal, it's enormous fun at low speeds. It's just 2535mm long and 1400mm wide, so it darts through traffic and parks anywhere, and at that weight even 8hp feels brisk away from the lights. The retro-striped cloth interior and dedicated bodywork (Fiat insisted it shouldn't be a rebadged Ami) give it genuine charm — people point, smile and take photos.
The context is interesting for anyone who has visited Italian cities recently. In Milan, Topolinos are now everywhere and treated as completely normal urban transport. In Portugal, where 16-year-olds can legally drive one because of that 45km/h cap, it's still a curiosity — which is precisely part of the appeal for now. The reviewer's verdict: this isn't a rival to a Smart car, it's a rival to a Vespa, minus the rain. If you're renting or curious about city mobility on a Mediterranean holiday, it's worth a test drive at a Fiat dealer.
