A recent press release from Fiat proudly announced the arrival of the Fiat 500 GQ. It’s one of the many limited edition 500s to have emerged in recent years but this is one with a difference. As Fiat says, it is ‘aimed at a predominately male audience’, just like the readership of the glossy magazine from which it takes its name.
FIAT 500 GQ Edition
Phrases such as ‘metropolitan lifestyle’, ‘sophisticated aesthetics’ and ‘uncompromising style’ are thrown in for good measure. Apparently the two-tone paintwork ‘blends the urban feeling of the Fiat 500 with the trendsetting spirit of GQ Magazine’. Admittedly I’m not a GQ reader, but this isn’t ticking any boxes for me.
Meanwhile, over in the States, they’re getting another special edition of the Fiat 500 called the Cattiva. Apparently ‘cattiva’ is an Italian phrase that roughly translates as something that is naughty and yet cool at the same time.
Fiat 500 Cattiva
Based on the 500 Turbo, it uses a 135bhp version of the MultiAir engine and features an Abarth-inspired bodykit, tinted lights front and rear, gloss black roof and a nice big spoiler. Back in Blighty, the best the GQ can offer is the charming 85bhp TwinAir.
Which of these looks like it’s going to appeal more to a male audience? No contest, it’s got to be the Cattiva, and I’ll take it in the Rame (copper) you see here.
Come on Fiat, if you want to make the 500 appeal more to blokes then it’s simple – more power, a bodykit and a big spoiler. Not with questionable ties to metropolitan lifestyle magazines.