Spy shots of new "Topolino"

Fiat's small car, the 500, isn't actually that small. Competing against the Mini it rests in an awkward limbo between the A and B segment vehicles, above tiny city cars like the Smart and below regular small hatchbacks like the Fiesta.

More in the spirit of the original Fiat 500 is the disguised micro-car, currently undergoing testing out on the roads, codenamed "Topolino". It even shares it's layout with the classic Fiat, using a new rear-engined, rear-wheel drive platform. It'll be shared with BMW who'll use it in their new Isetta, another classic name to be resurrected. The car will have a 3+1 seating layout and a 65bhp 900cc engine which could get as much as 80mpg and less than 90g/km of CO2 emissions, one of the lowest from any production car.

Although it's the Fiat that's been caught testing (as visible by the Panda lights cobbled onto the back end), the Isetta is perhaps the more interesting concept. Auto Express showed a render of the possible car a while back (shown in the last image below) and whilst it's unfortunately unlikely to look like this, the fact that BMW are prepared to invest in something so diverse and put their own name to it (unlike the self-titled MINI) is something to celebrate.

Images: Automedia and Worldcarfans.com

Image: Auto Express