Fiat’s attempts to stretch the 500 brand have continued with the 500L MPW version joining the regular 500L and the off-roader look of the 500L Trekking.
The MPW shares the same wheelbase as the 500L but is 205mm longer, which means boot space goes from 343 litres to 638 litres, as all the additional space is in the rear overhang.
The MPW is £800 more than a standard 500L, and for an extra £700 you can have the 5+2 seat option tested here. Fiat won’t call it a seven-seater because the rear seats are, it claims, only suitable for people up to 1.65m tall. But for people needing to carry more than four passengers and where at least one is a child, it’s a handy resource. Boot space predictably drops to a borderline pointless 168 litres with all the seats in place, but this isn’t a car built for seven people plus luggage.
The styling is challenging, and met with far from universal approval in the time we spent with it, but it’s certainly got character. Reasonable residual values and a 117g/km CO2 figure help keep running costs decent, and the 5+2 seat version cost an extra 1.0p per mile compared with its cheaper five-seat sibling.
