High art seldom gets a mention in BusinessCar, but the Italian renaissance at Fiat with its expanding 500 range surely deserves a mention, especially when a key rival is a Picasso – albeit a Citroen C3 one.
Both these ‘masters of multi-purpose’ have artistic heritage: the 500L is derived from the glamorous 500 city car; the C3 Picasso is drawn by the same guy who went on to pen the £1m-plus Aston Martin One-77 hypercar no less.
Beyond their subjective visual merits (I don’t mind both, but neither are oil paintings), the models compared – the 500L Lounge and C3 Picasso Exclusive – have similar 1.6 diesels (105hp vs 115hp), list prices (£18,835 vs £17,865) and economy (62.8mpg vs 58.8mpg) but diverge enough on CO2 (117g/km vs 125g/km) to cost the Picasso two tax bands more on benefit-in-kind and one for year-two road tax, so it’s £3 per month more in BIK for a 20% tax payer.
The C3 counters with more luggage space (385/1506 litres vs 343/1310 litres), standard satellite navigation, slimmer A-pillars for better vision, and higher-quality interior finishing, while the 500L fights back with a huge standard panoramic glass roof (£550 on the Picasso), sliding rear seats and a newer, more characterful overall design. It’s close, but by a whisker I think the 500L’s the one for me.
