I’d heard from Thomas that there might be a Fiat Topolino at the New York Auto Show, so Parker and I went straight there to find it. As always, Thomas was correct. We could barely contain our glee and jumped directly inside to touch all the charming hard plastics. And then we got stuck.
If you’re not familiar, the Topolino is a tiny electric car that’s a cute rebadge of the Citroën Ami. With a top speed of “Are You Sure You Want To Drive This 28 MPH?” it’s maybe a step above a glorified golf cart, albeit one with real doors and 17,000 pounds of charm.
Why is it here at the New York show, since they’re not going to sell it here? Let me answer a question with a question: What else does Fiat have to show? The lovely new electrified Fiat 500 and nothing else. So it makes a sort of sense.
Look at this cutie! Just looking at it magically places a cigarette in your right hand and transports you to Portofino on the Italian Riviera.
Look at that! It has identical doors, so they only have to manufacture one type of door (which means they open on opposite sides).
You can see where this is going. Parker and I quickly shut ourselves in for no reason and then realized we couldn’t get out.
You might assume that the little pull-cord in the door is the way you open the door. It is not. There’s also no door handle. So Parker and I are just sitting there, on the show floor, trying to not let anyone know we can’t get out. As the oxygen began to run out, we started pushing and pulling every button or latch we could find.
Eventually, Parker realized that there was a strap way forward of the wheel that popped the outside lock, and he got out. Because the doors are backwards, I couldn’t find the same strap. Parker then politely walked around and laughed at me for a minute before letting me know I could find one on the rear pillar.
I clearly need more sleep.
Top graphic images: Matt Hardigree; Daerduo/Amazon
I love to get Topolino Abarth 🙂
17, 000 lbs?
He said he needed more sleep, haha.
Two classmates and I managed to do the same thing in a Mk2 Renault Alpine at the Birmingham Motor Show many, many years ago.
In what was typical Renault fashion at the time, the stand was staffed by young women on roller skates. The coal black interior started to heat up and, in a semi-panic, we started gesturing to them to let us out as they whizzed by. Being lovely friendly ladies, they waved back to us with broad smiles as they disappeared round the neighbouring cars, not noticing our increasingly distressed and sweaty faces.
I don’t remember how, but I’m still here to tell the tale, so we got out eventually.