This winter the UK has been hit by some pretty harsh weather creating floods in several areas across Great Britain, the main area that was effected however was the southern end of England with cities like Devon, Eastbourne, Portsmouth and Torquay being badly affected. Therefore it’s ideal that you have access to a 4×4 as it can be essential to get around when other cars can’t, it just wouldn’t be worth it to buy a 4×4 for the few weeks where you are going to need it every year then why don’t you just hire one instead? It’s surprisingly affordable with Indigo Car Hire. (more…)
History Of The Fiat 500
The now extremely popular Fiat 500 was once, well not so popular. It’s hard to believe this quirky innovative car was once unloved, so much so that the production halted. Originally launched in 1949 as a front engine, two door car with a sunroof it wasn’t actually considered to be like the current models until the release of its considerably smaller and lighter Fiat 500 which first reared its head in 1957 as a practical and cheap town car in Italy, let’s take a small trip through its history and see what went wrong and ultimately what went so right.
Nuova or in English New (1957-60)
The first of the new generation of the Fiat 500 was a very small and slow little town car, the car featured iconic “suicide doors” which opened outward in a strange fashion. It was a perfect car for getting around the small cities in Italy with the tight roads. Not the best car but certainly met its purpose.
D (1960-65)
The replacement for the Nuova the single lettered car D shared only two key differences from the first model. The engine size, which was slightly more powerful producing 17 bhp, 4 more than the previous model. The sunroof did also not fold fully back, it only went about half way back, but again the D also had the suicide doors.
K or Giardiniera (1960-1975)
As of currently this is the longer running Fiat 500 model in history, also again featuring “suicide doors” (Woah, it took them ages to get rid of them!) this time the car also featured an engine laid under the floor of the boot, this model was labelled the “estate” version. Although one of the bigger Fiat 500 models it is still the smallest estate I have ever seen the K was a success and made a long lasting impression becoming one of the most memorable 500s.
F or Belina (1965-1973)
A frequently misidentified model due to the F spanning between the two periods of the D and the L, at last the F boasted front hinged doors! Essentially the F was sold as a cheaper Lusso model and was found to be a good alternative to the L as it was a base model and didn’t have some of the extras that you could get with the L.
L or Lusso (1968-1972)
The L brought a modernised interior with a renewed dashboard and it brought the Fiat 500 hundred up to date, well at least up to 1968. It provided much more style and comfort than the previous models which is why it was a much more expensive version than the F.
R or Rinnovata (1972-1975)
The last Fiat 500s, well until the recent ones of course. It ended the Fiat 500s, the sales of the R massively plummeted in later years and Fiat tried to keep it going selling it alongside the Fiat 126 but it didn’t work and inevitably the Fiat 500 retired in 1975, what was thought to be the end of an Era.
The Revival – Fiat 500 (2007)
Based on the Trepiuno concept the Fiat 500 returned looking similar to that of a VW Beetle and a mini combined it was larger than its previous models. It commercially took off in September 2007 when it exploded onto the scene making a large amount of sales, it’s now one of the most common cars on the road.
What Changed?
The success of the new Fiat 500 has been insane, the old models where good and quite popular at the time but nothing compared to the new one. So why when they released it years later did it do so much better despite their being not a huge amount of change? I personally think they did a great, but very risky thing. They narrowed their market down, the Fiat 500s are predominately marketed at a female audience which is an odd strategy, but it’s worked and the Fiat is now back with a vengeance.
Want to experience hiring a Fiat 500? We can help, Click here!
Malpensa Airport Guaranteed Diesel
When it comes to hiring a car people want to make the most out of hired duration and get their monies worth, which is completely understandable as car hire can often be quite expensive. Most people normally look to just find the best deal and the lowest price but there are a lot of other things to take into account, one of which is the running cost of a vehicle. That in mind many people want to go for diesel vehicles as you often get more value for money in terms of mileage and cost, however car hire companies are wise to this. (more…)
Heathrow T5 No Young Driver Surcharge
Millions and millions of passengers passing through one of the world’s busiest airports each year, Heathrow airport is the UKs hub of aviation. Hand in hand with that of course is car hire, which can be a rather confusing process with several companies based in all the different terminals it can be a bit of a hassle. Let us organise everything for you and make the whole process simple even amongst the madness created by 70 million passengers each year. We can also arrange a fantastic deal for younger drivers which you can take advantage of when you book with us. (more…)
Malta Car Hire Age Limit
Many holiday goers visit Malta each year with the main airport (Malta International Airport) seeing over 4 million passengers a year. The island is also a very popular location for seniors due to its warm weather and relaxing atmosphere. Malta is quite small, you can travel from one side of the main part of the Island to the other in around 45 – 60 minutes but despite this to get from place to place hiring a car is near to essential. (more…)
Toll Roads In Switzerland
We got asked a very interesting question the other day about toll roads in Switzerland and if our cars came with a Vignette. The answer to this unfortunately is no, Vignettes are however compulsory in Switzerland so it is essentially that you buy one which you can do at any petrol station. Basically the Vignette is a sticker on the front of your car which indicates you have paid for the toll roads which are all 1 and 2 class roads, the Grand St. Bernhard Tunnel and Munt la Schera are not included, essentially the Vignette is road tax. (more…)
Alamos Policy On Child Seats
Child safety seats have always been a bit of a grey area in the car hire industry with different terms/conditions and costs so we thought that we would help out by giving the policies that one of our major suppliers has in regards to child seats, this supplier is Alamo. Alamo have different policies on their child safety seats for different countries, here is a bit of a breakdown of some of the policies Alamo have…. (more…)
Reimburse Tickets At Bromley South Train Station
We have some fantastic news to save our customers just a little bit more money, we are always trying to find ways to make car hire cheaper and although this may seem like a strange way of doing it, it still deducts towards the overall cost. When you are arriving at Bromley South Train Station to pick up your hired car we can reimburse the cost of your ticket when you are coming from certain stations which you can find further down this page. (more…)
Unattended Vehicles Dangers
Picture this, you wake up one morning get out of bed and get ready for work just like every other day but only to find when you step outside you are greeted by a car covered in frost. You have a few options but you decide upon starting the car and going back inside for a cup of coffee whilst waiting for the car to defrost only to find upon your return your vehicles been stolen. You get on the phone to the police and insurance company, you won’t be shown any sympathy however and you may not even be covered for a claim as insurers consider this not to be left with reasonable car. Moral of the story is you shouldn’t leave your car unattended whilst running! (more…)
USA Upper Age Limits
There has been quite a bit of confusion over upper age limits in North America, many broker sites have been having this issue and we wanted to help clear the matter up and make people clear on the conditions. When hiring a car there are certain companies that require you to be under the age of 75 for insurance reasons as the companies they insure their fleet through will not allow it, however there are certain companies which will allow you to hire up until the age of 99 such as us here at Indigo Car Hire as we have special arranged deals with some of our suppliers. (more…)