Welcome back! Today we’re taking a look at two examples of a nearly extinct breed of automobile, at least here in the US: the two-door (or three-door, if you prefer) hatchback. But did this body style go out with a bang or a whimper? We’ll take a close look at these two and decide.
But first, let’s check out the results from yesterday’s open-air classics. The Scout garnered a lot of attention and ultimately won the vote. More than one of you expressed an interest in actually buying it, and to them I say: Do it. Then, write about it. I have zero say on what gets published here, but I bet the story of a car found on Shitbox Showdown would make the cut.
And I have to agree with the vote, for what it’s worth. I’m a diehard little British car lover, but I already have one. And I’ve always liked the style of the early Scout 80 and 800. Plus, it’s yellow! And the top comes off! How can you resist?
There was a time when the default small-car body style was a hatchback, and if you didn’t specify, it came with two passenger doors. From the Ford Fiesta and VW Rabbit all the way up through the Metro and Accent days, two-door hatchbacks ruled the small car market. And things were good: the cars were economical, easy to park, and carried a shocking amount of cargo. But something happened to small cars in America about twenty years ago: They grew rear doors. And, worse, trunk lids. Suddenly they were harder to get in and out of because the doors were shorter, and harder to park because they were needlessly a foot longer. And that used recliner off Craigslist? Forget it; call your buddy with the Explorer, because it’s not going to fit in your Aveo sedan.
The exception seemed to be in the “premium” small car market, where the revived Mini and Fiat 500 lived. Here, two doors meant sporty, and hatchback body styles meant European sophistication. I mean, they were still just little economy cars, but with bigger price tags. Now, however, the depreciation monster has brought them down to our level, so let’s take a look and see which one carries on the proud little hatchback tradition better.
2007 Mini Cooper – $3,700
Engine/drivetrain: 1.6-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, six-speed manual, FWD
Location: Los Angeles, CA
Odometer reading: 195,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
I have to hand it to BMW. When it revived the Mini marque, I never expected the ride to last this long. Right now, today, you can still walk into a Mini dealership and drive out in a brand new two-door Mini – with a manual transmission. That makes more than twenty years of retro-styled hatchbacks zooming around, a remarkable feat in this era of dull crossovers. It’s the last of its kind, as far as I know.
This is the second generation R56-platform Mini, though you’d be forgiven if you couldn’t tell. It’s the same dilemma faced by Volkswagen with the New Beetle: How do you update a retro design? Subtly, it turns out. The R56 Mini has a 1.6-liter engine like its predecessor, but it’s a totally different engine altogether. (“It’s a totally different engine.“) The base Cooper model also gained a forward gear; this car has a six-speed gearbox.
It has a pile of miles on it, but the seller says it runs well and has been reliable. It has had a lot of recent work, and the seller has records for it all. It sure looks like they’ve taken care of it; this does not look like a seventeen-year-old car with almost two hundred thousand miles.
It’s nice and clean inside, too. A lot of these Minis seem to have led hard lives, so finding one this clean is a treat. I like the dual sunroofs in these, too; it brings a lot of light into the interior.
2012 Fiat 500 Pop – $3,900
Engine/drivetrain: 1.4-liter dual overhead cam inline 4, five-speed manual, FWD
Location: Palmdale, CA
Odometer reading: 118,000 miles
Operational status: Runs and drives well
After the successes of Volkswagen and Mini’s retro models, Fiat entered the fray with a new version of its fabled 500 model. This car also marked Fiat’s return to the US market in 2010. Like the Mini and the New Beetle, it’s significantly bigger than the car that inspired it – but “significantly bigger” than the old 500 is still a pretty tiny car. The original 500 was rear-engined and rear-wheel-drive; the new one moved the drivetrain to the front, using the same basic platform as Fiat’s celebrated Panda.
In the US, the 500 came with only two engine choices: a 1.4 liter twin-cam four, or a turbocharged version of the same. This basic Pop model makes do without the turbocharger, but it does boast a five-speed manual gearbox, as befitting a small Fiat. Fiat engines love to rev, and saddling them with an automatic transmission is cruel and unusual punishment. Oh sure, you could order a slushbox, because this is America, but no one who understood these cars did so.
Normally, I’d complain about the appliance-white paint, but one look at this interior and the lack of hue outside is forgiven. Small cars should have fun interiors, and this little Fiat doesn’t disappoint. It’s in nice condition, too. We don’t get much detail in this ad, but the seller does say it runs and drives well. Terse ads like this make me wonder if the seller is old enough to have paid by the word for classified ads, and is still in that mindset.
It’s a well-traveled little thing, though; it has Kansas plates on it. And even if it’s plain white, it sure is shiny. It occurs to me, however, that white is the base color for Alitalia livery – nah.
I get why two-door cars fell out of favor, I guess; they’re fine if you never need to use the back seat, but crawling over a flipped-forward seat back is a pain in the ass. But a lot of us almost never have more than two people in the car. The only time we open the rear doors is to put groceries in the back seat. And two doors just look better than four, especially on a small car. For less than four grand, one of these two can be yours. Which one will it be?
(Image credits: Craigslist sellers)
Personal experience says I fit into the Mini better.
Isn’t the Hyundai Veloster a 2-door hatchback?
Technically a 3 door, as it has a small extra door on the passenger side.
For those who don’t remember my shared Mini-adventure, New Year’s Eve, London, 1979 I’ll make this quick:
Big night @ Kings Head & Eight Bells somewhere along The Thames River, my friend turned me over to a bunch of new-found mates before heading back to the hotel.
They insisted on showing me Trafalgar Square on The New Year, so they stuffed me in a shopping cart (Guinness was overserved), wheeled me up the block to their Mini, helped me into the back, and then when it wouldn’t start they all jumped out for a push start. Not me though. I was gently armed to stay in the back seat, “You don’t push, Yank. You’re our guest t’night mate!” So I sat in the back like Queen Elizabeth and they pushed, started her up, and off we went to Trafalgar Square.
And I’ll tell ya, that was some time!!
Voting Mini out of respect for my coachmen!
Ya know what made me choose the Mini? I couldn’t stand to look at that 500 interior every single day. ooooofff.
I can’t do the exterior of the 500’s. I like the Mini more, both interior and exterior, but both are cloooose for me otherwise.
My big problem is White and Cream dash? Who does that?
My dad drove an 84’ Civic 3 door during my young childhood. The simple joy of getting in via the hatch and climbing over the seat back still makes me smile. I can’t do that with my current Mazda hatchback because the rear seat is designed for adults and even has fancy shmancy head rests. I’m also, uh, slightly less slender and flexible these days.
The styling of the Mini speaks to me more than the Fiat. Since aging German car reliability versus aging Italian car reliability is basically asking if you’d rather be strangled or garroted, I’ll go with the Mini.
If forced to choose between these two, the Fiat’s lower miles and (slightly) higher repairability give it the nod.
But seriously, if there’s a five-cylinder, manual-trans two-door Golf/Rabbit available in similar condition and price, I’m taking that for sure.
How TF is a 200k mile Mini beating the 500? I wouldn’t buy that thing with someone else’s money. Mind you, I actively dislike them, and wouldn’t buy it even if it was reliable.
If a 200k-mile Mini is still on the road, every component has already failed and been replaced by the previous owner.
On the 120k-mile Fiat, meanwhile, every component is about to fail and will need to be replaced by the new owner.
If that was any other vehicle than a BMW mini (shit, even a British Leyland mini), maybe. But in this case, I’d still take the Fiat. They’re good little cars.
hey, don’t insult my 1967 Mini :=}}
Heh. I grew up with BL cars, I’m allowed 😉
That’s true, given my experience with nearly the exact same car. The thing is, this one might be due for another round at that mileage! They are fun to drive, though.
Have an F56 with two car seats in the back. I wouldn’t touch the R56 without a really REALLY detailed history.
500 for me. I’d shove the kids in the back of that too.
I’m legitimately curious how they got this Mini to almost 200K… I had a first gen and I really did love it, my cousin had the second gen and the interior quality fell off a cliff completely, and the engine and car eventually killed itself
“The Last of the 2 Door Hatchbacks…”
Shitbox showdown just took a depressing turn. Now I’m going to close the door to my office and just sit here and sulk for a while.
The Autopian is depressing this morning. First there’s a glorious suspension with a viewing window….but it’s on a Mustang… that costs way over 300 grand. Next I see the Mach E rally is the only hoonable electric car, meaning the Taycan that I pine for isn’t actually hoonable. Now the fact that 2 door hatchbacks no longer exist in this country is thrown in our faces. Find something happy to write about guys.
Perhaps through divine intervention I have found myself with a 2015 FIAT Turbo as my daily. It’s got 146k and I gotta say its a blast to drive. I couldn’t imagine what it’s like driving a non-turbo version so I’m going to have to say give me the MINI
Both of these worry me as far as ongoing running costs, so I went with the newer option.
As to this statement:
“The only time we open the rear doors is to put groceries in the back seat.” This is only true if you don’t have children, funny thing about being a parent; you have to take the little munchkins everywhere for some reason. So while I love a two-door hatch, until they are out and driving on their own, it’s four door life for me.
While I love the colorful Fiat interior, after putting nearly 1000 miles in two days on a 500 Pop rental car back when these first launched, I’m going with the Mini.
While the 500 is good in the city, they are not fun on the highway (which is most of the USA) due to the short wheelbase and the tight steering box that makes the thing squirrelly above 50mph and unpleasant over expansion joints. The only version of the 500 I would consider is the Abarth, and even then it is still not fun on the highway.
The Mini, even a lowely base model, is still good in the city but more liveable, if perhaps still not great, on the highway (again, I’ve put thousands of miles on rental Minis), especially with the six speed. Plus, unlike the Fiat, the mini has a center arm rest!
I had a 500 for a week in Italy, and maybe it was the metric system fooling me but I felt fine on the highways there. Drove it between Rome and Turin, so it wasn’t a quick jaunt. I did feel like their highways were big wide open spaces though, and I wasn’t jockeying for position against american SUVs, just giant lorries who mostly just blew by me at twice (I Think) the speed limit.
It was amazing bombing around Rome in a 500 though, perfect car for that job.
Huh, maybe it was just the rental one I had then. I’ve avoided the 500 ever since when I rent cars, mostly because I do a lot of highway driving with my rentals and haven’t felt inclined to give the 500 another chance on the off chance it wasn’t just that one specific car.
I daily a 500 turbo 5 speed and take it on the highway regularly at 85 without issue
I had a work thing in Boston. Flew in, and was given a choice of a Fiat 500, a Jeep Cherokee, or a Ford Transit Van. Knowing I’d have to be parking in Cambridge, I went with the Fiat.
I hated all of it. From the awkward seating position (I’m tall, but not that tall – 6-1), the lack of anywhere to rest my arms, the inability of the car to navigate potholes in anything less than jarring fashion. It wasn’t ‘fun’ in the way I would typically associate with a traditional 2-door (like, give me a 25 year old M3 coupe, which weighs the same and is a helluva lot more fun).
On the other hand, when the Mini is working, they’re perfectly driveable, but DIYing those things is an abysmal nightmare.
Genuinely had trouble making a decision this time. I nearly voted for the Mini mostly because of the 500’s white paint, but then I saw the interior and you’re right, the white paint is suddenly forgiven.
Both would make for a solid, low risk (because of the price) option for a lot of people looking for a hatch. This is beat Corolla money, and while you probably won’t be running these into the ground for the next 10 years, both should end up being a pretty solid value.
As much as the mileage worries me, I have to go Mini. I just love the damned things, and this one seems well sorted.
Besides, it’s a high mileage car that BMW built on the cheap! What could possibly go wrong?
Normally I’d vote for the Mini, but five years newer, nearly half the miles, red seats, and only $200 more? Going with the 500.
The 500 just seems like it’s more fun…. and adorable!
Side note: 500’s in N.A. never got a dual cam 1.4. All the 1.4’s, Dart/Renegade/500X/500L included, are SOHC, for the exhaust. Intake valves are actuated via Multi-Air.
Took me a moment to realize you likely meant a Geo Metro not an Austin Metro. I need to drink my coffee.
The only point of reference I have for a Fiat 500 of this vintage was when I was an overnight security guard for a while.
The guy managed to clear a gated and locked 8 foot fence despite no real elevation nearby, knocked over a tree, and didn’t have a scratch on him.
As they are obviously magic, the Fiat.
This is TOUGH. The Mini isn’t a bad choice here, but the Fiat’s interior makes me smile, and I think it would do so every time I opened the door.
We’ll take the 500, and hope we can still get parts from the local CDJR dealer when Fiat inevitably leaves the US again.
I knew someone with this (or maybe next) generation Mini, somehow water managed to get into the trunk (Despite no seals being busted), flooded the battery, which shorted it and locked out hatch access, where the battery is, and killed about 2k worth of electronics. That was on a car with about half the age and miles at the time it happened.
I’ll take the fiat, at least it doesn’t have the explosion prone automatic these usually had.
Fiat accompli.
Ooopha! The 2nd gen Coopers have soooo many reliability issues. But then again, the nuova 500’s have never been reliable. Since I already have a Mini, I’ll take the 500 for a long-term comparison. Plus the 70,000 fewer miles might mean the car will last a few more 10’s of thousands of miles.
I bought my daughter a 2013 500 as her first car. It’s a hoot to drive, even with the automatic. It’s been dead nuts reliable for 6 years and 70k miles we’ve owned it, and she’s been dubbed Francesca, which seemed appropriate for a fiery red Italian.
I voted Fiat!
Mini! My ex had one and it such a fun car. The Crown Vic I had was perfect for road trips, her Mini was a blast around town.