Bugger. I wrote this post twice in WordPress on the iPhone, but dodgy GSM signal in Umhlanga scuppered me both times, and the words were lost in the digital ether. Oh well, at least I already know what to say by now…

Just returned back from the launch of the new FIAT Linea down in KZN, and both up and down trips on the plane were pretty damn rough. Seriously, if my car shook and rattled like those flying plastic tubes do at cruising speed, I’d pull the hell off the highway and phone a friend for a tow! Pity they’re absolutely necessary for intercontinental travel I guess, give me a decent car and a long road any day though!

Anyway after some dallying at the airport and a slow ride through Durbs in rush-hour to get to our stopover for the evening, the Royal Palm Hotel in Umhlanga, we finally got our first glimpse of the new Linea in the metal and I have to say, it makes an excellent first impression! The pair of large grilles at the front lend it a distinctly Maser-like snout, and just as an Italian car should it’s lines flow gracefully down the flanks into a neat, and commendably large, boot. Compared to other cars in this C-segment saloon market, which tend to be pretty anodyne looking, almost utilitarian things these days, the Linea certainly stands out!

It’s also got an excellent cabin we discovered the next day, after a rough night of celebrating a fellow motoring journo’s birthday with unfeasible amounts of drink. Inside the Linea feels like a competitor for its German and Japanese counterparts in this price realm, R175 000 for this car without the optional leather upholstery. Every other item on the spec sheet is standard with the price of the car, and it’s a pretty lengthy list. Basically all the safety and luxury hi-tech you could need without going overboard, although no Satnav unfortunately.

You do, at least on paper, give up a lot under the hood though. The Linea is available with just a weedy, 1.4-litre 16V petrol motor kicking out an undeniably (even by FIAT’s own PR team) wimpy 66kW at sea-level! Seriously, that’ll translate into frustratingly gutless driving at the Reef, where the oxygen-starved atmosphere will mean more like 55kW, in a 1280-kg saloon.

At sea-level, however, it doesn’t actually feel all that bad. Yes, 5th gear is too short leaving the engine buzzing busily at motorway cruising speed, but also a bit pointless if you need to accelerate. There just isn’t the grunt. But working your way up through the gears isn’t so bad, the little motor goes quite keenly for its redline and actually manages to feel quite peppy. We even saw the clock go past 160km/h on one particularly lengthy stretch of flat tarmac! All the while, of course, the diminiutive cylinder capacity means it sips juice even with the right pedal all but welded to the floorboards.

If, however, your purchasing decision is based more on style and comfort than robot racing, the Linea seems like a really good choice. It feels better built than any previous or current FIAT, despite technically being constructed under license by Tata at FIAT’s brand-new Indian manufacturing facility. It’s generously specced (Blue & Me, co-developed by Microsoft, is a lovely Bluetooth implementation making the tech easily accessible to even the most technophobic operator), quite spacious for occupants, a serene and capable (just) cruiser and zippy enough in traffic. And it looks really good too. Even in these tough times, I don’t think FIAT SA’s conservative target of 350 units a year should be that tough to achieve with this product.

We’ll do a more complete driving impression of the Linea in the next issue, complete with a whole whack more juicy photos for you to pore over. Just a couple more weeks till it’s out in fact, so watch this space!