While Fiat invested in sharpening up the outside, the interior of the Topolino is nearly identical to that of its Ami sibling. And, if you’re expected car-like levels of comfort, you will be quickly reminded that quadricycles are somewhere more basic.
There are only two seats, and they are very functional, with little in the way of padding. But given this is a machine for short trips, they’re perfectly fine. The seats are slightly offset, with the driver’s a little further forward to ease elbow room concerns; it can also be moved farther forward. The passenger seat is fixed in place built into the rear bodywork, which means it offers plenty of leg room, although the footwell also doubles as the luggage compartment.
The controls are also incredibly functional. There’s a key for the ignition and no touchscreen, with a mount to hold your smartphone in its place, while controls elsewhere are minimal. There is a heater, for example, but aside from doing a surprisingly good imitation of a jet engine at full load its effectiveness is questionable.
There’s no rear-view mirror as standard, while the round wing mirrors need to be adjusted by hand and are easily knocked. And the windows don’t lower, but the bottom half can be folded up to let some air in.
Fiat has added a couple of nice touches. A small mount on the dashboard holds a battery-powered fan (very useful of our test drive in stifling hot Rome), which can be removed from its holder and used as a handheld device. There’s also a fabric storage area called the dolce vita box that runs the length of the front of the dashboard and serves as a glovebox of sorts.