According to AZCentral.com, Fiat of Scottsdale, which is one of five Fiat dealers in Arizona, will begin selling Fiat automobiles early next year.

Fiat of Scottsdale expects to get the first of the Italian imports – a subcompact Fiat 500 – by the end of this month, said Coye Pointer, the dealership’s owner. It will share space with Airpark Dodge Chrysler Jeep, 7801 E. Frank Lloyd Wright Blvd.

Italian car enthusiasts in the Valley are revved up about the re-entry of Fiat into the American market after an absence of 27 years. They compare the fashionable Fiat 500 to BMW’s Mini. “I like Italian cars in general, and Fiat is by far the most successful and most popular Italian brand,” said Eric Lynn, president of the Desert chapter of the national Club Fiat-Lancia Unlimited.

Lynn owns a similar but much older Fiat 600 from 1956. He is one of three local club members in line to buy some of Arizona’s first Fiat 500s when the cars arrive. Fiat, which has a controlling interest in Chrysler, is introducing the Fiat 500, or Cinquecento, a top seller in Europe, to boost Chrysler’s small-car lineup in North America. The other Arizona Fiat dealers are Don Luke in Chandler, Auto Nation Inc. in north Phoenix and John Grant and Doug Moreland for their dealerships in Avondale and Tucson.

The fuel-efficient Fiat 500 hatchback is powered by a 1.4-liter, four-cylinder engine that produces 101 horsepower. It is matched with a six-speed automatic transmission or a five-speed manual gearbox.  The engine is made in Dundee, Mich., and the Fiat 500s will be assembled in Toluca, Mexico, Chrysler spokesman Ralph Kisiel said.

Prices start at $15,500 for three trim levels of the car called Pop, Sport and Lounge. The Sport package includes 16-inch aluminum wheels, fog lamps, body cladding and a sport-tuned suspension. The Lounge version rides on 15-inch aluminum wheels and features a sunroof and satellite radio.

Buyers will have lots of options for customizing the car, said Pointer, the Scottsdale Fiat dealer. “This is a car for a young, affluent person who would want something fun to drive,” he said. Lynn of the Fiat club said the Fiats have a “cuteness factor and an elegance of design” that make them crowd-pleasers. Another Fiat 500 plus is gas mileage – Lynn predicted as much as 40 mpg.

The 110-year-old Fiat brand gained some popularity in the United States during the energy crisis of the 1970s. But reliability issues hurt sales and the Italian carmaker pulled out of the American market in 1983. Those older Fiats were designed for narrow Italian roads and the high-revving engines required a lot of maintenance, Lynn said, adding that American drivers were not used to the finicky cars. Lynn’s Fiat 600 is a tiny automobile with a 22½-horsepower motor that he drove across the Alps before shipping it to Phoenix.

He expects the new Fiats to be far more reliable since they are built for today’s superhighways. The cars will come with a four-year, 50,000-mile warranty. Fiat is planning to add a Fiat 500 convertible and an electric version in 2012. Car tuners are urging Fiat to import an Abarth version of the 500 with a 170-horsepower turbocharged engine. The 130 U.S. Fiat dealers, chosen from 600 applicants, are required to build separate showrooms for the cars.