"We arrived in New York on Thursday at lunchtime and immediately took the 500 into downtown Manhattan where it just stopped traffic," writes Jim Magil. "We would stop at the cross walk and some people would shout 'Cinquecento' and wave. So much for New Yorkers being hard to impress!" "We then took the car to Washington and there was a couple from Northern Ireland who could not believe their eyes when they seen a Belfast registered car come down the Mall from Capitol building towards the white house." "We left and headed back north towards the Poconos to  start of the Fiat Freak Out (FFO) activities. FFO was certainly spectacular, with over 200 cars and 500-600 folks converging from near and far for a great weekend of celebrating classic Italian cars.  The big car show itself was Saturday, where I was mobbed by people wanting to see the 500 asking 'What size is the engine?' 'What's the fuel consumption?' and more importantly 'When can I buy one?'" "That evening there was a gala dinner and we raised over US$1500 dollars for the Northern Ireland Hospice and received a special award for bringing the 500 so far to Freakout. Today, we will be leaving shortly for our Trek westward to Oregon."

One example of the little Fiat 500, shipped across the Atlantic by Fiat adventurer Jim Magil from Northern Ireland, has been making a big splash in the United States as it has darted round down town New York and Washington over the last few days as well as turning up at the Fiat Freak Out event. Right: see Jim's photos and read his commentary.

On Monday Jim and the 500 set off on a hectic trek that is taking them through Chicago, De Moines Denver and Salt Lake City to San Francisco, for a total of 2,900 miles, with its expected ETA on the West Coast being tomorrow (Thursday 17th July). From Friday (18th) to Sunday (20th) the 500 will take part in the The West Coast Fiat Group Mirafiori.com's meeting near Ashland, Oregon.

The busy pace will continue from next Monday (21st) to Saturday (26th) with a route that will take Jim and the Fiat 500 from San Francisco, down Highway One to Los Angeles and then on to Death Valley, Las Vegas, Monument Valley before heading back to Hollywood.