Dante Giacosa (wikipedia)The Fiat 500 is an absolute icon: of car design, of Italy, and of the 1960s. This classic Fiat 500, or Cinquecento (Italian for 500) debuted in 1957, and remained in production until 1975. And what a car! Obviously very small - but if you've tried to drive in the narrow medieval streets of an Italian city, you'll know why scooters and Fiat 500s are so popular. Just try parking anything bigger! Of course Fiat have produced a new, re-issued 500 since 2007, but the original Fiat 500 is a highly desirable classic with a lot of fans.
The car was designed for Fiat by Dante Giacosa as one of the very first city cars, and was built at the original Mirafiori Fiat factory in Turin. The Italian Beetle equivalent - a true car of the people. It was not especially powerful - initially just 479cc, and as such needed to be very light. Fiat 500s came with a fabric sunroof; a welcome feature in the heat of Italy, but also to reduce weight; and were small just 9 feet and 9 inches long.
Like any iconic car design, the Fiat 500 is highly prized, with owners clubs all over the world. Beautifully restored examples sell for good money - but not so good to make them unaffordable. Just as in 1957, a 500 is great little car to take out and about on a sunny summers day. Open the sunroof and pack a picnic!
Like all classic cars, the Fiat 500 went through numerous revisions over the course of its production. The first model, the Fiat 500 Nuova (or new 500, to differentiate it from the Fiat 500 Topolino made between 1936 and 1955) had backward opening 'suicide doors' and an open top extending the entire length of the roof.
The engine is, of course, in the rear of the car, with space for a spare tyre under the front bonnet. This diagram (courtesy wikipedia) shows the original Fiat 500 layout of engine and controls.
Note the long, long sunroof, a standard feature on the early Fiat 500 Nuova and the later 'Trasformabile' models.
The slightly more powerful Nuova Sport came out in 1958 - this short lived variant had a metal roof (at first anyway), but was replaced by the Fiat 500D in 1960. The 500D still had the rear hinged suicide doors of the Fiat 500 Nuova, but a larger 499cc engine, and a smaller sunroof as standard; though a version with the original full size sunroof, the 'Trasformabile', was produced.
Check out this lovely 1964 Fiat 500D Trasformabile, with it's removeable soft-top roof.
In 1960, Fiat released the Giardiniera, an estate version of the Fiat 500 and the Furgoncino, a panel van version. It is a little surprising how different these little vehicles look. Oddly, they kept the rear hinged suicide doors right through into the 1970s. Despite a third of a million of these 'big' 500s being manufactured, you don't see many of them on the road today.
In 1965, Fiat upgraded the Fiat 500, with the Fiat 500F - a model that continued in production right through to 1973. It was an improvement on the previous 500 versions, most notably in it's much safer front-hinged doors, but there were differences in trim, and of course the sunroof opening was about half of the total roof size.
Have a look at this 1967 Fiat 500F.
The Fiat 500L or 'Lusso' (the Italian word for Luxury) was sold between 1968 and 1971, as a mechanically identical, but slightly higher trimmed 500 - most obviously with a simpler front logo, and with additional front and rear crashbars. Check out this 1970 Fiat 500L
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The final version of the original 500 was the Rinnovata (Italian for renewed). This Fiat 500 had the same 594cc engine as the Fiat 126, and was available between 1971 and 1976.
Of course, Fiat reintroduced the new version of the 500 in 2007, and is, to date every bit as popular as the classic Fiat 500 on which it was modelled.
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