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| Vintage Fiat 500 |
Aw...cuter than a puppy chewing on a pink fluffy slipper, funkier than a jazz singer in a smoke-infested basement - the Fiat 500 is pretty darn sexy...
In fact, the contemporary version of the little motor car was not only voted *most sexy* a while back by the Top Gear crew but also by evercar. com's female voters for it's lovable interior. The Fiat Bambino's sex appeal is obvious. Cuter than this---------->Fiat 500 History
Fiat 500's technically date back to 1936, beginning with the Topolino (Italian for mouse) and at that time was the smallest car produced in the world. The Topolino lasted, relatively unchanged, until 1955, when a new, completely different version of the Fiat 500 was introduced in '57 and went on to become the cult-worshipped Italian icon we know and love today.
The Nuova (new) 500 was designed by Dante Giacosa, who had earlier come up with the Fiat 600 and switched the engine from the front, where it had sat in the Topolino, to the rear, in order to maximise space. Changes were made to the design over the next decade or so, including a bigger engine and in '65 the Fiat 500 F boasted a 19hp engine and standard opening doors, as opposed to the old 'suicide' ones. Further changes were made right up until 1975 when production on the 500's stopped..apart from the station wagon version, the Fiat 500 k, which finished in '77.
Over its lifetime Fiat sold over 3.6 million of the Fiat 500's and in in 2007, a new Nouva front wheel version was launched, perhaps because it was the 50th anniversary of the old Bambino and also to capitalise on the flood of retro popularity reinvented older cars, such as the mini and renovated Beetle, were enjoying. In 1957 it was the perfect solution to overcrowded Italian roads and small parking spaces and now, all that applies but add fuel economy as a consideration.
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| Wow, that is pretty nice |
What the Reviewers Said...
Modern pastiche of arguably Fiat's most iconic city car. Sassy looks wear thin in a downpour on the Hume Highway, but it's great to drive and staggering value. Unlike the Mini. ~ Top Gear, Australia
It gets more looks than a Ferrari F430 and costs but a fraction of the price. The Fiat 500, may just be the coolest car on the planet right now~ caradvice.com
The looks are so wonderful, in fact, that you probably won’t care about the drawbacks. But there are a few. The headlights are hopeless, you really can’t see what’s coming from the left at oblique junctions, the engine is defeated by hills, and the ride, thanks to the short wheelbase, is awfully bouncy. Intolerably so, occasionally....
But, my God, you come away from an experience behind the wheel absolutely loving it. It’s cheeky and nonthreatening without being pathetic. It’s practical without being boring. It’s well priced as well. And there’s something else...
It was born in the backstreets of Naples and, thanks to a burning ambition, it’s shaken off its lowly born tags. Now it’s mixing it with the others of the jet set in St Moritz. Ring any bells?~ Jeremy Clarkson
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| A Fiat 500 gathering. Image from Italiancar.net |
