Fiat 500

One minute guide to the Fiat 500

Significant milestones in the evolvement of Fiat's 500

Auto Express Car Reviews

06th July 2007

The Italian firm first launched a model called the 500 in 1936, an 11ft-long baby car with a roll-back roof and a 570cc motor. But it was better known by its nickname Topolino (little mouse). Updated models were available until 1955.

THE car regarded as the original 500 was called the Nuova 500 at its 1957 debut. It featured a twin-cylinder, air-cooled powerpack
at the back, rather than the Topolino’s four-cylinder, front-mounted, water-cooled engine.

IN 1968, the 500L version offered buyers three simple ‘luxury’ additions: carpets, reclining seats and bumper ‘nudge bars’.

THE Nuova 500 spawned a host of other modified versions, with the ultimate being Ghia’s Jolly open cars, complete with wicker seats, built for wealthy customers who often kept them on their yachts for shore visits.

THE first 500 in 1957 offered a paltry 13bhp from its 479cc engine; the sporty Abarth 695SS of 1971 took that to 38bhp from a tuned 689cc unit, making 90mph possible.

BY the time the Nuova 500 was axed in 1977, nearly four million had found owners. An estate model, the Giardiniera, was the last mainstream car with rear-hinged ‘suicide’ doors, while every 500 until 1966 sported a full-length sunroof.

IN 1992, the spirit of the car was revived by the Cinquecento (the Italian written word for 500). While never possessing its ancestors’ cheeky charm, the front-engined, front-driven city car was still a hit. It was made exclusively in Poland.

THE new Fiat 500 takes design inspiration from the Nuova 500 but, mechanically, will be more like the Cinquecento. It’s the first small Fiat to share a platform with a model from another marque – Ford’s Ka. Both will be built in Poland, where the factory is located, appropriately, in a place called Tychy... although this is actually pronounced ‘Tixi’. Read this week's test here