Historicus
Autumn Leaves
The Fiat 500 (the "cinquecento" from the Italian word for "500") is a car produced by the Fiat company of Italy between 1957 and 1975 (the Fiat 500 K alone was produced until 1977).
Launched as the Nuova 500, it was marketed as a cheap and practical town car to combat high levels of congestion in Italian cities. Measuring only 2.97 m (9 ft 9 in) long, and originally powered by a tiny 479 cc two-cylinder, aircooled engine, the 500 redefined the term "small car" and is considered one of the first city cars.
To meet the demands of the post-war market which called for economy cars, the Fiat 500 was rear-engined on the pattern of the Volkswagen Beetle. Several car makers followed this now nearly vanished pattern at the time and were quite successful. But only the Fiat 500 was used as the pattern for other car makers in Europe. The firms Neckar of Germany and Steyr-Puch in Austria each made cars that were legally based on the Fiat 500.
Despite its diminutive size, the 500 proved to be an enormously practical and popular vehicle throughout Europe. Besides the two-door coupé, it was also available as the "Giardiniera" station wagon; this variant featured the standard engine laid on its side, the wheelbase lengthened by 10 cm (4 in) which yielded a usable rear seat, a full-length sunroof, and larger brakes from the Fiat 600.
Production of the 500 ended in 1975, although its replacement, the Fiat 126, was launched two years earlier. The 126 was never as popular as its predecessor in Italy, but was (and still is) enormously popular in the former Eastern Bloc countries, where it is famed for mechanical durability and economy.
Trivia:
On April 18, 2005 a 1973 Fiat 500 linked Bari, Italy, to Beijing, China, in a 16,000 km journey across the whole of Russia and passing through Vladivostok. Driven for 100 days by Danilo Elia and Fabrizio Bonserio, the old and tiny car was followed along its journey by newspapers and television from all over the world. After the long journey Elia wrote a book entitled La bizzarra impresa (ISBN 88-7480-088-6), now available only in Italian.
The Fiat 500 was used by Lupin III, the protagonist of the Lupin the 3rd series and movies.
A side character on the Disney/Pixar film Cars is a 1959 Fiat 500 named Luigi, voiced by Tony Shalhoub.
It is also crowned as the sexiest car in the world by the British Top Gear magazine.
Rockstar Games paid homage to the Fiat 500 in their game 'Grand Theft Auto: London 1969', a mission pack for the popular first Grand Theft Auto game. Although badged as a 'Fat' (instead of 'Fiat'), it is clear that it is supposed to resemble the Fiat 500.
The song 500 by Lush (on the album "Lovelife") is a lovesong written to a Fiat 500.
The famous Michael Caine movie, The Italian Job, was due to feature the Fiat 500, but the Mini burst on to the scene just in time (or not, depending on your point of view!)
This car appears in the Sega arcade game OutRunners under the name Quick Reactor, and it is an orange car.
This car appears in the video game, Gran Turismo 2 and Gran Turismo 4.
Jean Reno drives a Fiat 500 in the film Le Grand Bleu.(Wikipedia)
Please 'click' on link to view large and 'Autumn Leaves' On Black
Autumn Leaves
The Fiat 500 (the "cinquecento" from the Italian word for "500") is a car produced by the Fiat company of Italy between 1957 and 1975 (the Fiat 500 K alone was produced until 1977).
Launched as the Nuova 500, it was marketed as a cheap and practical town car to combat high levels of congestion in Italian cities. Measuring only 2.97 m (9 ft 9 in) long, and originally powered by a tiny 479 cc two-cylinder, aircooled engine, the 500 redefined the term "small car" and is considered one of the first city cars.
To meet the demands of the post-war market which called for economy cars, the Fiat 500 was rear-engined on the pattern of the Volkswagen Beetle. Several car makers followed this now nearly vanished pattern at the time and were quite successful. But only the Fiat 500 was used as the pattern for other car makers in Europe. The firms Neckar of Germany and Steyr-Puch in Austria each made cars that were legally based on the Fiat 500.
Despite its diminutive size, the 500 proved to be an enormously practical and popular vehicle throughout Europe. Besides the two-door coupé, it was also available as the "Giardiniera" station wagon; this variant featured the standard engine laid on its side, the wheelbase lengthened by 10 cm (4 in) which yielded a usable rear seat, a full-length sunroof, and larger brakes from the Fiat 600.
Production of the 500 ended in 1975, although its replacement, the Fiat 126, was launched two years earlier. The 126 was never as popular as its predecessor in Italy, but was (and still is) enormously popular in the former Eastern Bloc countries, where it is famed for mechanical durability and economy.
Trivia:
On April 18, 2005 a 1973 Fiat 500 linked Bari, Italy, to Beijing, China, in a 16,000 km journey across the whole of Russia and passing through Vladivostok. Driven for 100 days by Danilo Elia and Fabrizio Bonserio, the old and tiny car was followed along its journey by newspapers and television from all over the world. After the long journey Elia wrote a book entitled La bizzarra impresa (ISBN 88-7480-088-6), now available only in Italian.
The Fiat 500 was used by Lupin III, the protagonist of the Lupin the 3rd series and movies.
A side character on the Disney/Pixar film Cars is a 1959 Fiat 500 named Luigi, voiced by Tony Shalhoub.
It is also crowned as the sexiest car in the world by the British Top Gear magazine.
Rockstar Games paid homage to the Fiat 500 in their game 'Grand Theft Auto: London 1969', a mission pack for the popular first Grand Theft Auto game. Although badged as a 'Fat' (instead of 'Fiat'), it is clear that it is supposed to resemble the Fiat 500.
The song 500 by Lush (on the album "Lovelife") is a lovesong written to a Fiat 500.
The famous Michael Caine movie, The Italian Job, was due to feature the Fiat 500, but the Mini burst on to the scene just in time (or not, depending on your point of view!)
This car appears in the Sega arcade game OutRunners under the name Quick Reactor, and it is an orange car.
This car appears in the video game, Gran Turismo 2 and Gran Turismo 4.
Jean Reno drives a Fiat 500 in the film Le Grand Bleu.(Wikipedia)
Please 'click' on link to view large and 'Autumn Leaves' On Black