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The Fiat 500 - Old and New Classic Cars
This article is about the new Fiat 500 a modern interpretation of the classic Fiat 500 of the 1960s and a look at the original car, many of which still grace the streets of Italy. A new Fiat 500 Convertible version has also been launched: The "Fiat 500 C".
I rented a brand new Fiat 500 for a tour of Tuscany and Umbria in Italy and liked it so much I decided to write a review of this future classic car and a comparison with the original.
Table of Contents: Fiat 500
- The Fiat 500
- The Original Classic 1960s car
- Classic Italian Cars
- Still Gracing the Streets of Italy
- History of the Fiat 500 (on Wikipedia)
- Lots of Fiat 500s (in Switzerland)
- Classic Fiat 500 For Sale
- Books
- The New Car
- The New Fiat 500
- Related Articles
- 50 years on...
- At Home in the Vineyards of Chianti
- Fiat Stuff on Amazon
- Not Much Luggage Space
- Featured Lensmaster
- Fiat Stuff on CafePress
- Fiat 500 Abarth SS
- Fiat 500 Stuff on eBay
- All About Me
- Please Leave Some Feedback
- Please Twitter Follow AndyPo
- Some Related Articles
- Fiat 500 For Sale
The Fiat 500
The Original Classic 1960s car
The original Fiat 500 or "cinquecento" (meaning 500 in Italian) was produced by Fiat from 1957 until 1975. The classic design was created by Dante Giacosa. It was a cheap people's car similar in concept to the VW Beetle in Germany, Morris Mini in England and the Citroen 2CV in France.
The original car is tiny at just 10 feet long with a 479 cc two-cylinder, air-cooled engine (i.e. a 500cc engine)
The new car was launched in 2007 based on the original in terms of styling, but based on the modern Fiat Panda for mechanicals.
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Still Gracing the Streets of Italy
Lots of Fiat 500s (in Switzerland)
Classic Fiat 500 For Sale
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand by
Books
Fiat 500, 600 1955 TO 1992: The Essential Buyer's Guide
Amazon Price: $13.57 (as of 11/28/2009) 
Fiat 500 Owners Workshop Manual
Amazon Price: $34.95 (as of 11/28/2009)
500 Cinquecento: Fiat 500 - Cinquecento (Book & CD)
Amazon Price: $43.76 (as of 11/28/2009)
The New Car
The New Fiat 500
Beautiful classic interior with a modern chunky steering wheel and gear lever. All of the main displays are in a single large round, retro-styled pod similar to cars of the 1960s, although it is in front of the steering wheel instead of the centre of the dashboard and has some digital LCD displays along with the needles for rev-counter and speedometer.
The modern car has a good 5-speed manual gearbox and an option of a torquey little diesel engine which sounds quite sporty when pushed hard. The steering is precise and direct and it is certainly a fun car to drive. It isn't fast and does understeer a bit round the twisty roads of the Tuscan hill towns, but the torque of the little diesel engine make it very easy to drive. Parking is also very easy because of the tiny size.
The seats are firm, but comfortable and the suspension fairly stiff, but with a reasonable ride for car of its size. I was still feeling quite relaxed, even after a few hundred miles on fairly rough, twisty Italian side-roads. The rear seats are tiny and there was little room for anyone except a small child behind my seat (I am 6'2" with long legs) Access to the rear via the two doors is also quite tight and the boot (trunk) is small; big enough for a couple of small suitcases - plenty of room for luggage for a long weekend away, or even a, week for two people (see picture below).
The exterior of the car is so close the the original, although quite a lot larger, it is easy to mistake it for the original it first glance. The steel of the body work does appear to be quite thin and in just a week of driving (in Italy) it had picked up some marks from car-park knocks.
This is a cute little car with loads of character. I prefer it to the modern Mini or Beetle, but I won't be trading in my other car just yet
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Specifications (New Car):
Three petrol four-cylinder engines are available:
1200cc: 69 BHP
1300cc: 75 BHP
1400cc: 85 BHP
There is also a special "Abarth" 135 BHP model
Specifications (Original Car):
Three two-cylinder petrol engines were available:
479cc: 21 BHP
499cc: 17 BHP
594cc: 23 BHP
weight: 500 kg (1100 lb)
Fiat Stuff on Amazon
Fiat 500 L Cream 1:24 Diecast Model Car
Amazon Price: $12.99 (as of 11/28/2009)
Fiat 500 Nuova Red Diecast Car Model 1/24 Bburago
Amazon Price: $14.99 (as of 11/28/2009)
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Not Much Luggage Space
Fiat Stuff on CafePress
Fiat 500 Abarth SS
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Fiat 500 Stuff on eBay
Fetching new data from eBay now... please stand byAll About Me
Lensmaster AndyPo has been a member since July 7 2008, has rated 1,920 lenses, favorited 1,843, and has created 201 lenses from scratch. This member's top-ranked page is "Do You Really Need a New Phone: Palm Treo vs Palm Pre,Pro/apple iPhone". See all my lenses
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Hi, I am Andy. I live in the U.K. but have worked and travelled all over the world. I am a semi-professional wildlife and travel photographer (i.e. I sold a couple of photos once), semi-retired consultant physicist (i.e. unemployed bofin) with a keen interest in finance (i.e. get rich quick..ly):
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- Tipi Tipi Jul 2, 2009 @ 1:00 pm | in reply to AndyPo
- You wouldn't want to take the Fiat 500 on the The Amazon Jungle Experience travels, didn't see it on that lens that you did such a nice job creating, too!
Nice little car, would love to test drive it. Great photos Andy!
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- AndyPo AndyPo Jul 2, 2009 @ 11:08 am
- Thanks for all of the kind comments on my lenses.
We were traveling quite light, in Italy: I even left quite a lot of my camera equipment at home (some of the bigger lenses) but we still almost managed to fill the boot of the little Fiat. Not that my cars have particularly big boots either - even the Jaguar doesn't have much space.
The original Fiat 500 is similar in style to the Alfa Spider, although the Alfa came along almost a decade later. They were very different in terms of function though: The Fiat was very much aimed at getting the general population mobile, whereas the Alfa was pure decadence. [in reply to Shelly]
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Reply
- Shelly Shelly Jul 2, 2009 @ 10:37 am
- You had me sold on the Fiat 500 right up until......well, let's say my husband saved our marriage by giving up the idea of my ever being able to get the hang of a standard transmisson! As always, a delightful presentation and review--you always draw me into your experience of the moment. I'd say if you the trunk seems too small, then it's time to downsize one's luggage-less is best when traveling. I would guess this gets a bit difficult at times with all your equipment.
I wonder how you would compare the vintage model to the Alfa Romeo Spider. Just visited your lens "Alfa Romeo Spider (The Star of the Graduate Film)", but wasn't able to access the guest book there. I love that you included the video of the end of the film. Another "bravissimo" squid eye view by you!
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- JaguarJulie JaguarJulie Jun 19, 2009 @ 8:46 am
- I believe that we rented a Fiat when we were in Italy -- drove a Mercedes-Benz in Hungary and Romania -- had to sign some special documents though to drive it into Romania.
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Reply
- AndyPo AndyPo Jun 7, 2009 @ 8:26 am
- I wish I had known that I could rent an old Italian car, before I came to Italy. I shall consider doing that next time I come. [in reply to sophie]
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Reply
- sophie sophie Jun 1, 2009 @ 9:46 am
- Hello, I like you photos. You can also rent a vintage Fiat 500 from the 60's. I started a business in Florence Tuscany just over a year ago to give people the amazing opportunity to get behind the wheel of these lovely little cars and visit Italy like a local. see www.500touringclub.com
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Reply
- ElizabethJeanAllen ElizabethJeanAllen May 31, 2009 @ 6:01 pm
- Neat little car. It's almost as small as my Honda Fit.
Thanks for sharing
Lizzy
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- sandyspider sandyspider May 19, 2009 @ 2:09 pm
- Very classic. Another good lens.
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