In addition to the ‘standard catalogue’ models, a number of Fiat 500 and 600 variants appeared, some of which were more successful than others. Already mentioned is the 600 Multipla which was a standard production vehicle as well as being offered by various specialist coachbuilders such as the Ghia Jolly and Coriasco’s Furgoncini commercial vehicle and its sibling the Pulmino six-seater bus. Other Multipla-based examples include a Pininfarina luxury six-seater MPV and Vignale’s extravagant ‘resort’ type runabout which, with its space-age styling, appeared to be more at home on a film set than providing daily service in Turin, Rome and elsewhere. 

 

Other examples of coachbuilt Multiplas include the Moretti, O.M., Fissore and Scioneri, few of which have survived to the present day. Even the factory-built Multipla is now a rarity. 

Of the more successful 500 and 600 variants were NSU’s Weinsberg 500 and Jagst 770 which was based on the Fiat 600D. After 1959 NSU-Fiat changed its name to Neckar. Also enjoying some popularity was the Autobianchi which was a joint project between Fiat, Pirelli and Bianchi which was established in 1955. The Bianchina was the union’s first product which appeared in September 1957 and was followed a year later by the 500 Sport based Bianchina Speciale. In 1961 coupé and convertible models appeared that were based on the 500D and these were soon joined by the Panoramica which was designed around the Giardiniera estate car. The latter was also the basis of a commercial variant. Another commercial model was the Giannini pick-up with its engine turned on its side and slung below the rear floor in Giadiniera style. 

 

One of the most endearing variants is Vignale’s cheeky Gamime which has all the looks of a toy car and is often associated with that depicted in Enid Blyton’s Noddy books. The Gamine was, in fact, a very serious sporting variant of the 500 and was inspired by Fiat’s Balilla sports car dating from the 1930s. Though the Gamine sported a dummy front radiator grille, it was, nevertheless, very much 500 Nuova based. 

Ghia produced a number of 500s under the Jolly name which were built as open cars having wicker type seats. These cars were intended as virtually novelty fun vehicles and featured cutaway sides instead or doors and were without windscreen wipers. A sun shade was an optional extra.  

More mainstream was the SEAT which accounted for some 76,000 vehicles built at Barcelona between 1959 and 1964. Amongst SEAT badged cars was the 800 which was a 600-based four-door car. SIATA 600-based 735cc convertibles were built until 1960 when Abarth took a controlling interest in the coachbuilder and produced the Siata Abarth Berlina. The last of the Siata cars was the Spring which used the Fiat 850’s drive train. 

 

Zastava of Yugoslavia produced the Fiat 600 under licence and when an enlarged factory was built in 1964 capacity increased to 82,000 cars a year. Production centred on the Fiat 600D which eventually became the Zastava 750S. 

 

Fiats were also produced in New Zealand by Motor Holdings of Auckland. Nearly 5000 Nuova 500s were constructed in New Zealand from CKD kits supplied direct from Italy before Motor Holdings of Auckland upgraded the assembly facility to construct Fiat 850-based vehicles. 

 

Steyr-Puch of Austria produced the Fiat 500 under licence using the firm’s own 493cc engine. Upgrades saw Steyr-Puchs using its own 643cc and 660cc horizontally-opposed engines, the most notable model being the 650TR with its 90mph top speed. 

 

Of all the variants, it is Abarth that is most famous. It was not only production sports cars that Abarth produced, but also a series of record-breaking vehicles constructed in association with Pinifarina, Zagato and other coachbuilders. A whole series of Abarth s were marketed to appeal to those sporting motorists who wanted much more from their Fiats than the normal production models could offer. Hence Abarths became a serious part of the track scene with such cars as the Abarth TC, 850TC, 1000TC and Radiale. In top tune, Fiat 600-based cars were capable in excess of 135mph. 

Minimal motoring continued in true Fiat fashion with the arrival of the 600 in 1955. Instead of retaining the 500 Topolino’s front-engined rear-drive layout it sported the then popular rear-engine design which Volkswagen progressed with the Beetle, and Renault with its 4CV. Though the 600 shared similar wheelbase and overall length dimensions with its predecessor, it was both slightly wider and higher. The drivetrain arrangement meant that the Fiat became a true four-seater and, within a short time of its introduction, a forward-control version marketed as the Multipla emerged. As the world’s first multi-purpose vehicle, its unique interior configuration allowed it to be used for any number of purposes as well as serving as a six-seater people carrier. 

 

With the arrival of the 600 so, in essence, Italy lost its tiny car concept, for which the minimalist Topolino was so beloved. For many thousands of families throughout Europe and farther afield, the Topolino’s absence was deeply mourned. No one acknowledged this better than Dante Giacosa who, before WW2, had been contemplating the most minimalist of cars in the shape of the eventually abandoned Fiat 400 project. 

500 Normale 

Picture: Fiat 

 

By the mid-1950s the effects of austerity throughout Europe had meant that the cyclecar movement, which before the war was very much alive with several designs, mainly German and French, being familiar sights. Cars like the Goliath Pioneer were joined by the post-war Fuldamobil, Meyra, Lloyd and the Citroën 2CV, the latter being wholly more substantial than some of its contemporaries. Fuel shortages in the middle of the decade were giving rise to the emergence of the like of the Gogomobil, Maico and Vespa while in Japan the Suzuki Suzulight and Subaru 360 were enjoying popularity. Then, of course, it was the age of the bubblecar with names like Messerschmitt, Heinkel, Isetta, Scootacar and Zündapp being seen on our roads. Britain already had its minimalist brigade driving three-wheeler Bond Minicars and Reliants. Clamouring for a truly inexpensive small car that was outstandingly economical, Italy got what it wanted in 1957 when the Fiat 500 Nuova was introduced. 

 

To understand the origins of the Nuova it is necessary to look at an arrangement elsewhere within the Fiat empire resulting in a commitment between Fiat and NSU to study designs of small cars. One of the projects, instigated by a young engineer by the name of Bauhof, caught Giacosa’s attention as it proposed a minicar smaller than the Fiat 600 which was stark to say the least. It had a rounded shape, a fabric roof and a tiny engine directly above the rear wheels, and in his memoirs, Giacosa admits he was persuaded by Bauhof’s idea when he designed the 500 Nuova. 

500 Sport 

Picture: Fiat 

 

Serious work on a car smaller than the Topolino began in 1953, by which time Giacosa’s plans for the 600 were well advanced. Like the 600, the 500 Nuova was to have a rear-engine layout but instead of being water-cooled and having four cylinders, it was to be an air-cooled twin cylinder design. Unlike the four-cylinder Beetle and twin-pot 2CV, both of which featured a horizontally-opposed layout, the new 500 was to have an upright twin engine. 

 

At Fiat, development of the 500 Nuova was given the project code 110 and by the end of 1954’s summer two full-scale plaster mock-up designs were ready for evaluation. There was some similarity to the 600’s overall shape but the cars were much smaller displaying stubby frontal areas and a sloping roof line that extended down to the base of the rear coachwork. As had been the case with the Topolino, one the models shown was really only a two-seater with only sufficient space in the rear of the cabin to accommodate a couple of young children. The other, code-named 110-540 featured a more raised and longer roof line with a less raked tail so that it was a full four-seater. The latter model was abandoned when it was deemed it would rival the 600. Clearly there had to be a compromise and a new design brief was established. Weight had not to exceed 370kg, fuel consumption no more than 4.5 litres per 100km (60mpg) and there should be a top speed of no less than 85kph (53mph). The first prototype had to be running by June 1955 with production scheduled to start a year later. 

 

That the 500 Nuova should have an air-cooled twin engine was not initially greeted with total enthusiasm by Fiat directors but ultimately Dante Giacosa got his way. Both vertical and horizontally-opposed engines were considered, the first to be ready being a 479cc air-cooled upright type. Three further designs were built but it was the fifth engine, which was of the same cubic capacity and of similar engineering to that of the first built, which was adopted. 

500D seen outside the Design Museum in London 

Picture: Malcolm Bobbitt 

 

Continuing development of the Nuova meant that the car’s construction was generally similar to that of the Fiat 600, though there was virtually no sharing of common parts. Compared in size to the Fiat 600, the Nuova appeared quite dwarfish and whilst the former initially was considered the natural successor to the Topolino, it was really the latter that became its logical descendent. 

 

The 500 Nuova was launched in the summer of 1957, thus missing an ideal spring debut opportunity at Geneva but making an impact before the autumn Turin show. The launch itself was typical of Fiat with Turin’s streets besieged with examples of 500s, each open roofed and an attractive Signorina standing inside. From Turin the 500 went to Rome and, at the end of July, Fiat sent 50 cars to Britain for a spectacular press launch at Brands Hatch. 

 

The sense of occasion diminished soon after the car’s introduction. The new 500’s lack of power meant that its lethargic performance did nothing at all to inspire sales. Problems pre-launch associated with engine and transmission vibration were not successfully addressed, and potential customers criticised the car’s austerity. Only the car’s quarterlight windows opened and even the penny-pinching sliding windows had been forsaken for fixed glass. With the Turin show only three months distant, Giacosa and his team worked feverishly to produce a modified version of the car. 

 

Whilst blame for the 500’s flop was directed towards Dante Giacosa, fairly it was due to Fiat’s overall management who had insisted the design had to be kept within strict parameters of frugality. With three months to get things right, Giacosa was given, more or less, a free hand in resurrecting the Nuova from its possible disastrous fate. 

 

Giacosa’s efforts were fulfilled with the introduction at the Turin show of the Normale, which was substantially modified and uprated in power over the original Nuova which remained in the catalogue. Fiat, therefore, offered a choice of models, which was a clever ploy against losing face. The original ultra-utilitarian car was marketed as the Economia but given the Normale’s increase in power. Priced at 25,000 lire more than the Economia’s 465,000 lire, the Normale was given winding windows, waist-level mouldings, hub caps and headlamp bezels for enhanced appearance. Inside the car there was an upholstered rear seat while minor controls and the dashboard were refurbished. Even a heater was fitted for additional comfort. 

 

Performance of both models at last became acceptable. Still with its displacement of 479cc, output was increased from 13 to 15bhp, thus pushing the top speed upwards by 3mph to 56mph, which was achieved by modifying the camshaft and redesigning the carburettor. 

 

Home sales of Fiat’s baby favourably responded to the Normale’s introduction but it was not until 1958 that the new model was available for export. Whereas the Economy model sold in the UK for £526, the De Luxe commanded a further £30. 

 

Even more power was available with the introduction of the 500 Sport in August 1958. With output raised to 21.5bhp and engine displacement increased to 499.5cc, top speed rushed to 68mph, all of which demanded some extra rigidity by means of a strengthened steel roof being built into the car. Serious modifications were incorporated into the car’s engine involving a case-hardened steel camshaft in place of the cast iron affair, new inlet and exhaust valves along with redesigned combustion chambers and an enlarged carburettor. 

Giardiniera 

Picture: Fiat 

 

Another new model to emerge, and which recalled an earlier success, was the Giardiniera four-seater estate car which was launched in May 1960. In designing the Giardiniera, two problems had to be addressed: one was to achieve a flat load platform and the other was matching engine power with the car’s additional weight as compared to the saloon. Both were satisfied with adoption of the 500 Sport’s 499.5cc engine, turning it on its side and laying it beneath the rear floor. Practicality was the Giardiniera’s strength so that it easily accommodated four adults and by no means a meagre amount of luggage. With the rear seats folded it became a useful load carrier. Mechanically similar to the Nuova, cooling air was drawn into the engine compartment via ports positioned at high level aft of the rear side windows. In this way, road dust was prevented from being sucked into the engine bay. 

 

The Giardiniera was perceived as being solely a three-door vehicle, the rear door being side-opening rather than having a lift-up tailgate. In common with the 500 saloon models at the time, the car had rear-hinged ‘suicide’ doors. Overall, the Giardiniera was 215mm longer than the saloon and had a wheelbase that was extended by 100mm. There was a gain of 29mm on height while 50kg was added to the car’s weight. The bulk of the Giardiniera called for an upgrade in braking capacity which resulted in the fitting of 210mm diameter drums instead of the usual 168mm. 

Giardiniera showing interior 

Picture: Fiat 

 

Arrival of the 500D in May 1960 signalled the first significant change to the saloon’s design since introduction of the Normale and Sport models. The 499.5cc engine was universally adopted and the 500D could be identified by its short sunroof and large tail lights. The main styling differences were inside the car so that a re-shaped fuel tank afforded a greater amount of luggage space. In the cabin itself, the rear seat was given a folding backrest, which again added to the car’s luggage potential, and footwells built into the floorpan provided for increased passenger comfort. Subsequent improvements to the car’s specification included fitment of a windscreen washer and an interior light incorporated within the rear-view mirror was operated via a switch on the driver’s door. One item that was absent was a fuel gauge, which was deemed an unnecessary luxury. 

 

Modernising a classic 

 

Though it initially appeared very similar to the 500D, the 500F of 1965 brought the Nuova up to date with its front-hinged doors. Other styling modifications included a deeper windscreen and thinner door pillars together with an overall height increase of 10mm and a weight gain of 20kg. Sills were thinner than before, and the rear edge of the front bonnet was of slightly different shape. On the mechanical side, new design drive shafts and a heavier duty clutch aided reliability but grievances regarding pedal positioning about which customers had long complained went unaddressed. 

 

Three years after the 500F’s debut, the 500L made its appearance. Visually there was little to distinguish one from the other externally, the main differences being limited to interior trim. Close inspection revealed the 500L to have a smaller and redesigned badge; bright plastic replaced an aluminium rear number plate while adoption of nudge bars gave added protection when parking. As well as having redesigned hub caps, the 500L received radial-ply tyres in addition to brightwork adorning window surrounds and roof gutters. Inside the car, the 500L afforded an element of luxury with its carpets replacing rubber matting and reclining seats clad in imitation leather. The dashboard sported a large instrument cowl that at last had a proper fuel gauge rather than a mere ‘low fuel’ warning light. 

500L 

Picture: Fiat 

 

Both the 500F and 500L remained in production until 1972, thus accounting between them sales of more than 2.2 million examples. In replacing the two models the 500R was introduced which arrived at the same time as an all-new baby Fiat in the guise of the square-shaped and slab-sided 126. The 500R, however, looked like a Nuova but was powered by a 594cc engine though it did not have quite the same power as the similarly-engined 126. The 500R’s trim was more in the style of the 500F with its simple dashboard and minimal instrumentation which lacked a fuel gauge but was equipped with the familiar low fuel indicator. 

 

The 500R was withdrawn from the Fiat catalogue in 1975, so ending eighteen years of Nuova production. 

 

Ethos of the baby Fiat continued with the 126 with its styling that immediately connected it with previous models despite it being more angular than those it replaced. A trifle longer and lower than the 500, the 126 looked to be a four-seater though in fact it was a 2+2 with very limited space at the rear for adult passengers. Engine size increased throughout production to 652cc, but the most significant change in the car’s career came in September 1987 with the arrival of the 126 Bis. 

500L interior showing reclining seats and superior trim to that of 500F 

Picture: Fiat 

 

Still with a twin-cylinder engine, the familiar air-cooled unit was replaced by a Lancia water-cooled twin of 704cc capacity pushing the car’s top speed to a respectable 70mph. Laid on its side and nestling beneath the rear floor behind the rear wheels, positioning the engine in this way allowed the 126 to be restyled as a three-door hatchback. Together with a wide-opening tailgate and a folding rear backrest, it was possible to turn the 126 into a useful load carrier. 

 

The 126 Bis remained in production until the arrival of the Cinquecento in December 1991. With it came a whole new culture in baby Fiat chronology that was to feature front-wheel drive. Styling and engineering modifications summoned the Seicento in 1998 which in turn spawned the retro-style 500. Twin-cylinder engines have made a comeback with the award-winning TwinAir and the 500 saloon is set to be joined by an estate version in similar fashion to the Giardiniera. 

Dante Giacosa with a Fiat 500A Topolino- picture by Malcom Bobbitt 

 

 

 

 

Think Fiat 500 and you could be forgiven for thinking that the modern retro cuddly-shaped city-cum-go-anywhere design masterpiece is a Twenty-First Century automotive invention. Fiat 500 devotees know that the little front-wheel drive car is but a new slant on a motoring icon that first saw the light of day nearly eighty years ago. 

 

A tiny prototype car known as Zero-A emerged from Italy’s Turin factory on 7th October 1934. Its design was intended to satisfy Fiat’s proposal for an affordable car and one that offered truly economical and comfortable minimal motoring. Minimalism in the automotive industry wasn’t new, the motoring world having already seen a variety of often fragile-looking machines which came within the cyclecar genre. Such fundamental cars included the like of Citroën’s 5CV, Opel’s Laubfrosch (Tree Frog), the Austin Seven and a range of austere European models, amongst the better known being the Bédélia and Hanomag. Less than two years after Zero-A’s debut arrived Fiat’s Cinquecento production car, which was launched on 15th June 1936 and which soon became familiarly known as the Topolino, or Little Mouse. 

Winning the acclaim as being the world’s smallest mass-produced four-cylinder car, output of the Topolino quickly reached 100 cars a day. Like its modern namesake, the 1936 Fiat 500 had its engine mounted beneath the bonnet, though unlike today’s front-wheel drive version, it had a propeller shaft driving the rear wheels. 

 

In effect, the Topolino was a two-seater. Although it was marketed as a family car it was designed to accommodate a couple of children in the rear compartment, not on proper seats as might be supposed, but on cushions that had to be supplied by the car’s owner. Luggage could also be carried but this had to be loaded through one of the two doors as the car didn’t have external boot access. Anyone who has driven a Topolino will know that everything about the car is in miniature, from its very modest footprint to the confined cabin space and the tiny engine compartment housing the 569cc water-cooled four-cylinder side-valve motor. Likewise, those enthusiasts who undertake their own maintenance will know only too well the difficulty in reaching some of the components owing to the limited amount of space beneath the bonnet. 

Fiat 500A publicity picture 

Picture: Fiat 

 

Despite its overall length of just 10.55 feet and width of 4.18 feet, the Topolino was ultra-modern in concept. At a time when many cars were still relying upon cable or rod activated brakes, the Fiat 500 was specified with all-round hydraulic braking. It had a four-speed gearbox when most small cars had three speeds, but the parking brake, instead of being employed to work on the wheels, acted on the transmission. Weight saving was paramount with a specially designed chassis while the rear-hinged ‘suicide’ doors had sliding windows instead of the winding type in order to afford as much interior cabin space as possible. 

 

The Topolino was originally designed as a saloon but during development a version with a full-length sunroof evolved, and it is this version that became the best seller. 

Giardiniera afforded seating for four people 

Picture: Fiat publicity 

 

The important link between the development of the 500 Topolino and the design and styling of the later generation Fiat 500 Nuova is Dante Giacosa (3rd January 1905-31st March 1996) . As a young man with a degree in mechanical engineering, Giacosa was given the responsibility of designing the Topolino’s chassis and engine and he worked closely with Rodolfo Schaeffer who, from 1929, was director of Fiat’s coachwork department. From the outset, it was Schaeffer’s intention that the 500 was to take a completely scaled down image of the streamlined Fiat 1500. 

 

Giacosa might well have wished the Topolino to have front-wheel drive (a clue being the chassis layout with the forward positioning of the engine and gearbox) but there was no chance of this owing to Fiat boss Giovanni Agnelli’s antipathy towards this type of transmission. His suspicion of driving the front wheels followed an incident in 1931 when an experimental car so equipped, and which was powered by a twin-cylinder air-cooled engine, caught fire. 

500A competing in the 1937 Torquay Rally 

Picture: National Motor Museum 

 

Giacosa was told to produce a car that would be comfortable, functional and cheap to manufacture. A tight budget meant that development costs had to be kept to a minimum, hence the 500’s unfussiness with its two-bearing engine which relied on oil being circulated without pressure and a cooling system that was without need of a water pump. With the petrol tank mounted beneath the scuttle within the engine compartment, gravity feed of fuel was possible. Final drawings for the car were made in June 1934 and the car was launched two years later on the 15th June 1936. 

 

With its independent front suspension, light weight and good performance, the Topolino quickly made its name in motorsport becoming a familiar sight on the rally and navigation scene. So highly regarded was the car that racing driver and ‘Bentley Boy’ Lord Howe, who was president of the British Racing Driver’s Club and the ERA Club, owned two examples which he used regularly during the Second World War. 

Topolino pictured ahead of a Citroen Traction Avant 

Picture: National Motor Museum 

 

As well as being built in Italy, Fiat 500s were also constructed at Nanterre in France by Simca where the Topolino was sold as the Simca Cinq. Britain, too, hosted Topolino production courtesy Fiat (England) at Water Lane in Wembley. Fiat, like Renault at Acton and Citroën at Slough, along with Chevrolet and Dodge at Kew, operated production facilities in the United Kingdom as a means of getting around the swingeing purchase tax applied to the sales of foreign vehicles. In order to be exempt from additional purchase tax, the British-based foreign manufacturers were compelled to use a high proportion of locally-sourced components, which made the cars uniquely different to those built in their home countries. 

 

Now very rare is the four-seat version of the 500 that was specially designed by Fiat (England) in 1939. To accommodate four adults, the car was given special bodywork with side windows and a modified floorpan with built-in rear footwells. Only 400 of these vehicles, which were mostly painted in a two-tone metallic colour scheme and given front and rear bumpers, were built. 

500C wearing American plates and pictured in Italy in 1952 

Picture: Maria Cairnie 

 

Two years after production began, by which time production output had accounted for 46,000 vehicles, the 500 Topolino was modified with a revised rear suspension having longer leaf springs. A decade later in 1948 a total of some 112,000 cars had been produced, and it was at that year’s Geneva Motor Show a new version of the 500, the 500B, was exhibited. Though the 500B looked exactly the same as its predecessor (which then became known as the 500A), beneath the bonnet lay a new overhead valve engine, its cubic capacity being the same as that of the side-vale unit but with power output increased from 13 to 16.5bhp. Complementing the improved performance, the brakes, clutch, transmission and suspension were uprated. Later that year at the Turin Motor Show, a proper four-seater estate car version known as the Giardiniera of the 500B was unveiled. 

 

The 500B proved to be a stop-gap model because, 21,000 cars and a year later, an entirely new 500 Topolino was launched at the 1949 Geneva show. Though essentially capturing the image of the original 500A and using some of the original body pressings, the 500C featured a re-styled ‘full-width’ frontal arrangement with a longer bonnet, new wings and faired-in headlamps. Additionally, the 500C featured a re-shaped tail which as well as increasing luggage capacity also accommodated the spare wheel in a compartment beneath the boot floor instead of being carried externally. 

500C Belvedere offered for sale at the Beaulieu Autojumble 

Picture: Malcolm Bobbitt 

 

As with the 500A and 500B saloons and convertibles, the 500C was also a two-seater with space to accommodate a couple of children on cushions. It was, however, an inch shorter in its overall length compared to the previous models. An estate car marketed as the Belvedere was added to the 500C range in 1953 and had polished ash body sides with masonite panels to give it a rustic appearance. Simca continued to produce the Topolino in 500C guise but instead of the Cinq was renamed the Six. 

 

The Topolino was built as a commercial variant from 1936 with a 300kg payload. It proved to be more aerodynamic than the saloon and therefore marginally faster. Three years after launch, double rear doors were specified along with modified suspension. 

00C with 500 Nuova 

Picture: Malcolm Bobbitt 

 

Living up to the sporting potentials of its forebears, the 500C was a familiar sight at trials and rallies throughout Britain and mainland Europe. Not least was an example’s appearance in the 1953 Monte Carlo rally. 

 

The Topolino’s chassis was a favourite with coachbuilders who prepared some interesting coachwork designs that often took on sporting themes as well as adopting dedicated saloon and convertible styles. Siata was one of the most prolific coachbuilders supplying specialist 500s together with famous names like Zagato, Carrozzeria Automobli, Ernesto Accossato, Francis Lombardi and Carrozzeria Montescani. 

 

The 500C remained in production until 1955 when it was replaced by the all-new Fiat 600. Production from 1936 accounted for 122, 213 500As, 21,623 Bs and 376,371 Cs to make a grand total of 520,207 Topolinos. 

 

Though the Fiat 600, which was designed as being a full four-seater, was five inches shorter overall than the 500C, there nevertheless remained a strong market for an even smaller four-seater. Fiat addressed this demand by introducing the air-cooled twin-cylinder 500 Nuova in the summer of 1957. 

500C seen in London 

Picture: Malcolm Bobbitt