Fiat 500

Rust is a worry, as with all Fiats; the floor is the biggest problem along with the sills

Check the front for damage and filler bodges. Most panels are fairly easy to obtain and not expensive

This Abarth cabin has been slightly modded and looks neat and tidy. Switchgear is starting to become scarce

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What is a Fiat 500?

It’s a motorised mouse! Launched back in 1957, the Nouva (or ‘New’) Fiat 500 was the work of Dante Giacosa, a brilliant car designer of the calibre of Sir Alec Issigonis.

The Fiat was conceived in the wake of the 50’s Suez petrol crisis as a proper car in miniature. Not only did it provide economy motoring but the baby Fiat, became a national icon, surviving for eighteen years. Today good ones are coveted, and in Italian cities where anti pollution laws have banned most oldies from their centres, Latin sentiment has resulted in some legal cheating, exempting 500s from the regs.

History

The Nouva 500 was the true replacement for the much loved original Fiat 500 (officially, the bigger 600D succeeded it in 1955), dating from the late 1930s and also designed by Giacosa. This was a minute, front-engined, water-cooled design with a roll down canvass roof and a rear perch rather than a proper back seat.

The new 500 retained the canvass roof and seating configuration, but was powered by a throbbing, aft-mounted air-cooled twin mated to a synchromesh-free, fourspeed gearbox. The new 500 was a slow seller to start with, but design tweaks including a smaller canvass roof and proper rear window, and the luxury of rear back seats soon transformed the car’s fortunes. The range was expanded with the Giardiniera estate, with the engine turned on its side beneath the rear luggage deck.

By the mid 1960s the 500 was facelifted with a bigger windscreen, and in saloon form, front, rather than ‘suicide’ hinged doors (retained by the estate until the bitter end). The engine grew from 479cc to 599cc, instruments were changed and a less spartan L version was launched.

Meanwhile, tuners like Abarth breathed on the 500 with some outrageous upgrades, making it a surprisingly quick car and it became a real giant killer on the race track.

Driving

With independent suspension and entertaining handling, these cars are great fun. Get the revs up and their throbby little engines will punt them surprisingly quickly, the brakes are good enough to slow them down again. There’s plenty of room in the front, and once you’ve adapted to life in the slow lane, you’ ll be surprised at how good a 500 is over long distances. But it’s real forte is as a city slicker where its compactness and nimble nature make it a great classic commuter.

Prices

A few hundred buys a pile of Italian rust. Spend fifteen hundred and you have a running restoration. Double that for a decent example. People ask 5k plus for A1 or breathed on versions. And get it.