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Not
only a car but a symbol. Not only a symbol but a star in the
lives of many people. Because if we say Italy, here and all
around the world, we don’t just say pizza, mandolin and
gondola. But also 500, the legendary Fiat 500. The
car for all (though it cost great sacrifices to workers),
the dream of young and old people, the keeper of memories
and "uncomfortable" love affairs. This small vehicle
is perhaps the most famous Italian car in the world and its
celebration in 2007, with a really high-tech model, can be
nothing but a deep passion for the four wheels.
But
what is the true story of the 500 and how many versions are
there? In reality the history of this car is very complicated
and deeply intertwines with the one of other Fiat models.
According to the most reliable historical reconstructions,
everything began with an idea of Benito Mussolini,
who requested a car cheaper than 5,000 Liras to Giovanni Agnelli,
in order to get the Italians a car. Of course this was a request
that could not be refused, so Agnelli entrusted the project
to two teams. The first one would follow the strategy of using
the equipment already available in Fiat, cutting down the
waste to the bone. The second one, led by Oreste Lardone,
had to choose an innovative technological solution: the front-wheel
drive.
The
first team gave birth to an abridged version of Balilla, the
500 A, called Topolino. It was certainly a successful
model but failed in keeping prices down as requested by Mussolini:
the car did not cost 5,000 Liras, it cost 8,900 instead. But
the first real 500, which only few people know, was the one
realized by the Lardone team, the "500 tutto avanti"
that remained just a little bit more than a prototype. At
the car presentation, in fact, a mere fuel escape caused a
fire in the car, which prompted Agnelli to prohibit forever
Fiat cars with front-wheel drive.
The
first two experiments were therefore half failures. The "true"
500, the one in everybody’s heart, is the one of the
Vittorio Valletta project that should be called the "new"
500, dating back to the '50s. By then the "Topolino"
was an outdated model and it was therefore necessary to do
something totally new. Responsible for these innovations was
Dante Giacosa, who also had several financial troubles
resulting from damages to Fiat structures caused by the war.
In order to improve the timing Giacosa decided to implement
the first bodywork drawings of the new 500 for another car
version based on the same propulsion model of “Topolino".
Thus it was born the Fiat 600 (photo), which temporarily
filled up the cash registers of Fiat without a huge investment.
This gave Giacosa as much time to realize a truly innovative
new 500.
The
first true new 500 was thus presented on 4th July 1957:
it cost 490K Liras, it had a maximal speed of 85Km /h and
it was really basic, too basic even for that period. Without
levers of dip switches, with fixed glasses, with a cloth top,
with no back seat (in its place an uncomfortable bench), with
no chrome-covered wheels, not chromed headlights and with
a basic heating system. Just the lack of chromes, really in
fashion for that period, led to a half-hearted welcome of
the car. So Fiat decided to review it after only four months,
offering a version with even a lower price (465K Liras) but
with more precise aesthetic details and a new 15hp engine.
With a clever move by what is nowadays called "customer
care" the first time customers, that is to say the ones
who purchased a few months before a worse model at a higher
price, were paid back a check of 25 thousand Euros or with
free replacement of the car. From here on, the story becomes
legend: the 500 becomes an international phenomenon, the car
of the Italian par excellence, sold abroad too with a version
especially designed for the United States.
A
success that, with its memories, led to a wave of nostalgia
gently ridden by Fiat. In 1991 the Turin company decided to
call "Cinquecento" (five-hundred)
the sporty town car heir of the 126. But the only true heir
of the Cinquecento, or as we should say the "New Cinquecento",
will show only in 2007, with the hope of giving new life to
Fiat, without disappointing the thousands of fans.
On
14th March 2010 many roaring “legends” will be
in Piazza Cavour Ancona ready to make us relive those still
alive emotions. Impossible not to be there!
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