History Of The Fiat 500

The now extremely popular Fiat 500 was once, well not so popular. It’s hard to believe this quirky innovative car was once unloved, so much so that the production halted. Originally launched in 1949 as a front engine, two door car with a sunroof it wasn’t actually considered to be like the current models until the release of its considerably smaller and lighter Fiat 500 which first reared its head in 1957 as a practical and cheap town car in Italy, let’s take a small trip through its history and see what went wrong and ultimately what went so right.

Nuova or in English New (1957-60)
The first of the new generation of the Fiat 500 was a very small and slow little town car, the car featured iconic “suicide doors” which opened outward in a strange fashion. It was a perfect car for getting around the small cities in Italy with the tight roads. Not the best car but certainly met its purpose.

D (1960-65)
The replacement for the Nuova the single lettered car D shared only two key differences from the first model. The engine size, which was slightly more powerful producing 17 bhp, 4 more than the previous model. The sunroof did also not fold fully back, it only went about half way back, but again the D also had the suicide doors.

K or Giardiniera (1960-1975)
As of currently this is the longer running Fiat 500 model in history, also again featuring “suicide doors” (Woah, it took them ages to get rid of them!) this time the car also featured an engine laid under the floor of the boot, this model was labelled the “estate” version. Although one of the bigger Fiat 500 models it is still the smallest estate I have ever seen the K was a success and made a long lasting impression becoming one of the most memorable 500s.

F or Belina (1965-1973)
A frequently misidentified model due to the F spanning between the two periods of the D and the L, at last the F boasted front hinged doors! Essentially the F was sold as a cheaper Lusso model and was found to be a good alternative to the L as it was a base model and didn’t have some of the extras that you could get with the L.

L or Lusso (1968-1972)
The L brought a modernised interior with a renewed dashboard and it brought the Fiat 500 hundred up to date, well at least up to 1968. It provided much more style and comfort than the previous models which is why it was a much more expensive version than the F.

R or Rinnovata (1972-1975)
The last Fiat 500s, well until the recent ones of course. It ended the Fiat 500s, the sales of the R massively plummeted in later years and Fiat tried to keep it going selling it alongside the Fiat 126 but it didn’t work and inevitably the Fiat 500 retired in 1975, what was thought to be the end of an Era.

The Revival – Fiat 500 (2007)
Based on the Trepiuno concept the Fiat 500 returned looking similar to that of a VW Beetle and a mini combined it was larger than its previous models. It commercially took off in September 2007 when it exploded onto the scene making a large amount of sales, it’s now one of the most common cars on the road.

What Changed?
The success of the new Fiat 500 has been insane, the old models where good and quite popular at the time but nothing compared to the new one. So why when they released it years later did it do so much better despite their being not a huge amount of change? I personally think they did a great, but very risky thing. They narrowed their market down, the Fiat 500s are predominately marketed at a female audience which is an odd strategy, but it’s worked and the Fiat is now back with a vengeance.

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Having worked in the car rental industry for over 15 years, he really knows his stuff. Rob heads up our marketing department and as a keen traveller, always has a new location to talk about. Particularly if there is a golf course nearby.