File:1970_Fiat_500_L_--_2011_DC_1.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Key facts
- Manufacturer
- Fiat
- Also called
- Puch 500
- Production
- 1957–1975, 3,893,294 units
- Assembly
- Italy: Turin Italy: Desio Italy: Termini Imerese Austria: Graz ( Steyr Puch ) New Zealand: Ōtāhuhu (Torino Motors)
- Designer
- Dante Giacosa
- Class
- City car ( A )
- Body style
- 2-door saloon 2-door semi-convertible 3-door estate ('Giardiniera') 3-door panel van
- Layout
- Rear-engine, rear-wheel drive
- Doors
- Suicide (1957–1965) Conventional (1965–1975)
- Related
- Autobianchi Bianchina NSU/Fiat Weinsberg 500 Vignale Gamine Autobianchi Giardiniera
- Engine
- 479 cc I2 499 cc I2 594 cc I2
- Transmission
- 4-speed manual ( non-synchronous )
- Wheelbase
- 1,840 mm (72.4 in) 1,940 mm (76.4 in) (Giardiniera)
- Length
- 2,970 mm (116.9 in), 3,185 mm (125.4 in) (Giardiniera)
- Width
- 1,320 mm (52.0 in)
- Height
- 1,320 mm (52.0 in)
- Kerb weight
- 499 kg (1,100 lb)
- Predecessor
- Fiat 500 "Topolino"
via Wikipedia infobox
~19 min read
Encyclopedic overview
The Fiat 500 (Italian: Cinquecento, pronounced [ˌtʃiŋkweˈtʃɛnto]) is an economy / city car that was manufactured and marketed by Fiat Automobiles from 1957 until 1975. It was sold as a two-door semi-convertible or saloon car and as a three-door panel van or estate car.
Launched as the Nuova (new) 500 in July 1957, as a successor to the 500 "Topolino", it was an inexpensive and practical small car. Measuring 2,970 mm (9 ft 9 in) long, originally powered by a rear-mounted 479 cc two-cylinder air-cooled engine, the 500 was 245 mm (9.6 in) smaller than the Fiat's 600, launched two years earlier, and is considered one of the first purpose-designed city cars.
Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Fiat 500” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.