Fiat 500

From Open Encyclopedia

"500" can also refer to the later Fiat Cinquecento

Image:Fiat 500.jpg Image:Fiat 500 at home.jpg The Fiat 500 (the "cinquecento," from Italian for "500") was a micro-sized car produced by the Fiat company of Italy.

Launched in 1957 as the "nuova 500", it was marketed as a cheap and practical town car to combat the huge levels of congestion in Italian cities. Measuring less than 10 feet (3 m) long, and powered by a tiny 479 cc two-cylinder, aircooled engine, the 500 redefined the term "microcar".

To meet the post-war market which called for cars of very low cost, the Fiat 500 was rear-engined on the pattern of the Volkswagen Beetle. Several car makers followed this now nearly vanished pattern at the time and were quite successful. But only the Fiat 500 was used as the pattern for other car makers in Europe. The firms Neckar Weinberg of Germany and Steyr-Puch in Austria each made cars that were legally based on the Fiat 500.

Despite its diminutive dimensions, the 500 proved to be an enormously practical and popular vehicle throughout Europe.

Production of the 500 ended in 1975, although its replacement, the Fiat 126, was launched two years earlier. The 126 was never as popular as its predecessor.

The 500 was made famous in the Lupin the 3rd series and movies.

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