FIAT 500 Design
Published: 19th January 2008
FIAT 500 Design
Designed by Fiat Centro Stile and built at the company’s Tychy plant in Poland, the new Fiat 500 has a significance far greater than that of simple, nostalgic interpretation. While respecting the iconic original’s concept in shape, functional simplicity, reliability and economy, Fiat’s fundamental goal has not been to design a car that ‘looks like’ a 500 but, rather, one that ‘could be’ a 500 again.
Dante Giacosa’s outstandingly successful 500 – a masterpiece of industrial design of which exactly 3,893,294 examples were built between 1957 and 1975 – was launched on 4 July 1957 as a period of post-war regeneration was closing and radical renewal to the company’s product range was also coming to an end, presaging a cycle of successes in the coming decade which hallmark it as one of the brightest periods in the brand’s 108-year history.
Although parallels with the new Fiat 500 are obvious, the latter has been developed in close collusion with potential customers through a communications project known as ‘500 wants you’. Since it went on line in May 2006, the website, www.fiat500.com has been visited by over 3,700,000 users who, via the site’s Concept-Lab, submitted over 275,000 configurations, suggestions for accessories and means of personalising the new model.
As a result, Fiat Centro Stile developed the Personalisation programme in parallel with the 500 project, creating a comprehensive range of over 100 accessories which give owners a vast opportunity to personalise the new Fiat to levels unprecedented in this segment.
Fiat 500
Our Fiat 500 Guide lists the full specification of the current UK 500 range, including car prices, fuel consumption, dimensions and other vital data.
Price Range: £7,905 - £10,710
Body Style:
Fuel:
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Models in the range: 9
We have road tested the Fiat 500, to read our in-depth car review:
Fiat 500 Review - Feb 2008
Our Car Buyer’s Guide covers all of the UK’s major new cars and includes CO2 ratings and car insurance groups. Data updated on the 25th Jun 2008
