Fiat Nuova 500 Versions From 1957 To 1975
Published: 21st March 2007
500 R (from 1972 to 1975)
- Output: over 340,000 units
- Launch price: 600,000 lire
Simultaneously, with the presentation of its successor, the 126, the last 500 was launched in 1972 at the Turin Motor Show. The car concluded the story begun 15 years earlier, in 1957, with a total of 3,893,294 units built at Mirafiori, at the Autobianchi plant in Desio and, finally, at the SicilFiat plant in Termini Imerese (Palermo), where the last 500 came off the assembly line in the Summer of 1975.
In the last three years of production, the 500 R (meaning ‘Rinnovata’, renewed) used the 594 cc engine of the 126, downgraded to 18 bhp from the 23 of the 126, but it kept the old 500 gearbox. Top speed was increased to 100 km/h, but the interiors had less equipment than the previous 500 L.
The age of the rounded curves of the 500 was over, and Italy was no longer the same country that had motorised itself in the space of 15 years (1957-1972), thanks in part to the small car designed by Dante Giacosa.
The production of various versions of the 500 exceeded even the 600, another car created by Giacosa, which closed its career with a total of 2,677,313 in 15 years of life, from 1955 to 1970.
The 500 Topolino, which was built in Lingotto from 1936 to 1955, reached little more than 509,000 units, partly because of the War. So for many years, until the Uno, Panda and Punto passed the one million mark, the legendary 500 of 1957-1972 remained the biggest selling and most built Fiat car.
The Autobianchis
The story of the 500 cannot be told without mentioning Autobianchi. In 1955, the Edoardo Bianchi company became part of Autobianchi, a joint-stock company, with capital from Fiat and Pirelli. In 1967 Autobianchi was in turn taken over by Fiat. When the company was transformed in the mid-Fifties, it stopped building its own cars and became a brand that produced variants of Fiat models. One such case was the Bianchina, which was basically a ‘diversified’ 500, also designed by Giacosa, which made its debut in 1957, costing a little more than its Fiat ‘cousin’, to avoid overlapping and ‘cannibalisation’ within the group for the saloon version. The subsequent Bianchina Panoramica, was a 500 Giardiniera ‘dressed up’ by Autobianchi.
In 1964, the Milan-based company launched the Primula (the first Italian saloon with front-wheel drive and a transversely mounted engine, the result of Giacosa’s ingenuity), followed by the A 111 and the legendary A 112. The 500 Giardiniera was built in Desio, at the Autobianchi plant, until the 1970s.
Autobianchi output grew from just 141 cars registered in 1957, to 12,233 in 1960, and 74,397 in 1970. Output of the Bianchina Cabrio was significant for its time, and a total of 9,000 were built in just four years from 1957.
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: £8,300 - £13,600
Body Style:
Fuel:
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Models in the range: 11
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 19th May 2009
