Fiat 500

The Fiat 500 is a car produced by the Fiat company of Italy between 1957 and 1975, with limited production of the Fiat 500 K estate continuing until 1977. The car was designed by Dante Giacosa. Launched as the Nuova 500 in July 1957, it was a cheap and practical town car. Measuring only 3 metres long, and originally powered by an appropriately-sized 479 cc two-cylinder, air-cooled engine, the 500 redefined the term "small car" and is considered one of the first city cars. In 2007, the 50th anniversary of the 500's launch, Fiat launched the New Fiat 500, stylistically inspired by the... 500 but considerably heavier and larger with front-wheel drive. To meet the demands of the post-war market which called for economy cars, the Fiat 500 was rear-engined on the pattern of the Volkswagen Beetle, just like its bigger brother, the 1955 Fiat 600. Several car makers followed the now uncommon rear engine configuration at the time and were quite successful. The Neckar version manufactured in Heilbronn under a complicated deal involving NSU, was introduced in October 1961.
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