The Fiat 500 may not pass for a luxury car, but for decades it has been a car for the people — and not only at home in Italy.
On July 4, 1957, the first models rolled off the production line in Turin in northern Italy, at that time under the name Fiat Nuova 500. At launch, it was advertised as a "big little car."
A "loyal friend" — no matter whether you were going to the seaside or to the mountains, the TV commercial said.
A 65-year-old phenomenon
More than half a century later, it's hard to imagine Italian roads without the Cinquecento ("five hundred").
Over the years, Fiat produced various 500 versions, from the convertible to the sports version to the elongated Giardineria ("gardener's") — a kind of estate car.
More than 7.1 million 500 models have been sold by Fiat since then, as company spokesman Marco Freschi explains.
The company is now part of the Stellantis car group, which was created in January 2021 from the merger of Fiat Chrysler and the French PSA Group.
Turnover of the listed group in 2021: €152 billion. The traditional Italian brand has since joined the ranks of Opel and Peugeot from France.
Back in the 1950s, the company had a clear plan for the new 500: after World War II, Fiat wanted to bring a car onto the market that gave people more mobility, as Freschi explains.
Before that, the brand, founded by Giovanni Agnelli, had already been making the Fiat 500, also called the Topolino ("little mouse"), which was not necessarily a car for everyone in the eyes of some because of its surprisingly high price.
Designer Dante Giacosa had to design a model that could compete with the low costs of scooters. In the end, a new version of the 500 rolled off the production line in 1957, with a 500 cc engine and a price of a little less than 500,000 lire - which explains the name.
An electric future (and past)
"The Fiat 500 is an absolute success model, just like the BMW MINI for example," says car industry analyst Ferdinand Dudenhöffer. "It represents Italy, has reinvented itself again and again and adapted to its time as a modern vehicle."
Especially in Italy's narrow city traffic, the slim 500 can be steered smoothly through alleyways compared to bulky SUVs. Just don't expect to be able to stow lots of luggage, then or now.
Now this cult classic is to trying to turn down a new street and parent company Stellantis thinks the 500 is the perfect car to lead the shift towards urban electric mobility.
"Fiat has a strategy and a clear goal," says Freschi. By 2027, the entire brand is to go purely electric. The company wants to give itself an environmentally friendly makeover.
To underline this, Fiat has made a garden out of the famous test track on the roof of its former factory in the Lingotto district of Turin. Now, on the same spot where, from 1927 onwards, engineers tested out new models, tens of thousands of plants decorate the asphalt.
Dudenhöffer believes the company's decision is the right one. "If you want to carry a cult product into the future, you have to make it fit for the future, otherwise it becomes a museum exhibit," says the expert from Germany's Center Automotive Research.
"That's exactly what's happening with the all-electric Fiat 500."
Fiat tried its hand at an electric car once before in the 1990s with the Cinquecento Elettra, but without success.
The car had 12 clunky battery cells in the rear and initially managed a top speed of 80kph with a range of around 60km. The car could be recharged at home from a socket, but this took hours.
Today, the electric 500 is said to be capable of covering up to 320km depending on the model. In other words, there's a chance it may stay a "loyal friend" to many in the era of electric mobility.
