Cream

Key Facts

The Fiat 500 (Italian: Cinquecento, pronounced [ˌtʃiŋkweˈtʃɛnto]) is a rear-engined, four-seat, small city car that was manufactured and marketed by Fiat Automobiles from 1957 until 1975 over a single generation in two-door saloon and two-door station wagon bodystyles.

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Launched as the Nuova (new) 500 in July 1957, as a successor to the 500 "Topolino", it was an inexpensive and practical small car. Measuring 2.97 metres (9 feet 9 inches) long, and originally powered by a 479 cc two-cylinder, air-cooled engine, the 500 was 24.5 centimetres (9.6 inches) smaller than Fiat's 600, launched two years earlier, and is considered one of the first purpose-designed city cars.

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In 1959, Dante Giacosa received a Compasso d'Oro industrial design prize for the Fiat 500. It was the first time when it was awarded to an automotive industry.