Fiat 500F

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Dante Giacosa’s masterpiece of minimalist motoring, the 'Nuova' 500 was launched in 1957 to replace the famous and much loved 500 'Topolino'.

Within its tiny but bulbous body there was room for two adults and two bambini which gave the 500 huge appeal that got the masses motoring. Powered by a revvy and unburstable twin-cylinder 499cc air cooled engine with a four-speed crash gearbox, the car was an instant success both at home and abroad.
While not the quickest machine to grace our planet, the Fiat is small, nippy and frugal. Perfect for cutting through the traffic of European cities leaving grander, more unwieldy cars trailing in its wake. Just to prove the ever popular appeal, you can still rent a classic 500 to tour Rome or do ‘The Godfather’ tour of Sicily’s back roads.

Fundamentally unaltered throughout its 18-year production life, the 500 was fantastic value for money with all-independent suspension, a heater and full length sunroof as standard, when many much more expensive cars still listed these as options. A surprisingly spacious estate version was also available called the Giardiniera. Production finally ceased in 1975 to make way for the new and infinitely less characterful Fiat 126.

The yellow Fiat 500F you see here has come from a large collection of Italian classics and is only available because of duplication within the collection. Being the 500F it has ‘otto bulloni’ (eight bolt) door hinge mounting, the first of the conventional door openings, but retains the preferred circular speedo binnacle of the early cars. It starts and runs well, but has no brakes so further testing has not been made. Clearly it requires complete restoration but with a huge parts supply readily available in the UK and in Italy, it is one of the more straightforward classic cars to restore.

With top examples of early 500s already fetching healthy double figure sums, this charming Fiat is not just desirable but could actually turn a profit after restoration. It comes with a NOVA form (Notice Of Vehicle Arrival), a Fiat UK dating letter authenticating the year and model, and is ready for the new owner to register with DVLA, which will make them the first UK owner in the V5C logbook. All duties have been paid.