Fiat 500 Topolino

Manufacturer	Fiat
Also called	Topolino
Production	1936-1955 520,000 made
Successor	Fiat 600
Class	Micro car
Body style	2-door coupé 2-door cabriolet 3-door station wagon
Layout	FR layout
Engine	569 cc straight-4 sidevalve
Transmission	4-speed manual
Length	3,215 mm (127 in) [1]
Width	1,275 mm (50 in)[1]
Height	1,377 mm (54 in)[1]
Related	Simca 5 Simca 6

The Fiat 500, commonly known as Topolino ("little mouse" in Italian, possibly also influenced by Mickey Mouse), is an Italian automobile model manufactured by Fiat from 1936 to 1955.

History

The Topolino was one of the smallest cars in the world at the time of its production. Launched in 1937, three models were produced until 1955, all with only minor mechanical and cosmetic changes. It was equipped with a 569 cc four-cylinder, side-valve, water-cooled engine mounted in front of the front axle,( later an overhead valve motor ) and so was a full-scale car rather than a cyclecar. The radiator was located behind the engine which made possible a lowered aerodynamic nose profile at a time when competitors had a flat, nearly vertical grill. The shape of the car's front allowed exceptional forward visibility.^[2]

Rear suspension initially used quarter-elliptic rear springs, but buyers frequently squeezed four or five people into the nominally two-seater car, and in later models the chassis was extended at the rear to allow for more robust semi-elliptic springs.^[2]

With horsepower of about 13 bhp,^[3] its top speed was about 53 mph (85 km/h), and it could achieve about 39.2 miles per US gallon (6.00 L/100 km; 47.1 mpg_-imp). The target price given when the car was planned was 5,000 lire.^[2] In the event the price at launch was 9,750 lire,^[2] though the decade was one of falling prices in several part of Europe and later in the 1930s the Topolino was sold for about 8,900 lire. Despite being more expensive than first envisioned, the car was competitively priced.^[2] Nearly 520,000 were sold.

In 1955 the mid-size rear wheel drive Fiat 600 was launched by Fiat and that would become the design basis for the new Fiat 500, the Nuova 500. The Nuova 500 is often thought, mistakenly, to be the only model 500 Fiat.

Gallery

• 

  Fiat 500A 1939

• 

  Fiat 500A Standard Coupé 1939

• 

  Fiat 500

• 

  Fiat 500 Convertible 1947

• 

  Fiat 500C Coupé 1950

• 

  Fiat 500C 1952

• 

  Fiat 500C Convertible 1953

• 

  Fiat 500C Convertible 1954

• 

  Fiat 500C Convertible 1954

• 

  Fiat 500C Belvedere

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Fiat Topolino

• Fiat 500 History - Gizmohighway Auto Guide