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Wikipedia: Fiat 500
Wikipedia: Fiat 500 (2007) Page Sections History Photographs Audio Article Index Documents |
History
The following section is an excerpt from Wikipedia's Fiat 500 page on 13 January 2016, text available via the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.
The Fiat 500 (Italian: Cinquecento) is a city car which was produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat between 1957 and 1975.
Launched as the Nuova (new) 500 in July 1957, it was a cheap and practical town car. Measuring only 2.97 metres (9 feet 9 inches) long, and originally powered by an appropriately sized 479 cc two-cylinder, air-cooled engine, the 500 redefined the term "city car" and is considered one of the first city cars.
In 2007, the 50th anniversary of the Nuova 500's launch, Fiat launched another new 500, stylistically inspired by the 1957 Nuova 500 but considerably heavier and larger, featuring a front-mounted engine and front-wheel drive.
To meet the demands of the post-war market which called for economy cars, in 1949 a front engine Fiat 500 was released. It had a 2-door coupe body with sun-roof, which was later complemented by an Estate version. Both continued until 1954 when they were replaced by an all new, lighter car. The new car had a rear-mounted engine, 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 of the 500 was manufactured in Heilbronn under a complicated deal involving NSU, and was introduced in October 1961. Steyr-Puch produced cars based on the Fiat 500 under license in Upper Austria.
Despite its diminutive size, the 500 proved to be an enormously practical and popular vehicle throughout Europe. Besides the two-door coupé, it was also available as the "Giardiniera" estate; this variant featured the standard engine laid on its side, the wheelbase lengthened by 10 cm (3.9 in) to provide a more convenient rear seat, a full-length sunroof, and larger brakes from the Fiat 600.
Sports models were famously produced by Abarth, as well as by Giannini. An Austrian variant, produced by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, the 1957–1973 Steyr-Puch 500, had a motorcycle-derived Puch boxer twin motor, a sports model of which was the 1965–1969 Steyr-Puch 650 TR2.
Production of the 500 ended in 1975, although its replacement, the Fiat 126, was launched two years earlier. The 126 was never as popular as its predecessor in Italy, but was enormously popular in the former Eastern Bloc countries, where it is famed for its mechanical durability and high fuel economy. The Fiat 500 has a Cx (aerodynamic resistance coefficient) of 0,38, a very good performance for its time.
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Subject: Pink Fiat 500
Source: Image*After View photo of Pink Fiat 500 - 182KB |
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Subject: Pink Fiat 500
Source: Image*After View photo of Pink Fiat 500 - 190KB |
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Subject: Fiat 500 at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show
Photographer: John Walczak Event: 2010 Chicago Auto Show View photo of Fiat 500 at the 2010 Chicago Auto Show - 1.1MB |
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Subject: Fiat 500e
Photographer: Norbert Aepli, Switzerland Event: 2013 Geneva International Motor Show License: Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported View photo of Fiat 500e at the 2013 Geneva International Motor Show - 3.5MB |
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Woofcast #375 April 11, 2011 Duration: 42:54  Once upon a time there was a blog post. A blog post extolling the virtues of the Fiat 500 over the MINI Cooper. Then 1 day, 3 fine lads heard about this blog post. And they came to defend their champion. As did 75 of you. That’s right, your 3 favorite MINI Cooper fan boys doing what we do best for 42 minutes and 54 seconds. And then some. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Download Woofcast #375 in MP3 format from WhiteRoofRadio.com Go to the Woofcast #375 page at WhiteRoofRadio.com |
| Date | Document Name & Details | Documents |
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| 23 August 2011 | Safety Compliance Testing for FMVSS No. 110: Tire Selection and Rims 2012 Fiat 500 Two-Door Passenger Car National Highway Traffic Safety Administration |  PDF - 5.2MB - 37 pages |
| 12 December 2011 | Safety Compliance Testing for FMVSS 126: Electronic Stability Control Systems 2012 Fiat 500 National Highway Traffic Safety Administration | PDF - 5.5MB - 64 pages |
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