In a typically Italian approach to arithmetic, Fiat is celebrating the fact that in 2014 it will be 57 years since the original Nuova 500 was introduced in July 1957 with a commemorative model called, simply, the 1957 Edition.
Based on the Fiat 500 Lounge model, the 1957 Edition gets an authentic vintage look from classic paint colours, including white, light green with a white roof and mirror housings, or light blue with white roof and mirror housings.
Special 1950s-style Fiat badges on the front fascia and rear hatch, along with 16” 'retro' rims featuring a wide chromed lip, body-colour accent and a large centre cap with period Fiat emblem, complete the 'Dolce Vita' styling.
YOUTHFUL SPIRIT
Under the skin, the youthful spirit of the time is reflected in sports-tuned suspension, performance tyres and a five-speed manual gearbox as standard, although new-millennium drivers are catered for with an optional six-speed auto transmission.
The vintage look continues inside with ivory trim and brown leather seats, ivory contrast stitching and ivory-on-grey door panels. Brown leather door armrests and shift boot match the seats, while the special ivory leather-wrapped steering wheel is hand-stitched with brown leather on the 'inner ring' and, of course, the retro-style Fiat logo.
Each 1957 Edition will also come with a commemorative brown key fob featuring an ivory '1957' logo.
MOTORVATION
The 2014 Fiat 500 1957 Edition has the Lounge model's standard 1.4-litre MultiAir engine, with a 'Sport' button on the centre stack to unleash a more aggressive fuel-injection mapping, together with a higher-revving shift point on auto-transmission variants.
The 1957 edition will make its world debut next week at the Los Angeles Auto Show and go on sale in the second quarter of 2014, with pricing to be announced closer to the time but, sadly, will only be available in North America.
THE RIGHT CAR AT THE RIGHT TIME
Late in 1943, while the city of Turin was still being targeted by Allied air raids and the company's Mirafiori offices were occupied by German troops, Fiat managing director Vittorio Valletta, later to become later company chairman after the death of founder Giovanni Agnelli, asked designer Dante Giacosa to start thinking about new cars that could go into production after the war.
He wasn't the only one; at about the same time Jaguar chief engineer William Heynes, Walter Hassan and Claude Baily were discussing what would become the DOHC straight-six XK engine while fire-watching on the roof of the Coventry plant.
What Giacosa came up with, however, was a design for an affordable little rear-engined car to help get war-ravaged Italy back on the move once hostilities ceased.
It took Fiat until 4 July 1957 to get it on the road but, like the Citroen 2CV in France and the Volkswagen Beetle in Germany, the Nuova 500 was “the right car at the right time,” and marked the rebirth of the company.
Eighteen years and 3 893 294 examples later, the last Nuova 500 left the SicilFiat plant at Termini Imerese in Palermo, Sicily on 4 August 1975 and the 500 became the stuff of legend.