Ten days of celebrations for the sixtieth birthday of the iconic Fiat 500 – have drawn to a close.
July has marked a month of festivities, with the handover of the two-millionth Fiat 500 and two special editions dedicated to its landmark birthday – the 500-60esimo, introduced in Geneva, and now the 500 Anniversario.
Four million units of the original and two million of the current model have been sold. The latter is on sale in more than 100 countries worldwide. It is market leader in eight, ranks in the top three in six more and 80% are sold outside of Italy.
The anniversary of the 500 has also been marked outside of the automotive sector. A new stamp has been dedicated to the diminutive Fiat and luxury sportswear brand Hydrogen has released a limited edition “500byHydrogen” sweatshirt, of which 1957 have been made to pay homage to the year of the car’s introduction. On July 4, the 500 joined the permanent collection of the MoMA and also starred in Fiat's first short movie. ‘See you in the future’, the tribute video starring Adrien Brody and the Fiat 500 Anniversary has notched up 11 million views on the web.
The Fiat 500 Anniversario is available as a hatchback or a convertible and in two new exclusive colours, Sicilia Orange and Riviera Green. It features chrome accents on the bonnet and door mirror caps, vintage Fiat logos and 16-inch vintage-look alloy wheels as standard.
Inside, there are new ‘retro style’ seats with horizontal striped fabric, contrast piping in body colour and an embroidered 500 logo, as well as a body-coloured dashboard and "Anniversario" embroidered floor mats to complete the look.
Automatic climate control, cruise control and rear parking sensors are fitted as standard, while the Tech Pack, which includes the 7-inch TFT instrument panel, the Uconnect 7-inch HD LIVE radio, Apple Car Play and Android AutoTM, and satnav – is available as an optional extra.
Powered by the 1.2-litre 69hp petrol engine, it returns 60.1mpg on the combined cycle, emitting 110g/km of CO2, but when combined with the Dualogic gearbox this reduces to 105g/km CO2, with fuel economy of 62.8mpg.
The Fiat 500 Anniversario is in dealerships now, priced from £14,265 OTR.