The last six decades never looked so cool.
In 1958, Fiat mobilised a large number of Italians when it introduced the original 500 compact, designed to be to them what the Beetle was to Germany. It was the consummate family car (at least it was back then) and allowed the typical Italian family to move around with reliability, style, and comfort, and it very quickly became the icon of the decade, aided further by its cheeky styling that’s hard to forget.
Fast forward 60-years and you have the fourth series of the Fiat 500 plying our streets looking suave and sweet, with an air of retro cool that only a handful of cars can pull off. And to celebrate the last six decades of cool, Fiat’s rolling out a commemorative edition called the ‘Anniversario Special Edition,’ with prices starting at $21,990 (before ORCs).
The eagle-eyed amongst you would have noticed that that price tag is a significant $2000 higher than the 500 Lounge with the manual transmission, but there’s plenty of kit to make up for it. Limited to just 60 units, Anniversario models will get retro paint options from Fiat’s ‘heritage’ catalogue in the form of Silica Orange and Riviera Green (pictured), as well as smart 16-inch alloys in a vintage design, as well as plenty of chrome all over the place (including chrome mirror caps).
The cabin sees the use of social seat trim with horizontal design elements, replete with an embroidered ‘500’ logo on them, along with a generous smattering of ‘Anniversario’ badging all over the shop. No mechanical revisions here though, so power is still generated by a 1.2-litre turbo-four petrol engine, producing a comfortable 51kW and, 102Nm, transferred to the front wheels via either a six-speed ‘Dualogic’ automated-manual transmission, or a five-speed do-it-yourself item.
*Photos shown are of the 500C Anniversario cabriolet for foreign markets
Built on the 500 Lounge, Anniversario editions utilise the same Uconnect infotainment screen in the middle that measures 5.0-inches across, fitted with satellite navigation, and offering bluetooth connectivity for phone pairing and music streaming. Other standard kit includes rear parking sensors, DAB digital radio, and a 7.0-inch driver supervision display.
For more information on Fiat, check out our Showroom.
