Mild hybrid power gives Fiat’s core model a chance to outlive its famous 1950s forebear
Can there be many milestones left for the now-seventeen-year old Fiat 500? Most modern car model generations are long dead and buried by this age. The BMW Group’s ‘new Mini’ has been through three full model generations in the space of 25 years.But, historically speaking, really special small cars have tended to live for longer. Both the original Mini and Citroen 2CV managed more than four decades of continual production, getting fairly minor incremental updates only; the original Volkswagen Beetle more than six.With things as they are, it may be hard to imagine the rebooted baby Fiat sticking around for quite that long – but, if it survives for another twelve months or so, it will have had a longer life than Dante Giacosa’s 1957 ‘nuova 500’ original.The original Nova 500 was so basic that it was conceived partly as an alternative to a scooter. There was one engine option and it had just two seats (at launch), plus suicide doors. By comparison, the modern 500 is much larger and more powerful.First shown in 2007, 50 years after the launch of the Cinquecento that inspired it, the 500 has proved a hit for Fiat, pulling in sales and hugely improving the brand’s image. It has also fathered a whole family of sister models: the 500X, 500L, and now the all-electric Fiat 500.More on the Fiat 500Nearly new guide: Fiat 500Fiat 500 line-up refreshed for 2021Abarth 595 review
