Classic FIAT cars of
the late 50's and early 60'sThe FIAT motor car company have been one of Italy's biggest success stories this century. They made, and make, cars for all classes, all income groups, all needs.
They have also never been scared of experimenting with styles; we've already seen the Topolino driven in La Dolce Vita, but there are other FIAT cars that are typical Icons of Italian life. To the left we see a promotional poster for the 1400, released in 1950, the first post-war Fiat and a popular family series that spanned over 10 years.
In the 1950's more Italian families were able to afford this class of car so it became very popular.The young lady to the right (from 1958) looks happy enough!)
We still cannot forget that it was
very difficult for most people to afford a scooter or bicycle, let alone
a car, so FIAT came up with a solution to supersede the Topolino, a new
cheap, cheeky baby car, simply called the 600.
Here we see one of the earliest models (in 1957).
This was hugely popular and has become a standard icon of Italian driving culture.
FIAT didn't stop there, they made
a new model in 1957 called the Nuova 500, but we all know it now as the"Cinquecento".
It featured an air-cooled twin cylinder engine.
Along with the Topolino, they are one of the smallest mass production cars ever made and introduced the freedom of motoring to a whole new group of people - many young people in Italy could finally afford a car....
Still why stop there, FIAT
thought, why not make a model the whole family can enjoy, so here it is...
the estate version.
Here we see a group of four friends with a lot of luggage (1960). It looks like they're going on holiday. It is to be hoped they have a good physiotherapist waiting at the end of their journey!
FIAT nevertheless had continued
to cater for the sports car market, for example with cars such as the 8V
two-seater roadster shown here It was launched at the 1952 Geneva Show -
it had advanced aerodynamic characteristics. The 1900 saloon and 1900 Granluce
were also presented, they showed FIAT innovation in being the first examples
of cars with modern automatic transmission.
Finally we cannot forget the more
normal, yet luxurious models. Here is a 1959 Fiat 1800 saloon, also available
as a 2100, and an estate as well as a special saloon version and a convertible
model. These vehicles were considered luxurious and well made. As an aside
your web-page author's father had one until the early 1970's - to see one
evokes happy memories of years gone by.....
So, sitting outside our cafe on the Via Veneto we have considered the legacy of the most prolific producer of cars in our country's history. Nevertheless there are many more facets of Roman life to examine, we could continue to watch the cars go by, consider the FIAT motor car marque a little more or perhaps we could contemplate something else....?
Last updated 9th of February 1999
