Fiat 500 (1957–1975): history and every series from Nuova to 500 R

The 1957–1975 Fiat 500 is one model with six main series that differ in engine, doors, trim and body details. If you are thinking of buying one, establish the series first — it determines how the car drives, which parts fit and what "original" in an advert really means. How the series affects value is covered separately in How much is a classic Fiat 500 worth.

When and why was the Fiat 500 created?

The Nuova 500 was unveiled in Turin on 4 July 1957 as the successor to the pre-war Topolino and the cheapest car in the range, below the Fiat 600. The project, internally numbered 110, had been led since 1954 by Fiat engineer Dante Giacosa. The brief was simple: the smallest possible car for four people, at a price a factory worker could afford.

Everything was subordinated to cost. A two-cylinder, air-cooled 479 cc engine producing 13 hp sat at the back, the body was 2.97 m long, the car weighed about 470 kg and reached 85 km/h. The folding fabric roof was not a styling whim — it saved expensive sheet steel. At launch the Nuova cost 490,000 lire — according to the Italian press roughly a year's wages for a worker, and only 100,000 lire less than a Fiat 600.

The first version, called Economica, was so spartan that it sold poorly. Fiat quickly added a Normale version with wind-down windows and a 15 hp engine at the same price, and in October 1957 cut the Economica's price by 25,000 lire, to 465,000, refunding the difference to earlier buyers. In 1959 Giacosa received the Italian Compasso d'Oro design award for the car.

Which Fiat 500 series were built between 1957 and 1975?

There are six main series, plus the estate and the Abarth versions. The table below sets out years and engines — data from production tallies (Wikipedia) and from L'Automobile (ACI) and Autoblog.it.

Nuova and Sport (1957–1960)

The Nuova and Sport together accounted for 181,036 cars — a small share of the almost 3.9 million 500s built. The 1958 Sport had its engine enlarged to 499.5 cc and 21.5 hp, and that displacement was carried over by every later 500 up to the L series.

500 D (1960–1965)

The D took the Sport's 499.5 cc engine in a milder tune of about 17.5 hp, good for more than 90 km/h. It is the last version with rear-hinged doors, known in Italy as controvento.

500 F (1965–1972)

The F, unveiled at the Geneva show in March 1965, is the biggest change in the model's history: front-hinged doors, more glass, more interior space, revised mechanicals and better brakes. It was built longer than any other saloon series, for seven years, and it was a 1968 F that New York's Museum of Modern Art acquired for its collection in 2017 (Stellantis press release).

500 L (1968–1972)

The 500 L, or Lusso, arrived in September 1968 as a better-equipped version of the F. Mechanically it is the same car, but with tubular guards in front of the bumpers, more chrome, a padded dashboard with rectangular instruments and radial tyres. The guards make the L about 55 mm longer than the F (3,025 mm). The F and L were sold side by side for four years.

500 R (1972–1975)

The 500 R was launched in November 1972 together with the Fiat 126, which was to replace it. It received a 594 cc engine of the same design as the 126's, rated at about 18 hp at 4,000 rpm, good for about 100 km/h. From the outside you recognise an R by the new rhomboid Fiat badge on the nose in place of the chrome "moustache" and by different wheels; inside, by round instruments in a plastic housing. The last 500 was built on 1 August 1975 at Termini Imerese in Sicily.

Giardiniera (1960–1977)

The Giardiniera is an estate with a wheelbase stretched by 100 mm and the engine laid on its side under the load floor, which gave a flat cargo area at the back. As a commercial vehicle it kept rear-hinged doors to the end. In 1966 assembly moved to the Autobianchi plant in Desio, towards the end of the decade the car began to be sold as an Autobianchi, and in that form it survived until 1977. About 327,000 were built.

Abarth versions

Abarth built more powerful versions with enlarged engines on the 500 base. The most powerful, the 695 SS, had a 689.5 cc engine producing 38 hp and reached about 140 km/h; about 1,000 were built. Because converting a standard 500 is relatively easy, the market has many replicas — only documents and numbers, not badges, confirm a genuine Abarth.

How do you identify a Fiat 500 series?

Start with the doors, then the front and the interior. Rear-hinged doors mean a Nuova, Sport, D or Giardiniera. Front-hinged doors and the chrome "moustache" on the nose mean an F or L — the L has extra tubular bumper guards and a padded dashboard, the F a painted metal dashboard (as in the interior photo above). A rhomboid Fiat badge on the nose, round instruments and a 594 cc engine point to an R.

Remember that after 50–60 years many cars have had parts swapped between series. A typical example is an engine from the Polish Fiat 126p fitted to a 500 during restoration — as on the 1974 Fiat 500R from the MB Classics archive, which received a 1982 126p unit and a synchromesh gearbox. The series on the registration document is only a starting point; compare chassis number, engine and details with the paperwork. In Italy the knowledge of correct specification is gathered by the Fiat 500 Club Italia, which has kept a historic register of the model since 2004 (club website).

How many Fiat 500s were built, and where?

Between 1957 and 1975, 3,893,294 classic Fiat 500s were built — that is the figure in production tallies; Fiat's press material rounds it to "more than 4 million". Cars were assembled in Turin (Mirafiori), from 1971 also at Termini Imerese, and the 500 R and Giardiniera also in Desio. Austria's Steyr-Puch built the 500 under licence (1957–1973), but with its own boxer engine, so that is a separate branch of the family.

What links the classic Fiat 500 to Poland?

The 500's direct successor was the Fiat 126, built in Poland from 6 June 1973 to 22 September 2000 — 3,318,674 were made there. The first Polish 126p had a 594 cc, 23 hp engine, and from 1977 a 652 cc, 24 hp unit. This is the same family of twin-cylinder engines as in the 500 R, which is why 126p engines and many ancillaries fit the 500 and are easy to find in Poland. For an owner this makes running the car easier; for a buyer it is a reason to check exactly what is under the engine lid.

Classic Fiat 500s in the MB Classics archive

The MB Classics archive includes three classic 500s from different years that show the differences described above:

• 1968 Fiat 500F — an F series car, restored in Italy and brought to Poland in 2021, with replaced floor panels and a new wiring loom;
• 1970 Fiat 500 — with a Veglia speedometer and the dynamo replaced by an alternator;
• 1974 Fiat 500R — the final series, in Rosso Corallo Scuro, with a 126p engine and Borrani wheels.

Current cars are in the MB Classics showroom; other Italian models are covered in Italian future classics and the Fiat Barchetta guide. All model guides are in the Models and buyer's guides category.