The world was a very different place in 1957 - the year of the Fiat 500s launch

Andy Goodwin delves into the archives to find out the history of the funky Fiat.

The world was a very different place in 1957 - the year of the Fiat 500s launch. Post war economies were desperate for cheap ways to mobilise their populations.

At the same time the Fiat 500, Austin Mini, Volkswagen Beetle and Citroen 2CV were designed and built in their home nations to give the man on the street access to wheels.

But they did much more. Thanks to incredible design, perhaps not expected in such utilitarian cars, they all changed the way we think about cars and sold in massive numbers.

Along the way, entire generations grew up with them, and took them to their hearts in the process. Italians fell for the Fiat 500 accordingly.

Its tiny 479cc two-cylinder, air-cooled engine had just 13bhp - a figure which sounds unbelievably low today - but measuring just 9ft 9 inches and weighing around 500kgs it was enough to propel it down narrow city streets with verve.

The original 1957 Fiat 500, the Nuova, featured a canvas sunroof folding all the way to the rear of the car for those hot Italian summers and was available as a sport version with a nippy 21bhp.

The Nuova also had doors which open at the front and are hinged in the middle of the car, often nicknamed ‘suicide doors’ because of their dangerous nature.

In 1960 the Fiat 500 D replaced the Nuova, and while most of the key ingredients stayed the same, a 499cc engine with 17bhp was introduced and the sunroof was shortened.

An estate – well sort of an estate – also went on sale in the same year, named the Giardiniera. The tiny engine was cleverly placed under the floor of the boot, giving the Fiat a flat loading bay.

In the 1965 Fiat 500 F Berlina the ‘suicide’ doors were replaced with front opening items. Sales success of the beloved Cinquecento (Italian for 500) continued unabated.

Some 11 years after its debut the Fiat 500 Lusso featured a new interior with a modernised dash. The 500 was more stylish and luxurious as a result, but still spartan at its core. The 500 was always about effortless cool after all.

A ‘large’ 594cc engine with 23bhp was fitted into the 500 R Rinnovata, making it the raciest 500 of all.

The last of the original Fiats 500 models was on sale between 1972 and 1975 and ensured the range went out with a pop from its exhaust.

Over the years the 500 was intertwined with Italian chic and pop culture and many cars were adorned with accessories, logos and racing stripes.

Last summer, in July 2007, Fiat launched the new Fiat 500 exactly fifty years after the original.

Of all the ‘retro’ cars we have seen – only the 2CV has not been born again – the Fiat 500 most successfully rekindles the spirit of the original.

It might be a Fiat Panda underneath, but the new style and quality inside and out seem destined to make the new car a huge sales success.

With national boundaries all but a thing of the past, that means in Great Britain as well as its home nation.

Initial reports conclude the much larger new car is just as fun nipping down alleys in Turin, and much safer and more refined too.

On sale for just under £8,000 it is also a car almost anyone can afford. Viva mobilitiy! Viva the Fiat 500!