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The Fiat 500 Club Italia was
created in 1984 in Garlenda, in the province of Savona, as
the ‘Amici della 500’ (Friends of the 500) by a group of
enthusiasts. Today the Fiat 500 Club Italia has more than
20,000 members, and an efficient network of over 120
trustees in Italy and abroad, who organise and sponsor over
one hundred rallies every year, as well as participating in
the most important events in the sector.
The first rally was held on July 15, 1984 with about thirty
participants, including Dante Giacosa, the ‘father’ of the
500, who was very amused by it all and praised the ‘unusual
and commendable initiative of giving a new breath of life
and prestige to the Fiat 500’. In 1989 the magazine
‘4piccoleruote’ was launched. It now appears every two
months with 64 pages in colour, and an annual circulation of
150,000 copies, representing an excellent link with the
world of the fans of this ‘big little car’.
The ‘Fiat 500 Club Italia’ was officially founded on March
13, 1990 and ten years later it joined ASI (Automotoclub
Storico Italiano). The following year, in 2001, a new
website was launched (www.500clubitalia.it)
which aroused great interest and registered thousands of
hits per week (total contacts have now reached about 2
million). In 2004, the Club created the Historical Register
of the Fiat Nuova 500 model, with its offices in Via
Vanchiglia 21/E, in Turin, which carried out studies and
research to guarantee the correct restoration and
conservation of Fiat 500s and derived versions.
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The design of the Fiat Nuova 500, by Dante Giacosa
(above), won the famous designer the prestigious
Golden Compass’ award for industrial design in 1959. |
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The Fiat 500 Giardiniera, the station wagon version
of the 500, was launched in May 1960. The car had a
499.5 cc engine delivering 17.5 bhp, which took this
mini estate to 95 km/h, with fuel consumption of 5.2
litres/100 km. |
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The passion for this icon of our times has never waned: for
example, in 2006, during the International Meeting in
Garlenda, the Fiat Club Italia reached the highest number of
participants, with an impressive 754 teams involved, and
thus entered the Guinness Book of Records for the largest
parade of cars all of the same make.
What is more, a ‘Person of the Year’ award is presented
periodically by the Fiat 500 Club Italia to the person in
the world of industry or entertainment - from Dante Giacosa
to Renzo Arbore - who has done the most to maintain and
spread the ‘legend’ of the 500. And finally, on July 6, 7
and 8, 2007, to mark the fiftieth anniversary, Garlenda will
be ready to welcome over one thousand teams from all over
the world. The new ‘Multimedia museum dedicated to the Fiat
500 and road behaviour documentation centre’ will also be
inaugurated. Also, to mark the milestone of the fiftieth
anniversary, a book and a DVD entitled ‘Fiat 500 Club
Italia: the history of a passion’ will also be published,
telling the story of the Club from 1983 to the present day.
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