The Fiat Nuova 500 was not just a brilliant idea by Dante Giacosa, like the 600 and the many other cars he designed. Nor was it just a model of which millions were made, which got the mission and contents just right to fall in with the company’s programmes at the time. More than anything else, the 500 was the fruit of a strategy to develop and revamp its range that Fiat had already embarked on during the Second World War. Vittorio Valletta, Managing Director first and then company Chairman from 1946 (after the death of Senator Agnelli), asked Giacosa to start thinking of new cars that could go into production after the war while Turin was still being targeted by Allied air raids, and the Mirafiori offices were occupied by the German allies-occupiers'.

But it was only in the early 1950s, and therefore when the reconstruction of the plants was well underway, that work began in earnest at Mirafiori on the new models. In 1949 the Topolino C, the last of the series, went into production, but other ‘real’ new models arrived: the 1400, a cabrio version of the 1400, the 1900 diesel, the Nuova 1100 of 1953 and its derived versions. And in 1952, in a blaze of technology, the sporty 8 V appeared, followed the next year by a futuristic turbine-powered prototype.

The reconstruction years at Fiat and the consequent development of new cars, including the Nuova 500, reflect the situation in the country in the early 1950s, when there were growing signs that the market was becoming increasingly receptive to mass motorisation. The need’ for individual mobility which was answered, in Italy, from 1946 until the mid 1950s, not by cars but by two-wheeled vehicles, and particularly the scooters built by Piaggio and Innocenti, the Vespa and the Lambretta. The former, for example, from an output of 2500 units in 1946, reached its one millionth unit just 10 years later, in 1956. In 1955, registration of two-wheeled vehicles in Italy totalled 400,000 units, an amazing record, if we think that in 1951 there were just under 40,000 licensed motor vehicles registered. The boom of the two-wheeler was an important indication of the prospects for the four-wheeled vehicle market and prompted Fiat to speed up the development of its new model.

The great commitment by Fiat design engineers culminated in 1955 with the 600, Italy’s first real popular family car (between 1955 and 1970, 2,777,313 were built in Mirafiori alone) and in 1957 with the Nuova 500. From then on, Fiat’s manufacturing volumes began to soar (from an annual total of 108,700 in 1950 – the first year in company history that the 100,000 mark was passed – to almost 513,300 in 1960, and 994,000 in 1965), as well as the daily output: 1,000 units/day in 1956, 2,000 units/day in 1960 after the 500 had been on the market for three years, and 4,000 units/day in 1965 when the 850 joined the 600 and the 500. The workforce increased from 72,000 in 1950 to almost 93,000 in 1960, and almost 185,000 in 1970. The boom of ‘accessible’ four-wheeled vehicles heralded the start of the crisis for two-wheelers. From 1955 (the year that the 600 was launched) registrations of motorcycles and scooters began to fall off, and by 1957, when the 500 arrived, they were just above 330,000 units/year; in 1965, the year that Fiat output first exceeded one million cars in a year, registrations of motorcycles were just above 200,000 units.

In other words, if Fiat had set out to win over a potential bracket of the domestic market with its 500 and 600 to the detriment of other forms of vehicles, it had been successful. 'Pioneering’ travel on two wheels, albeit motorised, was no longer enough in the new, more affluent Italy. The number of wheels doubled, and people wanted a roof over their heads to protect them from the weather, in other words, they wanted a car.

The level of motorisation in Italy is worth mentioning; it grew from 6 vehicles/1000 inhabitants in 1950 to 32 vehicles/1000 inhabitants in 1960 (therefore in the period of greatest demand for the 600, but above all for the 500), reaching 167 vehicles/1000 inhabitants in 1970, and leaping to 330 vehicles/1000 inhabitants in 1980, in line with the rest of Western Europe. The great task of motorising the Italians and of bringing them into line with Europe in terms of use of the car, was certainly achieved thanks primarily to the small Fiat 600 and 500, supported by the 850.

The 110 prototype for the Nuova 500

To understand how’ and why the Nuova 500 was born, we have to think not of a mere substitute for the old Topolino (509,650 units between 1936-1955), or of a model that was able to compete with a scooter, in terms of costs and efficiency. Fiat obviously decided to do ‘something’ better. The strategic planning of models had begun again, after the anguish and uncertainty of the war years. Giacosa wrote an interesting description of the ‘preparatory’ stage before the arrival of the car. The most important Italian automotive engineer in the second half of the 20^th century, and the true father of the Nuova 500, is the best witness to these events. ‘While the 600 was still at the experimental stage,’ he said, ‘I had put people back to work on a minimalist car, even smaller and more economical. The Italians wanted cars, and they were willing to make do with even less space, provided it was on four wheels. No matter how small, a car would still be more comfortable than a scooter, particularly in Winter and in the rain. I had people sketch models of unconventional small cars that had to compete with the Vespa in particular.’

As far back as 1939, Fiat had already done some work on ‘minimalist’ cars that had remained at the experimental stage because of the war, which is what happened to ‘the first type 100 with front-wheel drive and a 500 cc transverse engine, designed in 1947’ which was never built. During the war, a prototype, known as the Gregoire, appeared in France attracting a great deal of attention, but again, nothing came of it. But at Mirafiori, the engineers knew that in Germany they were designing small cars like the BMW Isetta, which Giacosa called ‘half-way between a car and a motorcycle’, and attempts were being made to restart manufacture of the people’s car, the Volkswagen, in viable numbers. The Deutsche Fiat company had a sort of technological antenna in Germany through its headquarters in Heilbronn and its assembly plant in Weinsberg. A technician called Hans Peter Bauhof worked there, whom Dante Giacosa defined as a man with a ‘fervid imagination, animated by a restless spirit of initiative’, adding, in what resembled a note to the personnel department, that he was ‘shy and modest, but ingenious, tenacious and hard-working.' In 1953, the technician from Heilbronn submitted his proposal (which appears somewhat rustic from the pictures that still remain) for a small car with a single cylinder, 2-stroke engine derived from a motorcycle which, in Giacosa’s words, was ‘unsuitable for the car that Fiat wanted to build”. But Bauhof’s ‘ideas for the construction of the bodywork’ were appreciated in Turin. Bauhof also sent a prototype to Turin, which Giacosa found ‘interesting for its simplicity’, but the rest of the company considered it ‘too superficial and insufficient as a car’.

When Bauhof’s proposal to use a motorcycle engine had been discarded, Giacosa continued to work on the 500 project, with the goal of reduced weight, wheels, suspension and steering’. Using his common sense, half-way between starting from scratch and borrowing something from the 600 which was at an advanced stage of development, in 1954 the engineer decided ‘that the engine had to be a 4-stroke, with two cylinders in line, which is the simplest, most economical engine, and that it should be air-cooled.
 

It may be positioned transversely, it is simple and has a high mechanical efficiency’. He entrusted the actual design to the engineer Giovanni Torrazza, ‘the only graduate working for me who knew how to draw’ and designed the bodywork himself, because ‘I was so worried about giving the car an attractive shape, a structure that was as light as possible but sturdy, and simple but economical to build’. Giacosa prepared 2 plaster models, one very similar to the 600 and the other entirely new. ‘I tried to make the sheet metal surface as small as possible’, he wrote in his book, ‘in order to limit the weight and the cost, much as I had done for the 600’. His description of the presentation of the two mock-ups of the 500 is involuntarily comic because, as Giacosa recalled, ‘when I presented the two mock-ups to the Professor (Vittorio Valletta, Fiat Chairman at the time) and to the small Executive Committee, they were silent and perplexed, although they gradually relaxed when they understood the various reasons for things. And because they had to take a decision, they decided to support me, and approved the new version’. In other words, in 1954, the sketch for the bodywork of the Nuova 500 now existed, and it was similar to the car we all know and not the rehashed 600 design.

The start of development

Giacosa went on to say (after all, no one is better qualified to describe the events) that ‘once the bodywork was approved, the new model 110 (Fiat internal number-code name for the Nuova 500 project which adopted the ‘hundreds-based’ numbering system for the various ‘types’ and models) was discussed for the first time at the ‘New types meeting’ of October 18, 1954, attended by Giacosa, Vittorio Valletta (Chairman and Managing Director of Fiat), Gaudenzio Bono (also Managing Director and General Manager), Luigi Gajal de la Chenaje (Vice Chairman and Commercial Manager) and other representatives of company management. And on that occasion, the new car shed its project number and was given its first name, or number, the ‘400'.

At the meeting it was decided that the new model would have a power delivery of 13 bhp, a capacity of 480 cc with overhead valves or ‘higher with lateral valves’, a top speed of 85 km/h, fuel consumption of 4.5 litres for 100 km, a weight of 370 kg and would carry 2 passengers. ‘The prototype was to be approved on June 30, 1955 so that production could start in mid 1956’. At the same time, a prototype with 4 seats instead of 2 was also approved, as well as another prototype ‘but with a different, more luxurious body’ for Autobianchi (a company created out of the former Edoardo Bianchi company, set up in 1955 with capital from Fiat, Pirelli and Bianchi). Giacosa also states that the same meeting also approved: the 600 with sunroof, the 600 TV, the 600 Multipla and small van, the 1100 with a 1200-1300 engine and three new models, the 101 - 1400, the 105 - 1900 and the 112 - 2300 cc.

The meeting in the Park at Stupinigi

Nowadays, carmakers try to hide their new models, keeping them even from the eyes of employees, or they organise ultra-secret clinic tests, and Dante Giacosa’s description of the presentation of the entire new range of Fiat models, including the 500, is another curious sign of the half century that has passed. It all took place not in a secluded spot, but in the park of the Royal Hunting Lodge at Stupinigi, just outside Turin. The park is open to the public and no manufacturer would use it today to present its entire range of future models to company managers, and also to its major stockholder, since ‘Avvocato’ Gianni Agnelli, Vice Chairman of the company, was also present at the meeting of October 18, 1955.

‘The new model meeting was held in the park at Stupinigi,’ and Giacosa exhibited the Fiat and Autobianchi versions of the 400 (the 500), the 600 with sunroof, the 600 estate or Multipla, the 1100, the 1400 with 1.6 litre engine, and the 1900 Gran Luce. ‘The Fiat and Autobianchi (later the Bianchina) prototypes of the 400 were approved’, Giacosa noted without further comments. Another ‘New model meeting’ was held in January 1956, and it was confirmed that production of the 400 (500) would start in the Spring of 1957, followed a few months later by the Autobianchi. ‘Someone expressed the fear that the public might find the Autobianchi more attractive and appealing than the Fiat, and prefer it’, said Giacosa in his book, ‘but we decided to set a higher price, closer to the 600, in order to limit demand to no more than 50 cars/day, since Desio (the Autobianchi plant) could not exceed that figure’. At the same meeting, a manager whose name is not known, even proposed giving the 500 to Autobianchi to produce, while Fiat built the Bianchina, but luckily for Fiat the proposal never got off the ground.

An investment of 7 billion lire was earmarked for the project, with an output of 300 cars/day. ‘Valletta persuaded us to turn out 500 units/day of mechanical parts and bodies, but only 300 cars/day worth of other parts that were built in the subsidiary workshops in Lingotto’. The 200 per day not assembled but manufactured and available on hand were used to build up the parts stocks, and if necessary, would be assembled to create the so-called end-of-line ‘store’. The months leading up to the launch were intense, with road tests, particularly to reduce vibration and engine noise, and to increase reliability and driveability. But at the beginning of the Summer of 1957, the Nuova 500 was ready for the market.

Profile of the protagonists

Dante Giacosa - Born in Rome on January 3, 1905, but his family was originally from Piedmont. He took a degree in Mechanical Engineering from Turin Polytechnic in 1927 when he was just 22, and immediately joined Fiat, having answered an advertisement in the paper. He was taken on as a design engineer and went on to become one of the greatest designers in the company’s history. In 1933 he became Car Engineering Manager, in 1955 head of the Vehicle Engineering department, and in 1966 Division Manager and Member of the Executive Committee. During his career he dealt not only with engineering but also with car design, as in the case of the Nuova 500 in 1957, which won him the Golden Compass award in 1959. He left Fiat in 1970 but remained a consultant ‘for life’. The cars created by Giacosa included: the Topolino in 1936, the 1400, 1900, Campagnola, the various versions of the 1100, the 600 and 600 Multipla, the Nuova 500, 1800, 2300 and 2300 coupé, the Autobianchi Bianchina, the Autobianchi Primula (the first Italian car with front-wheel drive and a transverse engine), the Autobianchi A112, the Fiat 124, 125, 126 and 128, and he also collaborated with Pio Manzù on the development of the Fiat 127. He died in Turin on March 31, 1996.

Vittorio Valletta - Born in Genoa on July 28, 1883. He moved to Turin where he studied Accountancy at night school, followed by a diploma at the Institute of Commerce, also at evening classes. He taught in an institute of accountancy, and he worked for a tax and business consultant, and for the Chiribiri company, a Turin carmaker that has now vanished. In 1921, the ‘Professor’ was appointed to the Fiat top management by Fiat founder Senator Giovanni Agnelli, becoming General Manager in 1928. He was appointed Fiat Managing Director in 1939, and after being suspended for a short period in 1945 when the company went into administration at the end of the second world war, he became company Chairman in 1946, a position that he held for 20 years, until 1966. He died in Pietrasanta (Lucca) on August 10, 1967.