The Fiat Club of France, with official support, chose the occasion of this year's edition of Rétromobile to celebrate the 50th anniversary of its little 500, and build up to the arrival of the exciting new model this summer. To a backdrop emblazoned with the "500" lettering and featuring graphics depicting Italian style of the period, the line-up of 500 models included a pair of Abarth-tuned versions, the Giardiniera (estate) and the very rare Vignal-bodied Gamine.

With the Fiat 500, Dante Giacosa made it possible for every Italian family to own an automobile Dante Giacosa, a talented polytechnic engineer and head of the Fiat engineering division, gave shape to the project of creating an automobile that every Italian family could afford to own. Such a car would have to be strong, economic and simple: the Nuova 500 rolled out of the Fiat factories in 1957. The little Fiat is a fully-fledged automobile; its two-cylinder, air-cooled 479 cc engine enabled it to reach 90 km/h. With a large roof opening, the new model appealed immediately to thousands of Italians. It was soon to be found on all the roads throughout Europe. Production of the little Fiat lasted 18 years, producing a total of 3,678,000 cars. Today, it is not unusual to see one threading its way through the streets of our major cities; the years have not tarnished the success of the Fiat 500 and it remains the world’s smallest 4-seater car.

Carlo Abarth's eponymous tuning company is indelibly linked with the tiny Fiats, and this deep thread was demonstrated at Rétromobile this year with two 500 Abarth versions, including a pristine 695SS, being on show. Based on the Fiat 500D, the 595 was the result of Carlo Abarth's efforts with the little cars; it was introduced in 1963. The engine was enlarged to 593.7cc by increasing the bore and numerous other modifications were made to the inlet and exhaust manifolds, camshaft, sparkplugs, cylinder head, pistons and valve springs.
 

The end result produced 27bhp. The car was otherwise little changed, a revcounter and oil pressure gauge being options. The following year saw the arrival of the still more potent (32bhp thanks mainly to a new carburettor) 595SS and the new 695 and 695SS, the latter model being celebrated by appearing on show at Rétromobile. The latter cars had a 689,5cc engine with 30 and 38bhp respectively. Again designed for competition, the 695SS was available with numerous options such as disc brakes (at the front). The 695 was discontinued in 1966, whilst the 695SS also became available with widened wheelarches. Production of these cars (the 595, 595SS and 695SS) continued until 1971.

Wrapping up the Fiat Club of France's display at Rétromobile was an eye-catching, bright yellow finished Vignale-bodied Gamine; a model which was built between 1967 and 1974 in very low volumes. The 500 Gamine was based on the Fiat 500F. A spider coachwork by Vignale, it was released late in 1967 and incorporated the complete 500 floorpan (1840mm wheelbase, with additional strengthening) and the same two cylinder 499.5cc engine with 22bhp. A slightly reduced weight (488kg) combined with the exposed seating all serves to give the impression of greater speeds than the saloon. A canvas soft-top was available as an option from 1968, and a plastic hard top was also manufactured for some time. Seating was strictly for two, and the luggage space was virtually non-existent, the space under the bonnet being occupied by the spare wheel and fuel tank. A total of two to three hundred examples were built.