Last month Fiat launched the 500 in Malta during a match between Juventus and local side Valetta, now the importer is celebrating this by offering special edition models (above, dashboard plaque signed by Gigi Buffon) aimed at football fans.

Last month Fiat Malta launched the new 500 on the island during a friendly match specially held between Turinese football giants Juventus and local side Valetta FC; now the Maltese importer is celebrating this important local event by offering a series of special edition models which are aimed straight at passionate fans of the Italian Serie A soccer team.

Juventus were in Malta last month for a winter training camp and the friendly match on 9th January proved the perfect occasion for Maltese Fiat importers UCIM (United Commercial Industrial and Marine) Co Ltd to present the new Fiat 500 to the public on the island for the first time.

The Car of the Year award winning Fiat 500 has had high profile launches in every country it has arrived in since its world debut during a glamorous extravaganza in Turin on 4th July 2007. Outstanding initiatives have included the 500 riding on the Berlin underground railway system in recent weeks and a glitzy launch party at the 'London Eye' put on last month by Fiat in the UK. In Malta it fell to Italian national goalkeeper Gigi Buffon, already an ambassador for the Fiat Fiorino, to unveil the little car in the packed stadium.

Now UCIM who operate the Fiat showroom in Psaila Street, Birkirkara, is offering a dashboard mounted 'plaque' which has been signed by a Juventus player as an optional extra on all the models in the Fiat range. These include the Panda, Grande Punto, Bravo and Sedici. UCIM is also the official Maltese importer for the Fiat Group's Alfa Romeo and Iveco brand.