The world famous National Museum of Singapore traces its heritage back to 1887 and is one of Singapore’s most recognizable landmark buildings. The Fiat 500 has made a splash as it has arrived around Europe and in the UK an example was positioned in a capsule on the huge ‘London Eye’ Ferris wheel.

The new Fiat 500 has been launched across the globe over the last nine months in a blaze of publicity and to highly favourable reviews; and now it is the turn of Singapore to welcome the Car of the Year 2008 award winner with a special event planned at the National Museum of Singapore on 18th April.

When the 500 arrived in public on 4th July 2007, exactly 50 years to the day after its predecessor was launched, Fiat didn’t hold back with the celebrations and a glamorous launch party was hosted on the River Po in Turin, created by the key members of the artistic team that had overseen the opening and closing ceremonies of the XX Winter Olympics which were held the previous year in the carmaker’s home city.

This globally reported launch was followed by big splashes as it arrived around Europe. In the UK a 500 was positioned in a capsule on the huge ‘London Eye’ Ferris wheel, while a music concert took place below, and in Germany a pair of 500s were transported around the Berlin U-Bahn (underground) on a flat bed train, the little car surprising commuters as it popped into the stations unexpectedly. In Japan the 500’s arrival was the heralded with an exclusive exhibition evening and it is appearing in an animated film.

Now it is the turn of Singapore to welcome the little car, which has collected an array of important awards since its launch, and is seeing its production capacity being squeezed up to 190,000 units annually as Fiat struggles to cope with the demand.

The 500 will be launched on 18th April in Singapore’s National Museum. The National Museum of Singapore was selected as the venue to blend with the strong heritage of the Fiat 500. The world famous museum traces its heritage back to 1887 and is one of Singapore’s most recognisable landmark buildings.

“We will be launching the 500 Lounge models with the 1.2 69bhp and 1.4 100bhp petrol engines, with the models being available locally in both manual and Dualogic sequential automatic transmissions,” Brandon Ong, Marketing Manager of TTS Eurocars Pte Ltd, the official Fiat importer for Singapore, told Italiaspeed this week. “The cars will come fully equipped with Skydome, Vehicle Dynamic Control with ESP and Hill-Holder Assist, leather interior, Blue&Me system and electro-chromatic rear mirrors.” Mr Ong added that Fiat has already taken orders for over twenty cars in Singapore before the actual launch takes place.

The launch of the Fiat 500 has also been timed to coincide with the Italian Festival, which opened on Monday and seeks to promote all aspects of Italian culture in Italy. The marketing program will continue after the launch with the Fiat 500 set to make its presence felt ever further by being displayed in various parts of Singapore following the launch on 18th April.