Book Review

Fiat 500, 600 & Seícento ***

by Malcom Bobbitt
Veloce Publishing Limited, Dorchester England, 2003
www.velocebooks.com.
Hardbound, 8 1/4 x 9 3/4,
191 pages, 270 B&W and color photographs
Distributed in the U.S. by Motorbooks International
www.motorbooks.com.
$49.95

We're going to give this book our first rating—a simple four star system, with four stars being the ultimate rating. Malcom Bobbitt's "Fiat 500, 600 & Seícento" rates three stars, which is to say it is comprehensive, well written, enjoyable and essential for most Italian car enthusiasts. It is published by Veloce Publishing in Great Britain, not to be confused with Veloce Press in Nevada, or VeloceToday.

The under one liter Fiats, starting with the 500 "Topolino" in 1936, not only defined Italian transportation but served as the basis for the construction of thousands of specialty cars. Abarth & C., a firm which produced Fiat based street cars and race cars in large numbers from 1949 to 1972 was by far the largest producer of modified 500 and 600 Fiats.

Bobbit's book is now in the second edition, the first being published in 1993 and taking the baby Fiat story up to the Cinquecento of 1991. The latest edition adds the Seícento and brings the book up to 2003, when the much-beleaguered Italian giant was planning the next round of small cars. Interestingly, at the time of this writing, Fiat had just presented to the press a prototype of a new 500 model, pictured here---and too late to be included in Bobbitt's book. While there are no plans for production — at least not yet, this latest successor to the 500 is a remarkable and brilliant retro car, much along the same lines as the VW Beetle and the new Mini, and probably would be just as successful. We hope that it will see production.

At press time, Fiat presented this modern rendition of the famous Nuova 500. Unfortunately, there are no plans to put this remarkable retro into production.

Most of our readers will probably choose to just scan the chapters on the later models, but the inclusion of the 850, 126, 127, Cinquecento and Seícento models is very useful, reminding us that they are nonetheless important and carried on the tradition of the small (and fun to drive) Fiats. Of special note is the Michael Schumacher edition of the 2001 Seícento, complete with anti-lock brakes, 14 inch wheels, aluminum brake and clutch pedals, and special seats. The connection, other than the obvious, is that Schumacher's first car was a Cinquecento.

Nevertheless, Bobbitt's work and passion is dedicated to the post-war Fiat 600 and 500 models built from 1955 to 1975. I don't think there is a better, more complete and concise history currently available. Bobbitt, who has authored a wide variety of motoring books, writes from the British perspective, but this is not a criticism. After a brief Fiat overview, Bobbitt takes us behind the scenes as Dante Giacosa conceives and develops the original Fiat 600 of 1955. This in itself is a fascinating story, well told.

Just prior to WWII, Fiat started to plan the replacement for the Fiat 500 "Topolino", introduced in 1936. However, during the war, both the prototypes and the plans for the Topolino successor were destroyed during the bombings, and when the dust settled, Giacosa had to start again from scratch. This allowed him to reconsider the merits of front wheel drive, which he once disliked. After the war, three prototypes were constructed, one front-engined, front wheel drive, another with a rear engine and rear wheel drive, and a third with a conventional layout. It was determined that the most cost effective and space saving concept was that of the rear engine, rear wheel drive, and development of a 600 cc two cylinder aircooled engine (with a torque converter!) went forward. Faced with a narrow timeframe and multiple problems, Giacosa resorted to a very conventional four cylinder engine with a four speed transmission, and installed the radiator alongside the engine rather than in front or at the rear. Thus the 600 was born. But the concept of the aircooled twin cylinder was to be applied and refined for the new 500, introduced in 1956-7. Therefore, the planned replacement of the 1936 Topolino became the 600 of 1955, while the actual Topolino successor, the Nuova 500, was developed directly from the experiences gained while creating the 600.

The Nuova 500, (later called the 500D, F, L and R) remained in production from 1957 to 1975. Over 3 million were built.

Both cars went on to fame and fortune, on track and off. Bobbitt traces each model and their differences, with plenty of color photography. Also included is a chapter on the Fiat Abarths, which does not play as well as the 500/600 history, but is well placed and covers most of the Abarths based on the 500/500 and 850 series. Bobbitt, however, states that Carlo Abarth was released from a prisoner of war camp in 1945, when according to Luciano Greggio, (Abarth, the Man, the Machines), he migrated from his wartime home in Yugoslavia to Turin.

Clearly, it is perhaps enough that Bobbitt concentrated his efforts on the detailed history of the 500 and 600, which provides a large enough scope for any book. Missing, and perhaps not within the book's limitations, is mention of the hundreds of special-bodied 500s and 600s which graced the major auto shows from 1955 to 1970. However, an all too short chapter on the variants, which include the beach buggy named the Jolly, the Autobianchi, Neckar and NSU, SEAT, and Zastava, is enlightening and informative.

Appendices include a list of Fiat clubs throughout the world (no Internet addresses however), a production numbers chart (an interesting fact regarding the popularity of the Nuova 500 was that over 2 million 500 F & L models alone were built between 1965 and 1972, compared to only 45,789 Cinquecentos built from 1992 to 1997), followed by specifications of all small Fiats from the Topolino to the Seícento. There is a brief index and bibliography.

Altogether, a book which deserves a space on your shelf.