The Fiat 500 Is The Slowest Car I've Ever Driven: Let's Take It On a U.S. Highway
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- Опубликовано: 6 ноя 2022
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In this video we review the original Fiat 500! The greatest Italian car of all time!
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#Fiat #Fiat500 #cinquecento 
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My first car. Bought it (not running) for $15 in 1969. $5 for a used distributor from the junkyard and it fired right up. About a year later it dropped a valve, bought a used engine from the junkyard for $15 and it was going again. Mine was older, it had suicide doors. Tons of fun, I wish I still had it.
My first car too - bought for £70 in 1982 and I kept it for 21 years. Bloody loved it. Now I drive an Abarth 500C. Mine was an 'L' and they forgot to mention the reclining seats and the rudimentary cruise control!
very privileged you are.
people now be like "my first car, my dad bought it for $15k"
@@madelaki wtf bro nobody i know has had their parents buy them cars
@@madelaki in america 15000? ve ne invio 30macchine se volete
It's more fun to drive a slow car fast than a fast car slow. I wish more car enthusiasts realized this. I bet this tiny Fiat 500 is a lot of fun to drive. Like a fancy go-cart. I can picture myself puttering around town on a quiet Sunday morning with the windows down enjoying the nice weather. Please please please bring us more videos like this of your various classic cars! It's a lot of fun to see.
It is so true
That's why the original minis were so good. Had two of them. They handle like they are on rails.
Exactly. Like my 1.4 litre Peugeot is infuriatingly slow at the best of times, but the engine can run at redline for days so just put hold it in 2nd and 3rd gear up hills and it's remarkably fun.
And even though it is slow it still handles better than most modern cars surprisingly enough. The best cars really are the ones you can have a blast in under the speed limit.
100%! I`ve got a Jaguar XJR & till recently a Boxster, but my little Fiat Uno`s & Panda (34-85bhp) are just so much more fun, they`re like excitable little puppies that always leaves me smiling!
If all still drove cars like that, we'd have another 20 years to stop global warming.
In Italy there are still 500 that runs since '60s. 80 years old cars that run around like they are brand new.
Of course we Italians still love these things. 😌❤️
My grandad used to have a Topolino. Crazy little critter, possibly even fewer hps than the 500. It died barely before he did (around 2000).
@@bomcabedal in my nearby town there's an officine that have one in exposition and still working.
Yeah, these cars was made to last.
There are also lot off Zastava 750 (which was build by Fiat 500 license) still driving and i see them almost every day ,mostly old folks
@@dzonikg 600 license
@@studiocalder818 Yes...600..my grandfather had one in 60s and 70s ..had Zastava 750 but he also had red "Zastava 850 AK" which was a van based on Fiat 600 ..he had it for his work because he was welder so he need something to transport equipment
I'm living in Italy right now and you still see these everywhere. My coworker actually had one and just had to sell it because he was getting too old to comfortably get into it. I totally should have traded my Yukon for it, lol. It looked exactly like this one too.
but do you see then in good condition??
@@bocasuja22 Yes, the ones still on the road look very well cared for.
@@bocasuja22 I can confirm, still lots around. They are classy and iconic and still an excellent city car. Up north the majority are restored and treated somewhat differently, but down in the south they still get used as they were intended to be
I'm thinking of buying a small place in Italy. Having one of these would be great.
Really?? Never noticed many classic 500 around. Yeah I see one around once in while, and where there are some exhibitions or rallies of classic car, but not so much
Excellent! You note have all the great small cars. The Bug, the 2CV, the Mini, and now the 500. Let’s see a video comparing them all.
The mini has to take the cake... The most power / sports capability
It’s fixing to get snowy in Colorado maybe they should do some snow driving videos in these cars to see which one is best for the snow
@@jessaphillips2846 mini is front wheel drive as is the 2CV they would definitely perform best. And the 2CV has the best ground clearance.
Only needing a Trabant!
The Autobianchi needs a video too...and the DAF also
Drove one of these around Rome when I studied there in the mid-80s (although way more often I rode a Vespa- no helmet, of course, back then). A small slow car in a city of crazy drivers was so much fun I can’t even tell you. Way bigger inside than you’d think. Had a very large Italian gentleman jump out of one following a slight car/pedestrian disagreement (I was the pedestrian) and I was shocked to see such a large (angry) man get out of that car! Fortunately, his lady friend was angrier at him for being hot head than he was at me for banging the roof of his baby when he brushed by me and he got back in and drove away. Many great memories of Cinque Centos in La Bella Citta!
As an italian almost home in Colorado you made my day guys! My grandfather had first a Fiat 500 with suicide doors, then a Fiat 126 which was the first car I was allowed to drive in my family. Back in the 80's I hated it, I wanted to have a sort of "normal " vehicle like my friends had. Right now I'd give my eyeteeth to have it back
Oh man, you killed it!!! You just took me back to 1975, every one in the family had a 500, I was 10 years old and remember so vividly these cars, I love that you kept the original license plate, this one was registered in Milano, hence the MI. Obviously they were not meant for the “autostrada”, but for the tiny weeny town streets of Italy. Very nice video you guys, thank you.
You did see them on the Autostrada a LOT, though. Not so much the long-distance ones, but around the bigger cities. My favorite bit of driving ethics is how people would only buckle up for the autostrada, but never in town. Too much hassle.
@@bomcabedal It made some sense. Early seatbelts did not restrain you in the most effective ways, and the car was far too small for it to make a big difference. On Italian streets, you could not do 30mph most of the time, so crashes were not deadly.
@@charlesc.9012 Yeah, that's probably true. It just amazed me that whenever we left the highway, everyone would immediately discard their seatbelts like they were contagious. And this was in a Fiat Uno. Not a huge car, but hardly a Cinquecento.
@@bomcabedal I don't know what time period you refer to, but FIAT had really poor crash safety in small cars until after the 2000s, so it couldn't hurt too much anyway. I don't know if its a cultural attitude, but I don't do things like that, because I do not see my car as an extension to my living room, only as an independent space with special rules
@@charlesc.9012 This was mid-1990s. And the Uno was a bit battered already. It had excellent crash safety, by the way. She regularly crashed it into things and never had so much of a scratch.
In the early 80s my dad had a 750 he bought for $40 as a joke(my mom hated small cars) He ended up loving it and drove it like he stole it up until I was born in 92 and he had to get a practical family car for St Pete Florida. He still to this day brags about what a fun car it was.
Probably the heating system really works. The selector you showed just deflects warm air towards the windshield or to your legs. To let the hot air in, the relative duct must first be opened using a tiny lever located on the central tunnel, right in front of the rear bench seat, easily accessible even while driving.
It would be relatively weak though because air cooled engines a cannot send hot coolant to the front where the fan is. But in a car as small as the Fiat 500, it might not be so bad.
@@SimonWoodburyForget Well, apparently it worked fine in the recent Colorado cold snap when it was used for Christmas Tree Shopping.
It also depends on if the thermostat in the housing air scoop is working too. A lot of original owners disabled them.
@@unconventionalideas5683 The original beetle was the same way, hot air ducted from the motor. It eventually warmed up the car about the time you had already reached your destination.
Years ago a friend of mine drove a Fiat 500 from Darwin, Australia, to Melbourne, Australia, after his discharge from the RAAF. the 3,750 km (2,330 miles) of road wad largely unsealed in those days. When he got to Melbourne, Fiat heard about it and bought the car back off of him.
I had a '61 600D in high school. My 7'3" tall buddy actually could fit in.. I recall hitting 63mph, downhill, behind a semi.. Another friend had a 500 of similar vintage that was faster than the 600.. new Fiats make me smile..:)
My 1969 Fiat 500 is my favorite car, everybody looks at me funny when I climb my 6’ 3” self out of it on my daily commute. I brought it home 12 hours in the bed of my f350 and occasionally still haul it to far off shows that way.
I purchased a 1963 600D in 1970. It had suicide doors and we (I was in film school at the time) used it as a camera dolly. As long as there wasn't any rush, it perfectly served our purposes - driving into NYC, going to the Fillmore East and hanging out on the Jersey Shore. My youth was not wasted.................
A classic! My grandpa used to have one is these. It was scary to drive along in it even in London, UK where i grew up. Literally no protection in the event of a crash!
I owned two of these in the mid Sixties. Both were given to me and both ran well with an oil change, and plugs and points. The epitome of the fun of driving a slow car fast.
I am really loving TFLClassis having far more regular videos than it used too. And this 500 is in fantastic condition.
I love it! The only car in the world that makes my 1300cc Beetle seem like a performance car!😂👍
The original VW Beetle was 1000cc and much bigger inside. Austin Mini Cooper was a powerhouse compared to the Fiat. I believe back in the day(1950's) the Messerschmidt was on the road too. It was a 3 wheeler with a snowmobiles engine driving it. Cars did not have the designation that it must have 4 wheels, 3 wheels was also a car. It held 3 people. Small cars were what was necessary for the narrow streets(alleyways) I miss the side vent window(I had VW Beetle, station wagon & van) Gasoline is always so pricey in Europe.
When my dad was stationed in Italy, he had one of these things. His buddies would huddle up into it and in order to park it into a tight space, they would all get out of the car and pick it up, then carry it into the parking spot.
Wonderful story! 😊
Actually, I would rock it and bounce it in a tight parking not huddle(?) inside of it. We did that with most small European makes we owned while serving abroad.
They had a model with handles out of the bumpers.
@@scaloi Never saw that one! But I never heard of huddling into it before either unless you were get in. Thanks for the clarification.
@@rafaelvelez1253 one model is at: 4:44. They had another one with 4 handles.
Thank you for this! I loved seeing the driving experience of the original.
I STILL miss my 2012. I had a grin on my face after every drive!
You need to do a Renault segment. I learned to drive a clutch in a Dauphine and my favorite car was the R10 I had. That was a great little car. I drove it from NC to NYC and back. Very comfortable and zippy little car and fun to drive. I could even fit my drum set in that little thing.
R4.
This car, actually Fiat 600 (Zastava 600, later 750 and 850) was a significant part of so many lives here in Yugoslavia during the sixties and seventies, people used it regularly to go to the seaside, to travel all around the country, even racing it in what it called back then a National Class. Such an icon really.
Fiat 500 is not the same as Fiat 600
This was a great video and an actual classic car review! Some of the recent videos have not exactly being about classics but this one was amazing and fantastic and wonderful thank you
That was great! If you are in Italy there are companies that have fleets of old 500s that you drive and do tours. I did it in Florence and it was a blast. Tommy is better at double clutching than I was. Ground a few gears in the first few miles. La dolce vita!
One of the best reviews you guys ever made! Being a truck guy I think it’s hilarious seeing you guys review this car; but through it, it’s amazing to see just far we all have come since that was originally built. Even without all the tech we have in modern cars, that would have been a great first car to own in the 60s to 70s in a European city.
You do as good a job as possible at showing just how small these are on video, but it really helps to see it in person. My Honda Fit might as well be a Suburban next to one.
This is a joyous video😆
I was created in 1957 myself, same as the Cinquecento. Grew up in England, now living on the Tipperary/Clare border in Ireland.
I have one of these, a 1970 500L.
It’s both brilliant and hilarious.
I took it on the motorway here once…and only once. There are hills where I didn’t realize there were even slight inclines😆
A brilliant little machine, I’ve had mine for 8 years now.
One control you didn’t mention, I only spotted it after a year of having the car.
There’s a small metal ring below the dash - you can see it on your video when you’re showing the heater controls. It’s a hand throttle! (You probably know this, so forgive me)
Pull it out and it opens up the throttle and stays open until you push it back in, it’s quite stiff. Almost like a Cruise Control.
Not what it’s intended for though. It’s apparently a cold start aid.
You can push the choke in once started and this keeps the revs up whilst the car is warming up, like keeping the accelerator pedal pushed down a little.
The 500 was intended originally to get the Italians off their scooters.
And yes, I have a couple of friends who have lawn mowers with WAY more power.
Great videos, some of the best guys.
Love the Alfa ‘protection’ car too.
( I was going to say Chase Car…and then thought about it😀)
Oh, and I’m 6ft tall. People often ask ‘how the hell do you get into it?’
I say to them, ‘no problem at all. Getting our? That’s a little trickier.’
Amazing you happened to find a modern 500 on the trip. 2 cylinders, a cylinder for each one of yah got to that speed is pretty darn good. Can't imagine your lawnmower doing that lol.
We have lawnmower racing here in the UK and they can go that fast.
@@davidcopplestone6266 we have it in the US as well. You should bring a few of your weenie lawnmower tractors out here to race.
They had the hopped up engine. If they were driving with the origional 13 hp. The results would have turned out differently. Example top speed may have only been. Some where around 45 MPH. And that on flat ground!
OMG!!! My first military base when i was Overseas was Torrejon AB Spain!! my 1st car was a '76 500L i bought from a local, it was a rust orange... loved it!! traded it in on a peaugot 205 gti ....which was a lambo compared to the 500
And a 205 GTi is another classic, that some say has never really been bettered from a small car handling perspective. 👍
A 500 to a 205 GTi, thats a hell of a jump! Mind you, a 205 1.1 would have also been a hell of a jump!
My parents grew up in Soviet Poland. We didn't have these but a slightly newer Fiat 126p, similar dimensions, sounds the same. Since you had to wait years to even get one and it was hard to get a car, so families really used these for absolutely everything. My grandpa would load his up with 3 others and luggage that was strapped to the roof. It was super tight but they road tripped the heck out of that thing.
I have 1991 126 Bis and it have serious head gasket problems but it pulls great for 700cc 26hp when it runs 😄
Delighted to see this video! In a nanosecond I subscribed. Love Fiats and appreciate the quality, humor, and thorough research about the Fiat 500 cars. Every day we've got hundreds the newer Fiat 500s buzzing around Monterey Bay, and "Surf City" Santa Cruz, and Silicon Valley, and up-and-down the mountains road nearby on the Central Coast. Neigh I say I've not seen a classic one driven any where. Thank you for sharing your joy with me. God Bless you. -Blaine😎
Here in Argentina, the Fiat 600 "Fitito" is Super Appreciated by collectors and also "normal people" xD
Thanks for a great episode on an equally great car! To us Italians this sits in the very same league of our most renowned monuments, seriously! It's nothing short of a national icon and staple. So thank you for the video and for speaking about the car with dignity and respect... It's very easy for some to just dismiss it with a laugh due to its diminutive size.
The fiat 500 (and a few following cars like the fiat 650, 700 or the fiat 126) were originally invented by an austrian brand named Steyr-Puch (which also invented the G-class). They made a deal with fiat (because they couldn't afford the machines), so fiat produced the body of the car and Steyr-Puch produced the motors and chassis. Here in austria the car is also called "Pucherl".
I have a number of Alfa Romeos and until a few years ago a 1964 FIAT 600 D with suicide doors (which is now in Japan).
When foreign friends came to visit us, I always took them to see the places around the city with that 600, up and down the hills.
At 70 km/h with a new car you break your balls, with a small historic roar you have fun.
Always enthusiastic my friends
One of the nicest car review videos I’ve seen. You guys have good chemistry. The content is good too to satisfy car enthusiasts. Mine is a 500F. Ooozes character and love driving it
Great review. You two are the best team on the channel. Fellini would be jealous, you know, if he were alive.
I adore these cars. The fact that you two fit in it is crazy. Great video guys
A few years ago we used to ride in 5 in this car: I'm the only short one (1.72, about 5.7 I guess), the other 4 friends are all about 1.85 (6 ft, more or less).
Now we're (more) adult and I can't get how we could do that but we did
@doctordoom02 that sounds amazing! What a great adventure
Great episode. I essentially grew up in 500's. Some people back then would wind up owning 2 of them. One was their daily driver, and the other one (generally a Lusso version) they kept in immaculate condition, because it was their luxury car, and they would drive it on Sunday.
They need to get Nathan in that little car🤣
And run the uphill Ike gauntlet....
😁😄😅😂🤣
Great video guys! I had the pleasure of driving one of these on a driving tour in and out of Rome several years ago. What an experience! My wife and I still talk about it and she got a great shot of me driving with the Colosseum to the side of me.
The car featured famously in a movie from December 1979: "The Castle Of Calgiostro", the first movie directed by Hayao Miyazaki. He loved that car. The chase scene through the mountains is utterly hilarious and completely unbelievable (as in "there's no way it could do this!").
You mean Lupin III the Castle of Cagliostro features Lupin III the grandson of Arséne Lupin in the adventure which his grandfather is try to find treasure in the Cagliostro castle.
Thanks for the ride in a awesome little car. I used to have a 600D with suicide doors and a 750 Abarth engine. Faster than the 500? Yes. Fast? Not by a long shot. I loved it dearly, though. I used to drag race the police through town, but they never knew I was racing. By the way, that's not the original Fiat 500, it's the 500 Nuova, which means new. The original was the Fiat 500 Topolino made from 1936 to 1955.
It's small, noisy, slow, but we LOVE it!
Loved the video. You 2 guys are great.
Thanks to this car every italian could actually have their own first car back in 1957 and it definitely could be driven on roads that were designed for 1300's horse carriages.
Cheers from Italy.
I remember as a child seeing the columns of these cars on the way to the sea in summer, families crammed in the car, all the baggage was on the roof, they trundled on the Autostrada del Sole at their best at 80 Km/H.
Sometime in the mid 1960s.
Never had a 500, but I had three 850 spiders and one 128 Sedan. In the late 80s, I remember working with a guy who had a lime green 850 spider he used as a daily driver - he drove it like he stole it - rich guy - he kept it maintained. I always envied that. He had more fun behind the wheel every day than anyone driving some 325i Bimmer at the time. In traffic, you always get a pass driving an old fiat.
My 1976 Fiat 128 3p was a beast in comparison with its 70 hp or so. Got mine going 90mph downhill once on some rolling hills. Rust killed the tie rod supports, i.e., the front end. Good, expensive, memories 🤔
Something to add. The fabric sunroof was there not to just cool off the interior and make the car look more sporty, but after the war, canvas was cheaper than steel. Dante Giacosa designed the 500 to use as little steel as possible, hence the need for the sunroof. While I do own a modern 500 Abarth, I have owned a slew of older italian steel. 850 spider, 124 coupe, 128 3P, and plenty of 124 spider. I still have a 1977 124 Sport Spider 1800 in my garage waiting for me to find time to put it back together to finish up it's restoration.
I bought a 1965 Fiat 600 back in 1972. Thxs for sharing guys.
You two are a great team for entertainment. Your child like enjoyment of the small things is really contagious.
Not to mention your disdain and lack of understanding of what you speak which show clearly your biased regional upbringing. It is like the Newyorker I met in North Dakota that did not know what the animal he saw in a pasture was since she grew in the city and never had seen a cow in the flesh unless she looked in her plate and then it was not a cow but a steak.
Ah... that engine sound... brings me back to my childhood. And no, my family didn't own a 500, but its Polish-produced successor, the 126p, which is frankly the very same vehicle in less stylish packaging. Not a big deal in Italy, but a cult classic over there despite all the shortcomings.
y'all work so well together to bring us great videos
So many memories of my first car, a 500F. Started a life long love of Fiat having owned many since then. Currently have 2 Pandas, an original shape 4x4 and the 2nd Generation as a daily runner.
The 500 in the name came from the engine size (500cc) and the weight of the car (500 kilos). Great video!!
The 500 in the name came from the engine size (500cc). That's it.
Cool. I think Nathan and Roman need to do another cannonball run in that. See if it’s quicker than the EV.
Zastava 850😉 4 cylindre and up to 39hp. My father had one in 80' to mid-90s. Good video.
I had a 1970 while living in Italy this year. It's a beautiful car and parts are still cheap. I would have brought it back to the US, but it's just not practical or safe, and I didn't want just an ornament. Great video.
My neighbor in the UK had one of these when I was growing up. Tiny car but great for just driving around the city.
It's got to be the most adorable man-made object ever made. Marvelous
I'm in Northern California and this afternoon I had a long visit with the friendly owner of an immaculate FIAT 500. If I see him again I'll be sure to share this great video with him. BTW, my dad gave me a 500, the one with suicide doors. He had paid $35 for it, and it had a tan interior to contrast with the red body paint.
You might want to know that in order to fully open the canopy you have to push backwards the rod in the middle of the canopy itself when opening it, otherwise the front part lean on it and only opens halfway. In any case greetings from Italy, I've had a 500L for a couple of years, best car for joyful sunday drive. It just makes you happy driving it and mastering the downshifts!
I got a D in yellow for 50 dollars way back. Took it apart myself, painted myself, guess what colour? It was a lesson in trying maintain speed, while driving basically flat out, spotting gaps and not changing down. I had it for 7 years like that. It taught me a lot, I did get mine to nearly 70, more than once, bigger carb and exhaust. Great weekend car, but too frightening to drive around with all the monsters on the road now - and I doubt people would have that patience to put up with the speed. I miss the days of this simplicity. Great car, thanks for the video., and you insights on an icon.
Was it yellow?
@@VramanNoodles It was already yellow though, maybe red like that one?
@@dickJohnsonpeter I was making a joke, because he literally said it was yellow in the first sentence. Since he said guess what color it was, I’m like 🤔 YELLOW?!
For a hidden camera show a huge fuel tank was installed into one of these, think 300 liter or thereabout (you figure out the number of gallons). It was then driven to a fuel pump, and the employee was told to fill her up. The owner went into the toilet, leaving the employee wondering where all the fuel went.
Such a sweet little car! My parents had one; a 1971 model. My mother wouldn’t drive it because of the lack of synchro. My brother and I bounced around in the back and I was driven to school in it regularly. The lack of speed and space for a growing family finally persuaded them to trade it in for a much larger car…a Mini!
My first car had an aircooled two cylinder engine too. The Adelaide-made 1964 Lightburn Zeta was powered by a two-stroke, two cylinder, 324 cc engine producing a maximum of 16.5 bhp. That .5 was important! But unlike the Fiat 500 the Zeta's column mounted step by step gear change was rapid and enabled quite quick movement in city traffic. The station wagon shaped body made it much more spacious inside than the Fiat and front wheel drive allowed room to put your shopping behind the back seat. Folding the back seat provided enormous luggage space.
Loved this video! My wife and I used to own a 2012 Fiat 500c and it was so much fun to drive. Unfortunately when we moved to Iowa it became impractical in the winter and we traded it in. The Fiat community is very strong and the so is the love for them. Thanks for this video!
My first car was a Fiat 850 Sport Coupe. It looked cool (used in "Once upon A Time In Hollywood" movie! driven by Leonardo DiCaprio when he was a spy in Italy, and jumped a bridge, in the movie), had an 850mm motor (from the non-"sport" model) bored and stroked out to 903ml, a dual throat Webber carburetor, extractors all stock from factory. From memory I an sure I had it up at 160km/hr.
I used to pull up next to medium sized motor bikes with bigger engines.
My friend who is >6ft was more comfortable driving it from the back seat, with the front seat removed.
I miss that car. If ony it had air bags, ABS and other standard safety features of today. I bought is for $AUD200 unregistered in a sorry state.
I bought a 500L new in 1974. Amongst many long journeys was a Christmas / New Year trip from London to Warsaw in Poland and back. Never missed a beat! The crazy in things we did when young!
Sold the car and bought an Arbarth 595… that was a rocket...
I remember a friend of mine had one in the early seventies. He was a realtor and Dutch, so he was very tall, but he liked driving it in Amsterdam because he could park it anywhere. As a guy of over two meters, he had taken out the front seats and drove it while sitting on the back bench!.
I owned a Polski Fiat copy, it would do 30 mph with 7 people onboard. Good times. Even managed to bring it to a stop most of the time.
You should try fiat Panda 4*4. Would be great to see the performance in your trail in the ranch. Stay good from Italy.
I love this video!! You guys are amazing!!
🇦🇺 Brilliant little car. Actually got a speeding ticket in mine but it was down hill. The feeling of satisfaction when getting the gear changes right is priceless. The world needs cars like the 500....
Would really like to see more OG Classics budget diy restoration series’.
This car was notably casted as Lupin III's signature car since the 1978 Special "Castle of Cagliostro" Originally it was a Mercedes-Benz SSK, and occasionally an Alfa-Romeo from the 1920s as well.
By the way Lupin putting turbo charger in the Fiat 500 so he can outrun police.
Super video. FYI: Just like in the 2CV, the canvas roof is not a fashion statement. It is part of the cost of weight and cost savings: canvas is cheaper and lighter than steel and cheaper to manufacture and replace. Extreme cost saving: the 2CV has only 3 wheel nuts per wheel, LOL
Great video. Definitively subscribing. This brought me back to when I would get on the highway with my first car, an overpowered 53hp diesel powered Citröen AX :) . I would average about 55 mph and then use the downhills to get up to 100mph and it was sketchy as hell but I was young and stupid so... yeah... I still miss that car. Eventually cracked the block after burning the head gasket three times (design issue fixed in the next iteration). Had great mileage though... between 50 and 60 mpg. Then moved to Ford Focus Estate with 30mpg of gas... that was a tough pill to swallow! :D
All I can think of is scenes from The Italian Job with these 500s flying(?) through the narrow Italian streets, going places the Polizia could not follow. Great video, guys!
Although many scenes in The Italian Job showed 500s, the getaway cars were Minis.
These are actually narrower than a Mini!
Fantastic video!
Brendan is a great asset to the channel. And, of course Tommy is the best out there.
my grandfather had one of these for a while but my grandmother forced him to buy a pickup after he got in a close-call incident with a pickup on a highway. such a cute car.
I had a '68 850 Spider, a top speed of 55 mph. You reminded me at 4:22 of a time when my car got locked behind the fence at my school's football field. I just took the mirror off and drove through the pedestrian gate.
I want to see Nathan and Andre drive this thing.
Because it's TFL does this mean FIAT stands for Fix It Again Toby?
I've had three of these over the years (in the UK). First one was a non-runner. The timing chain sproket on the crank, had lost all it's teeth. Quick fix. Did all my own restoration and maintenance. A couple of features you missed. The interior light, under the rearview mirror. The main switch for the heating, is actually by the rear seat, on the rear of the heating duct. Those flaps for the 'climate control' re-direct heat to the screen demister, or the cabin. Probably didn't do anything, because the main heating switch at the rear was turned off.
Aaand you can easily ( not by purpose of course ) mistake this lever with the legs of girls sitting in the back seat :).
@@tenhendee5479 LOL. Been there, done that.
It's beautiful. Really beautiful.
I noted that you referred to it as an upgraded Vespa.
Yes, Vespas are great but if you need to be dry on your short journeys then this is it.
I've got a 2013 modern version and it does everything I want it to on my 15 mile commute into work. Very pleased with it.
Amazing video. And the translations were actually fine! No need to apologize.
Wow! A car that makes my 26hp Trabant seem fast! Trabant rated top speed was 100km/h - 62mph but I've gone nearly 120km/h - 75mph. Trabi is very comfortable at 80km/h - 50mph. Excellent heat as well!
My parking neighbor had a 500L. I thought there was a problem with the doors, because they didn't close flush. Then Fiat celebrated the 50 years of 500 at the Paris showroom, and I noticed that the 500 display car doors didn't close flush either.😀
Just to be clear on the intentional minimalism in the 500, my 1971 124 Spider had an aluminum-head, DOHC engine (with twin carbs if bought in Europe), four-wheel disc brakes, a 5-speed transmission, unequal-length A arms for the front suspension and a very well-located live axle rear, and an unfussy soft top that could be lowered and raised with one hand from the drivers seats, years ahead of what was otherwise available on similarly-priced British sports cars. Also a very strong car when hitting a telephone pole at speed.
Grande orgoglio Italiano, grazie ragazzi per questo bellissimo video! Saluti Dall'Italia!
oh man, so many memories...this is the exact model my family owned , so it was basically my first car and I used to drive it to school every day on my last year of high-school...with a cassette player boombox on the passenger seat as a car stereo
My father's first car was a DKW. I believe it had all of 9hp when it was in perfect tune. There was one pass in New Mexico that they drove over that they could not hold 2nd gear. Trucks were passing him at 20 to 30. Other cars were making 50 to 60 easy, with the occasional Cadillac or Lincoln pushing 70. Years later he got a triple digit ticket going up that hill. The state trooper took over 20 miles to catch up. He had one of those double-headed radar units, and he was looking up the hill seeing the numbers going up and up, but not seeing what was going so fast when he blew past at over 100 headed up the hill in a 64 Bonneville wagon with canoe on the roof. We really learned how to make power cheap and reliable after WWII. Then something went wrong with our society, industry and economy that we still have not recovered from. Now I am not saying that wagon was better than the more modern cars I have had, but it sure was more reliable and aged better than all but a couple of them. In 84 we sold it. Everything except the speedo, radio, the AC and one window switch still worked. No rust, no holes in the seats and only a couple in the carpet. Can only guess about the miles as the speedo broke in about '73, but probably close to 150k. BTW we calculated that it got about 5 to 6 MPG on flat ground at 70MPH with the canoe on top - if you could stay clear of traffic. I think it held 42 gallons of gas. After 2 hours it would be down to about 1/4 tank and it was time to stop, fill up, check the tire pressures, clean the windshield, empty bladders and reset the stop watch (because no speedo). Before a summer trip we would change all the radiator hoses, heater hoses, the thermostat, fan belts and brake shoes, as well as changing the oil and flushing the brakes. If anything with the belts looked off, the water pump and fan clutch got changed too, and about every other year it got new tires and an alignment before summer driving. Now that I think about how much maintenance we did to that car, maybe some of the more modern cars get a pass, if only for requiring far less maintenance.
Back in the 70s 4 of us drove one of these all over Elba. We drove up Monte Capanne and the three passengers had to get out and walk alongside :) I had so much fun driving it that I came back to the UK and bought one. It's still top of my list of cars I wish I hadn't sold.
In 1970 in Europe, these would typically drove around 80km/h to 85 km/h on the highway in the right lane - 50mph. In that era 55mph was the typical speed limit on US highways.
My first car in 1971 was a Fiat 127 with a 900cc motor and a top speed of ~130km/h, but on a hill I also had to switch back one gear. Fortunately it was all synchronized and it had front wheel drive.
Great guys!! I live in Hong Kong. I do not see this type of cuties on our streets that often. Great presentations with humor and great Italian music.
Thank you, Tommy, great review. Next test, the Black Bear Pass 😁compared to cars of the era, the Original Mini-Cooper, VW Bug, or contemporary to the Japanese Kei cars (Honda Acty 656cc and 52hp). Cars with less horsepower than my riding lawnmower (Ariens IKON 726cc 23hp Kawasaki), great for inner city ( think New York) not so for the open prairie
Even the new 500 is still a Georgous and rather faithful car
It's lovely
My dad bought one in Spokane, WA in the late 50's, and followed that with two (2) 600's. Of course, I had to, as a teenager, get a 600, followed by an 850 Sport Coupe (in Germany, I could have gotten a BMW!), and two 124's (Sport Coupe and Spider). After upgrading to an Alfetta GT, I traded for an American station wagon for the growing family :
Back in the '70s a buddy of mine put an 850 engine in one. It was more work than one would think. Definitely made it a lot of fun though. Bill Heitkamp, used to have a race shop in Aurora.