Fiat 500 "Topolino"

Manufacturer	FIAT
Main type	2-seater sedan
Other versions	Transformable , Van ,Family , Spider , Coupé ,Barchetta
Production	from 1936  to 1955
Replaced by	Fiat 600
Produced	FIAT 519 847,Fiat- Simca  : 52 507,Fiat-NSU  : 9 064
Length	3215  m m
Width	1275 mm
Height	1377 mm
Step	2000 mm
Mass	no load 535  k g
assembling	Turin

The Fiat 500 Topolino, is a car of the Turin-based company Fiat, produced from 1936 to 1955 .

History

The Fiat 500, also known as "Mickey Mouse," is definitely one of the most well-known Italian automobiles. Senator Giovanni Agnelli was summoned by Benito Mussolini in 1930 to advise him of the "imperative necessity" of motorizing the Italians with an automobile that cost no more than 5,000 lire. It was an idea with immense propaganda potential that Adolf Hitler rushed to duplicate as soon as he was elected Chancellor of the Reich, summoning Ferdinand Porsche and instructing him to manufacture an automobile for little more than 1,000 marks, the car that would become known in Italy as the Beetle.

Concerned about the difficult task, which he would have gladly given up, Agnelli put the matter back to the designers of the FIAT technical office who divided themselves into two opposing currents of thought. The first thought it possible to achieve the goal with technologies and schemes already used by FIAT, saving on equipment and materials..At the beginning, the Fiat management decided to experiment with both solutions: it commissioned the technical department to proceed with the design of the model with company standards and, at the same time, hired Oreste Lardone, assigning him a small group of technicians and workers with whom to develop the own mechanical theories.

The Lardone ideas were simple and clear: the new car would have to have four seats and a power unit of 500 twin cc air-cooled and equipped with front-wheel drive .It was the summer of 1931 when the prototype of the "500 - all ahead" was ready for its first release with the test driver, the designer and Senator Agnelli aboard, eager to verify the product and wire the good news to Mussolini . The car came out of the Lingotto and traveled a few kilometers, but on the Cavoretto climb an engine fire forced the occupants to jump out. The accident was probably due to a trivial fuel spill , but Agnelli ordered that front-wheel drive be banned from FIAT forever, while Lardone was fired.

The design of the small car continued without enthusiasm until Mussolini visited FIAT in October 1932 , which reminded Agnelli of his commitment.In reality the "sacred monsters" of the FIAT project office , Antonio Fessia and Tranquillo Zerbi , were convinced that the right idea was the "forbidden" one of Lardone and they did not feel that they were proceeding with a project that was obviously wrong only to satisfy the prejudice of the Senator. It was Fessia himself who turned the job to Dante Giacosa - a young engineer who was already his assistant in the design of the " Balilla " - aware that he was the right man.

Dante Giacosa took the reins of the project and after months of feverish drawings and calculations a small copy of the "Balilla" came out . He introduced innovations aimed at saving weight and costs: the radiator was above the engine to save the water pump, according to the principle that the hot water goes up and the cold one at the bottom (circulation with a radiator ); the frame had two V-beams from the front to the rear; the 4-cylinder engine had side valves. Further elements of saving in the engine design were the power supply of gravity petrol (elimination of the feed pump) and lubrication with a rudimentary oil pump having a mere flow-rate function, with the lubricant distributed to the various mechanical parts by flapping, or by the movement of the organs themselves.The satisfied FIAT management authorized the creation of prototypes of the "500".

The name "Fiat Topolino" was chosen for the new car, on the wave of success that Walt Disney , had obtained in Europe . Shortly before being put on sale and following the " unfair sanctions ", some journalistic indiscretions aired the new name of "Fiat Ginevra". On 10 June 1936, at Villa Torlonia , the new " ultra utilitarian " was presented to the Duce and the Press, revealing the definitive denomination of "Fiat 500".

On June 15, 1936, the Fiat 500 (renamed "500 A", progenitor of the "500 B" and "500 C") was put on sale , since its appearance popularly called "Topolino". A modest car for technique and performance, whose price was 8 900 lire: twenty times the average salary of a skilled worker and well beyond the estimated 5 000 lire. In 1936 Porsche had already built the definitive prototypes of the " Beetle " put in "presale" at 990 Marks, five times the salary of a skilled worker.

However, thanks to the "car hunger of the Italians", the Fiat 500 succeeded in being fairly successful. In fact, in Italy in 1936 only 222,000 vehicles (of all types, including public and military) circulated for over 42 million inhabitants, one vehicle for every 200 people. A ratio ten times lower than that of France and forty times lower than that of the United States in the same year.

The car was sold in two versions: the normal "Berlina due porte" and the "Berlina due porte transformabile", with openable roof, and to 9 750 lire. From the end of 1936a "van" version was also set up, with a capacity of 300 kg and mainly intended for the Royal Army . Some cases of failure of the load floor in the rear part, due to the excessive length of the overhang outside the struts, caused the suspension to change. The first batch of "500" short crossbow ceased with the chassis number 046000, in the second half of 1938 .

To overcome the loading problems of the military van, a lengthening of the chassis was studied by replacing the half springs with whole leaf springs. Due to the impossibility of starting two separate assembly lines, production was unified on the new chassis. Given the unchanged name, the first version was popularly called "short crossbow" and the second "whole crossbow" or "long crossbow". In all its versions the "500" with side valves was built almost unchanged until the beginning of 1948 , in over 110 000 units.

In the spring of 1948 the "500 B" was presented, rather similar to the previous one but with substantial technical modifications. The engine had a new cast iron head with overhead valves controlled by rods and rocker arms and increased in power to 16.5 hp (equal to 12.1  k W ), which allowed a maximum speed of 95 km / h and lower consumption. The chassis is also heavily revised with many small improvements and with the adoption of the rear stabilizing crossbar and telescopic hydraulic shock absorbers on the four wheels. The comfortable winter turned out improved by the adoption of the heating system on request.

The most important and welcome change was the introduction of the "Giardiniera" version which proposed a small family with four seats and a rear hatch, which gave access to the considerable load compartment, which could be increased by tilting the rear seat back forward.

The new version, which reproduced in a reduced format the ingenious solution of "functional bodywork" designed in 1946 by Mario Revelli for Carrozzeria Viotti , was characterized by luxurious sides made with strips of ash and masonite , in the style of American woodie and could be embellished with metallic colors. The "Giardiniera" was the first car in the world of a station wagon type built in large series.

The original term " Giardinetta " could not be used because it was deposited by Carrozzeria Viotti and the term "Giardiniera" was chosen, which in addition to having assonance with the custom -built Viotti, took up the homonymous denomination of the wagons on which the gardeners carried their products, still widely used in the first miserable post-war period.The "500 B" remained in production for just over a year, with over 21,000 units built.

Produced starting in 1949 , the "500 C" was the 100th model of a FIAT car. To underline the important technical innovations, a refurbishment of the bodywork was decided to make it more modern. The front was modified by encasing the headlights in the fenders; the classic spare wheel, typically pre-war, disappeared from the tail.From a technical point of view cast iron was abandoned for the head, replaced with aluminum. To unify the production, the "Berlina convertible" version was made standard, while the sedan with a tin roof could be had on request, with long waits.

In 1951 the "Giardiniera Legno" abandoned the sides in wood and hardboard, built by hand by the Special Bodyworks Section , in favor of the "Belvedere", with new sheet metal stamping. Innovation brought great advantages from a practical point of view and sales increased considerably. The production of the "Topolino Berlina" ceased in 1954 , giving way to the Fiat 600 , while that of the "Belvedere" continued throughout 1955 .

The "Topolino" was produced, under license, also in establishments associated with FIAT or through the creation of special joint ventures . With limited external differences, more or less relevant, it was assembled in Poland by Polski Fiat , in Austria by Steyr-Puch , in Germany by NSU - Fiat Neckar and in India by the Premier . Great was the success of the French versions produced by Simca with the " Cinq " and " Six " models : over 50 000 examples, from 1937 to 1950 .

As part of the agreements between FIAT and Nash Motors to build cars with self-supporting body even in Turin , in 1948 the two houses took agreements to produce in the United States a spider version of the "Topolino", with chassis supplied by FIAT and bodywork Nash, designed by Bill Flajole . After the press presentation of the " NXI " prototype in 1949 , the agreement between Nash and FIAT faded.

The "Topolino" chassis were used practically by Italian and foreign body builders, to create special sports, commercial or competition versions. Worthy of note are the Garavini "belvedere" mice , the Siata Amica, cabriolet, the Fiat Sport 750 Giannini ("Mille Miglia" berlinetta, 500 C Abarth van and a unique example of the 1955 Pitton bodied sedan of the 1955).

The "Topolino", due to its design philosophy, did not fit military use: the poor power limited the performance and the weight unbalanced on the front axle reduced its use to flat paths and hard surfaces. Despite everything, as early as 1936 the "500" (both a short crossbow and then an entire crossbow) was acquired by the Royal Army as a means of connection in the city controls. During the Second World War , the chronic and severe lack of motorized vehicles led the Italian FF.AA to employ the car also at the front and many of the requisition were also used in Italy by the Wehrmacht after 8 September 1943. There are photographic evidence of direct supplies by the NSU to the Wehrmacht and of use by Simca 5 itself.