Fiat 500

Music, art, and togetherness

Turin July 3, 2008 -- Soon it will be July 5th – and that means there will be elaborate celebrations for the first birthday of the FIAT 500. From Italy to Japan, from France to South Africa: All those who own and those who can’t wait to get one will be the guests of honour of the "500 PICNIC”, the initiative conceived to share the passion and emotion that distinguish this huge community (picnic guests will receive a gift "basket" signed Guzzini with several FIAT gadgets).

2008 Fiat 500

Celebrations throughout the world and new treats for the community

Turin, 30 May 2008 -- The Fiat 500 is one year old, there will be great celebrations throughout the world on 5 July. From Italy to Japan and France to South Africa, all owners - and those who can't wait to become one -will be guests of honour at the ‘500 PICNIC’ events, a campaign introduced to share the passion and thrills of this great community.

The Fiat 500 Is One Year Old

Turin 07/05/2008 -- The Fiat 500 continues to get itself talked about and once again in innovative and spectacular style. In the heart of Berlin at the legendary Checkpoint Charlie, on the corner of Friedrichstraße, the new Italian cult car calls out to passers-by from the top of a huge advertising cube with videos, messages in lights and giant hoardings.

From two hoardings, each measuring 288 square metres, the Fiat 500 invites passers-by to send a text (password “Fiat 500”, number 84000). The result is a 20 metre message strip with scrolling messages and greetings that also appear live on the homepage of the new Fiat 500 via Rss-Feed.

Turin 15 April 2008 -- This slogan launched an original advertising campaign for Fiat Automobiles which underlines the way every Fiat car encapsulates all the values that have contributed to the unanimously-acclaimed success of the new Fiat 500.

The campaign was created by the Turin office of Leo Burnett Italia Group and is intended for international consumption as evidenced by the plans for a Europe-wide TV, press and radio campaign. In particular, a TV commercial with an epic flavour, filmed on a Moroccan salt lake on the border with Algeria has now been airing for a few days. The film is directed by Alexander Paul and opens with some Fiat models on a sensational drive through a sun-baked desert. The soundtrack to the action is the timeless melody "Everybody needs Somebody".

Turin, April 9, 2008 -- Exactly 50 years on, a group of Fiat 500s will once again return to historic Liege in Belgium – leading a 10-day celebration of one of the greatest endurance rallies ever.

The Fiat 500s, dating from the 1950s, are part of a stunning entry list confirmed by organisers of this July’s Liege-Brescia-Liege rally which, in 1958 was unique. Then, the challenge comprised 3300km of gruelling roads, including treacherous mountain passes through the Alps, Dolomites and Yugoslavia, driven flat out – and all in cars of less than 500cc.

22/02/2008 -- After the success of the new Fiat 500 in Turin, Paris, Berlin and London, attention has turned to Tokyo (Japan) where a novel exhibition was dedicated to the car. The event saw more that 500 guests participate, including journalists, entertainers, representatives from Italian institutions (including ambassador Mario Bova) and the managing director of Fiat Automobiles - Lorenzo Sistino.

Through this striking exhibition, the Italian brand paid homage to Japanese culture, underlining the strong ties that unite the two nations. Japan is particularly attuned to the best Made in Italy products – from fashion to design, gastronomy and art. Among these, the Fiat Group has contributed to shaping the "automobile culture" even outside of the national confines.

20/02/2008 -- The new Fiat Group Automobiles Styling Center in Torino hosted the awards ceremony for the EuroCarBody 2007 prize, assigned to the Fiat 500 bodyshell by a forum of around 600 outstanding experts in car body development, manufacturing and assembly. The trophy, presented by Mathias Woydt, vice president of the event’s organizer Automotive Circle International, was received by the Fiat Group’s Chief Technical Officer, Harald J. Wester.

This is the first time the Fiat brand has won the EuroCarBody title, and only the second time it’s participated in the competition: an impressive achievement, and even more so in view of the fact that the award had never before been assigned to a subcompact in its entire eight-year history.

Turin, January 28, 2008 -- The “Car of the Year 2008” award, which was given to the Fiat 500 by a jury of 58 specialist journalists from 22 European countries, was presented this evening at a ceremony in Berlin.

Fiat’s supermini was not only the overall winner, it also received votes from the largest number of jury members: 57 out of 58 included the car on their short lists, and no fewer than 33 put it in first place. It is also the second A-Segment car – the first was the Fiat Panda in 2004 – to win the worldwide motor industry’s most prestigious title. An extraordinary record, that brings the total Car of the Year titles won by Fiat Group Automobiles to twelve.

Turin, January 22, 2008 -- FIAT Group Automobiles UK Ltd last night (Mon Jan 21) launched the stunning new Fiat 500 with a flight in one of the capsules on the British Airways London Eye.

The Fiat 500 took to the sky at 8.00pm – exactly 500 hours into 2008 – as a fantastic light show lit up a showbiz and celebrity event on the banks of the River Thames.

2008 Fiat 500 launch on the London Eye

Around 500 VIPs including Kelly Osbourne, Jade Jagger, Eva Herzigova, Eddie Jordan, Leah Wood and 1,500 people were invited to the all-ticket launch event, which featured fantastic live performances by pop sensations Mika, The Feeling and The Vibrants.

21January 2008 -- Today at Monte Carlo (Monaco), Felipe Massa was presented with a Fiat 500 powered by an exclusive 1.4 litre, 120 bhp engine and personalised with unique graphic details, such as his signature embossed in the sill scuff plate.

With Pearl White paintwork and interior trim in brown Cordura, the supermini given to the Scuderia Ferrari driver is, of course, the Sport variant, with a Skydome electric sunroof, 16” diamond alloy finish and red brake callipers.

Turin, January 17, 2008 -- The history of Pirelli Cinturato tyres is an integral part of the history of Italian motoring and of Fiat Group brands: from Fangio’s Ferraris to Lancia flagships, a huge number of models have left Fiat plants fitted out with Pirelli tyres. Recent Fiat Group Automobiles car models that mount Pirelli tyres as first equipment include the Fiat Bravo, the Fiat 500 (in the larger size) and the Alfa 159, while the light commercial vehicles include the new Ducato. We should also point out that it is Fiat Group Automobiles policy to extend use of the new “green” tyres, to help reduce fuel consumption and emissions.

Turin, 14 January 2008 -- The prestigious “Car of the Year 2008” prize won by the Fiat 500 will be handed over at a ceremony in Berlin on 28 January. To mark the occasion a ground-breaking initiative has been organised in the German capital, which is allowing a car manufacturer to use part of its underground rail network for the very first time.

From the beginning of 2008 until 27 January, two Fiat 500s “dressed” in the exclusive pearl white body shade, are to be seen on a platform car being drawn by a train. The train’s unusual journey takes place every weekend over part of the underground network (145 kilometres) which at weekends is used by about 1.8 million people.

January 7th, 2008 -- Fiat Group Automobiles will be at the 31st edition of CES (Consumer Electronics Show), Las Vegas, the most important of its kind in the world, from January 7th to 10th. The exhibition, dating back from 1967 and reserved to specialist manufacturers and traders, will draw some 2,700 exhibitors over an area of 1.8 million square meters, with more than 140.000 professional visitors expected.

Microsoft, since 2004 partnering with Fiat in the development of innovative telematics platforms for automotive applications, will exhibit a Fiat 500 – its first appearance at an event in the USA – and an Alfa Romeo Spider.

20/11/2007 -- The Fiat has been voted "Auto Europa 2008" by the Italian Union of Automotive Journalists (Uiga). This is the most important accolade awarded by the Italian specialised press.

Established in 1987, the prize is awarded to the car built and sold in Europe that offers the best combination of technology, pricing and style for the final consumer. The vote, which took place last weekend in Riccione, attributed 640 points to the new super-compact from Fiat, placing it ahead of the Kia Ceèd (408) and the Peugeot 308 (325).

2007 Fiat 500

19/11/2007 -- The international jury presiding over the Car of the Year award, made up of 58 specialist journalists from 22 European countries, has elected the Fiat 500 Car of the Year 2008 with 385 votes, ahead of the Mazda 2 (325 votes) and the Ford Mondeo (202).

In addition to winning the Car of the Year 2008 award outright, the super-compact Fiat distinguished itself by obtaining votes from most members of the jury: 57 out of 58 included it in their short-list, and 33 made it top in their personal rankings.

2007 Fiat 500

Turin, October 26, 2007 -- The new FIAT 500 has won the EuroCarBody 2007 award, the world’s most prestigious prize for car bodies. The ninth edition of the Forum organised by Automotive Circle International was held in Bad Nauheim/Frankfurt from October 16 to 18, attended by about 600 experts in the development of the design, materials, processes and manufacture of car bodies.

2007 Fiat 500

The 600 specialists, from 15 international carmakers, gave the award to the Fiat 500, assigning it 38.33 points out of a possible 50. This enabled the “small” Fiat – the only segment A model present – to defeat the other 11 candidates from Japan, the United States, Europe and Russia.