Advertisement for Fiat 600 Multipla from the 1950s (Centro Storico Fiat)
The original Fiat 600.
Under the influence of the beetle (photo: Fiat)
Karl Marx once stated that "history repeats itself, first as a tragedy and then as a farce".
In the automotive world, things work differently: the name of a model that was successful and became legendary will be pulled out of the drawers years later to take advantage of the nostalgia to promote a new model, with no mechanical connection to the original, and sometimes a completely different market segment.
In 2023, this will happen to the Fiat 600. This will be the name given to the new electric Jeep that Fiat will unveil in the coming months, and will enter serial production at its plant in Poland in October.
Unlike the 500e which was developed on the basis of an independent platform of the Italian company, the 600 model '23 will be based on the platform of the electric jeeps of Peugeot, Citroen and Opel, the sisters of Fiat to the Stelantis automotive group.
The 600 will receive the updated version revealed this year, with a 54 kWh battery and a manufacturer's range of just over 400 km.
Spy shots reveal lines that are very reminiscent of the e500 and hence those of the original 600.
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multifaceted.
It took the automobile industry almost 30 years to imitate the genius (Photo: Fiat)
Fiat 600: 1955-1985
The original Fiat 600 was launched in a 2-door version in 1955, and a year later a revolutionary Multiplane version was added with 2 and 3 rows of seats, 4-6 passengers.
The car designed by Fiat's chief engineer in those years, Dante Giacusa, was equipped with rear-wheel drive and rear-engine Volkswagen Beetle influence, albeit water-cooled, and was larger, more spacious and more expensive than the 500 launched two years later.
Its platform was also used by the Fiat 850.
During its lifetime, nearly 3 million cars were produced from it, including in Spain by Seat, which also produced a 4-door version of the regular 600, under the name Seat 800. The last 600 in 2-door versions came off the assembly lines in Argentina and in Colombia in 1982 and Yugoslavia in 1985.
In the 90s of the last century, Fiat produced a city car called Sicento, 600 in Italian, which was not very successful and its production ended in 1998.
The new Fiat 600 is expected to arrive in Israel in the last quarter of 2023.
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