When you think of small cars…really small cars, what comes to mind in Italy is the Fiat 500…or Cinquecento.
The car was first produced by Fiat in 1936 and was soon nicknamed “Topolino”…”Little Mouse”…because of it’s diminutive size.
Immediately after World War II, the car was in high demand. It was cheap, easy to maintain, and easy on steel…which war-ravaged Italy had a hard time producing enough of.
The car had enough personality that it was featured in numerous Hollywood movies. Gregory Peck drove one in Roman Holiday (1953).
And Toto drove one in Frederico Fellini’s 1960 classic La Dolce Vita.
The Cinquecento is still produced today. In fact, Carol and Roger recently rented one on a visit to Firenze.
We could barely make it up hills, but the car is easy on fuel. We drove 500 km (300 miles) on little more than 6 gallons of gas.
In Firenze, the narrow streets and scarcity of parking spaces make the car’s small size an asset.
Please note how close the car is parked to the wall on the driver’s side…
…which makes it a challenge to get into…