Fiat 500: a car with two fathers, Dante Giacosa and Sergio Marchionne

DANTE GIACOSA (1905-1996) was an Italian engineer, technical director and executive member of FIAT. His family was from Neive in province of Cuneo. During the 40 years of work as a creative designer at Fiat, he became one of the most famous figures in the motor world. His first big success was FIAT 500, known as “Topolino” that was produced in 1936 as an affordable small car. This model was revolutionary at that time not only for its technical features but also for the volume and roominess of the car. It cost 8900 lire, its top speed was 85 km/h and it averaged 16 kilometers per liter. The reason why this car was created was to conquer the mass market such as the luxurious cars with powerful engines did. This car was perfect for the family weekend trips, equipped with the four seats and moveable roof-panels for the summer. The bodywork has always maintained the same shape over the time. First series of Fiat 500 was in production till 1948. During the difficult post-war period, Italy experienced an economic growth that made it necessary to produce more cars.
Engineer Giacosa designed NUOVA 500. For internal reasons within the company, the production of NUOVA 500 started only in 1957 but with some important technical improvements. At the end of the fifties, while Italy was successfully recovering, together with production of cars, first highways were created.
Names such as Cova, Mattei, Natta, Agnelli, Olivetti prove the Italians’ entrepreneurial skills. In 1959, Giacosa was rewarded the prestigious Compasso d’Oro for his design.