500 Wants You - Free videos are just a click awayWe thought that there would be no better way, here at Automotive Declassified, to help celebrate the Fourth of July than with the official unveiling of the new Fiat 500. Now I know you are saying to yourself, what does an Italian car have to do with the Fourth of July!? Well to understand this correlation we must look at our world as one big neighborhood as opposed to separate entities. Ingenuity and the ability of the human spirit to continually grow from infertile ground is a beautiful trait of human beings regardless of nationality. We must embrace the courage of all who continue amidst chaos and rebuild among ruins, truly that spirit is the essence of Independence Day. It was in this same spirit that the Fiat 500 was born. In the smoke of WW2 Europeans longed to regain normalcy in their lives. "Happy memories" could be put on hold no-longer! If they couldn't take to the roads in the "baroque angels" of Europe’s past glory they would take to the roads in whatever they could just as long as the memories of war could begin to be washed over by memories of "holiday" in the Alps or by the sea. And to the road they took, at first on scooters and then scooter like cars that took the form of the BMW Isetta in Germany, the Mini in England, the Citroen XM in France and the Fiat 500 in Italy. When Dante Giacosa penned that first Fiat 500 little did he know that his ink was giving birth to a legend. Dante created the 500 to be a simple vehicle that would fit both the budgets and tight city alleys of Italy and the world. And so the 500 was born on July 4th 1957 destined to be the catalyst for a new post war life. The 500 used a rear engine with 13.5HP, two seats, and an opened roof, a straightforward vehicle set to mobilize the "happy memories" of a healing Europe. The Fiat 500 went on to become one of the most beloved European vehicles selling 3.6 million copies before the last 500 hit the streets in 1975. Ironically the 500 died in the same way as, its German micro car cousin, the Beetle. Both were replaced by, relatively speaking, state of the art successors better in every way but charisma. Neither of these successors "lit the wick" of hearts in the same way their predecessors had succeeded in doing with far less sophisticated tech to rely on. This led to the realization that technology must be concealed in a wrapper that also speaks to the heart. This has helped to rein kindle the fire of this new automotive epoch shown in many examples from the Mustang to the Mini. Fiat has embarked on recapturing it's lost "car karma" by tapping into the most powerful marketing tool available, the collective "happy memory" of an entire continent. Thus the new 500 is born, first set to be released 500 days after its original debut, or September 15th 2007. Fiat decided however that the nearly "biblical" numerology was a little much so the date was moved up to today the Fourth of July. As Americans we have been unaware of this launch, but in Europe the launch has taken on a Y2K frenzy spearheaded by a wonderfully nostalgic marketing campaign that revolves around its web site "500 wants you". To ask a European, or especially an Italian, about the new 500 draws a response similar to asking an American who Hillary Clinton is!? So the moment of truth has come the "physical representation of good memories" wrapped up in metal and rubber. Hopefully the US will be able to sample this "bliss buzz" sometime before 2010, if all goes according to plan. The new 500 is based on the same running gear as the Ford Ka. Ford is bringing a version of the Ka stateside to compete in the ever growing "B" segment. This could pave the way for Fiat to bring this ultimate Mini fighter here especially if Fiats own Alfa Romeo brand is successful in rebuilding its dealer network. The new 500 and Ford Ka utilize a straight forward array of engines starting with a 1.2 69HP 4 cylinder or a top of the range 1.4 liter engine producing 100HP. What is remarkable is that the Ford Ka, which has been taking so many Europeans to and fro for years, now gets treated like its name while the new 500 has sparked a forest fire of sentiment, oh the power of the hearts memory. So we welcome the 500 to our "earth’s neighborhood" with the realization that the human need to persevere is as alive today as ever. Amidst ever increasing gas prices and political instability we as humans find a way to make the most of this day within our reality and to strive for that piece of freedom. So when the Fiat is released at 3.45 AM EST live via the Fiat web site we can share in the universal call to the freedom of the road and the numerous paths life will take us on.
