Car Of The Day: July 5, 2012

Today's car of the day comes from juantoo3's collection and is Bingo Toys' 1965 Fiat 500 (Cinquecenta).

The Fiat 500 (Italian: cinquecento) is a car produced by the Fiat company of Italy between 1957 and 1975, with limited production of the Fiat 500 K estate continuing until 1977. The car was designed by Dante Giacosa.

Launched as the Nuova (new) 500 in July 1957, it was a cheap and practical town car. Measuring only 3 metres (~10 feet) long, and originally powered by an appropriately-sized 479 cc two-cylinder, air-cooled engine, the 500 redefined the term "small car" and is considered one of the first city cars.

In 2007, the 50th anniversary of the 500's launch, Fiat launched the New Fiat 500, stylistically inspired by the 500 but considerably heavier and larger with front-wheel drive.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Fiat 500

I learned this and the rest it came with are Bingo right here at Swiftys, with confirmation from Kimmo. This one came in a gift set from my step-daughter. This one is my favorite of the bunch...I don't even know what most of the rest of them are! -Wes (juantoo3)

To meet the demands of the post-war market which called for economy cars, the Fiat 500 was rear-engined on the pattern of the Volkswagen Beetle, just like its bigger brother, the 1955 Fiat 600. Several car makers followed the now uncommon rear engine configuration at the time and were quite successful. The Neckar version manufactured in Heilbronn under a complicated deal involving NSU, was introduced in October 1961. In Upper Austria the firm of Steyr-Puch also produced cars based, by agreement, on the Fiat 500.
Despite its diminutive size, the 500 proved to be an enormously practical and popular vehicle throughout Europe. Besides the two-door coupé, it was also available as the "Giardiniera" station wagon; this variant featured the standard engine laid on its side, the wheelbase lengthened by 10 cm (4 in) to provide a more convenient rear seat, a full-length sunroof, and larger brakes from the Fiat 600.

Sports models were famously produced by Abarth, as well as by Giannini. An Austrian variant, produced by Steyr-Daimler-Puch, the 1957–1973 Steyr-Puch 500, had a motorcycle-derived Puch boxer twin motor, a sports model of which was the 1965–1969 Steyr-Puch 650 TR2.

Production of the 500 ended in 1975, although its replacement, the Fiat 126, was launched two years earlier. The 126 was never as popular as its predecessor in Italy, but was enormously popular in the former Eastern Bloc countries, where it is famed for its mechanical durability and high fuel economy. The Fiat 500 has a Cx (aerodynamic resistance coefficient) of 0,38, a very good performance for its time.

Car Of The Day: April 30, 2012

Today's car of the day comes from juantoo3's collection and is Hot Wheels' 1937 Fiat Topolino dragster (Frank Pendragon).

The Fiat 500, commonly known as Topolino ("little mouse" in Italian, possibly also influenced by Mickey Mouse), is an Italian automobile model manufactured by Fiat from 1936 to 1955.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Fiat 500 Topolino

The Topolino was one of the smallest cars in the world at the time of its production. Launched in 1937, three models were produced until 1955, all with only minor mechanical and cosmetic changes. It was equipped with a 569 cc four-cylinder, side-valve, water-cooled engine mounted in front of the front axle,( later an overhead valve motor ) and so was a full-scale car rather than a cyclecar. The radiator was located behind the engine which made possible a lowered aerodynamic nose profile at a time when competitors had a flat, nearly vertical grill. The shape of the car's front allowed exceptional forward visibility.
Rear suspension initially used quarter-elliptic rear springs, but buyers frequently squeezed four or five people into the nominally two-seater car, and in later models the chassis was extended at the rear to allow for more robust semi-elliptic springs.

With horsepower of about 13 bhp, its top speed was about 53 mph (85 km/h), and it could achieve about 39.2 miles per US gallon (6.00 L/100 km; 47.1 mpg-imp). The target price given when the car was planned was 5,000 lire. In the event the price at launch was 9,750 lire, though the decade was one of falling prices in several part of Europe and later in the 1930s the Topolino was sold for about 8,900 lire. Despite being more expensive than first envisioned, the car was competitively priced. Nearly 520,000 were sold.
In 1955 the mid-size rear wheel drive Fiat 600 was launched by Fiat and that would become the design basis for the new Fiat 500, the Nuova 500. The Nuova 500 is often thought, mistakenly, to be the only model 500 Fiat.

Car Of The Day: December 17, 2011

Today's car of the day is Poliguri's 1983 Fiat Uno.

The Fiat Uno is a supermini car produced by the Italian manufacturer Fiat. The Uno was launched in 1983 and built in its homeland until 1995, with production still taking place in other countries.

For more information and pictures of the real car please visit: Fiat Uno

It's been quite some time since we've had something really unique for Car Of The Day.  So today I present a forgotten boxy hatchback by an obscure Portugese diecast firm that's been defunct for over two decades.

The Uno was launched in January 1983 to replace the ageing Fiat 127. Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro's ItalDesign company, its tall, square body utilising a Kamm tail achieved a low drag coefficient of 0.34 won it much praise for airy interior space and fuel economy. It incorporated many packaging lessons learnt from Giugiaro's 1978 Lancia Megagamma concept car (the first modern people carrier / MPV / mini-van) but miniaturised. Its tall car / high seating packaging is imitated by every small car today. It reversed the trend for lower and lower built cars. It showed that not just low sleek cars could be aerodynamic, but small, roomy, boxy well packaged cars could be too. In 1984 it was voted European Car of the Year.

Initially, the Uno was offered with the 0.9 litre (903 cc) OHV, 1.1 litre (1116 cc), and 1.3 litre (1301 cc) 138-series SOHC petrol engines and transmissions carried over from the 127. The 1.3 (1300 cc) diesel (not for the UK market) engine was launched a couple of months later. The Uno's badging was not by the commonly used measurement of engine size but by metric horsepower: 45, 55, 60, 75 or 90. The Uno was available as either a 3 or 5-door hatchback. It also featured ergonomic "pod" switchgear clusters each side of the main instrument binnacle, (that could be operated without removing the driver's hands from the steering wheel), although indicators remained on a stalk; an unusual arrangement similar to that used by Citroen.
The Uno had MacPherson strut independent front suspension and twist-beam rear suspension with telescopic dampers and coil springs.

From 1985, the 1.0 litre (999 cc) SOHC Fully Integrated Robotised Engine (FIRE) powerplant was offered. This was a lighter engine, built with fewer parts, and gave improved performance and economy. Also in 1985, the hot hatch version - Uno Turbo - was launched, with an IHI turbocharged Ritmo/Strada-derived 1.3 146-series engine, initially offering 105 PS (77 kW). It was priced to compete with the Peugeot 205 GTI. The Turbo variant offered phenomenal performance for a supermini-sized car and was capable of reaching 210 km/h (130 mph).

In 1987, a 1.7 litre diesel engined version - the 60DS -was launched.

Also in 1987, the Uno Selecta continuously variable transmission (CVT) automatic was launched. The CVT transmission was a co-development with Dutch Van Doorne and Ford, (Fiat owned 24% stake of Van Doorne at that time). The Selecta transmission should be avoided according to honestjohn.co.uk, which claims it can cause expensive repairs.

The car is still sold in Brazil in three versions: Mille Economy, Uno Furgão and Fiorino Furgão.

In the second half of the 1980s and the first half of the 1990s, the Uno had a sedan, a pick-up and a wagon version, called Prêmio, Fiorino Pick-Up and Elba, respectively.

The Brazilian Uno featured an independent, transverse leaf spring suspension at the rear, based on the tried and tested Brazilian Fiat 147 (similar to the Italian Fiat 127). The design of the hood was also unique, since the Brazilian Uno kept the spare tire located in the engine bay, like the old Fiat 147, and saving extra space for the luggage in the trunk.

The Fiat Uno family, in Brazil, had a turbocharged 1.4-litre four inline sports version in the middle 1990s. This car was sold as a normal production vehicle with 1801 units produced.

From the end of the 1990s to the middle 2000s, the car was sold as the Fiat Mille, as a budget entry-level model, and received its most recent facelift for the 2004 model year. The 2005 Brazilian range has received a Flex Fuel system, enabling the car to use ethanol or gasoline as fuel, both pure or in any proportion mixture; also, there is a version fitted for unpaved roads called Mille Way, which includes a more resilient suspension, larger wheels and side cladding. From April 1988 until 2006, up to 2,000,000 Fiat Unos were made in Brazil.

The year 2010 reserved a surprise for Uno fans: Brazilian Fiat started the production of a new Uno - actually, a Brazilian version of the European Fiat Panda, with two options of body (2 and 4 doors) and two kinds of Flex Fuel engine (1.0 and 1.4). But this new Uno is going to live together with the old one until 2014, when Brazilian's market will finally demand mandatory air bags in every new vehicle, and the 1980s design of the first Uno does not allow the installation of air bags.