The limited-edition Fiat 500 Spiaggina 58 has been revealed with just 1958 vehicles available worldwide with no word on whether any of them will come Down Under.
HARKING BACK TO the early days of the Fiat 500, the Spiaggina 50 limited edition is only available as a convertible and in exclusive Volare Blue paint with an ivory soft-top and vintage design 16-inch alloys. “This exclusive colour scheme is enhanced by other distinctive features, including side mouldings with 500 logo, the chromed door mirror covers, the vintage Fiat logos and the chromed “Spiaggina ’58” badge, in elegant italic script, on the rear, Fiat said.
The interior has the same styling, with the dashboard in the same Volare Blue colour as the exterior and a two-tone design for the seats, with grey striped base and ivory upper section.
The new “Spiaggina ’58” special series offers a Uconnect 7-inch HD LIVE touchscreen radio, and is Apple CarPlay ready and compatible with Android Auto, as well as offering navigation via Tom Tom maps and DAB digital radio. Also standard are a 7-inch TFT instrument cluster, rain and dusk sensors, automatic air-conditioning and rear parking sensors. The Fiat 500 “Spiaggina ‘58” is only available with a 1.2-litre petrol engine.
The Spiaggina 50 limited-edition is named after the original 500 Jolly, which was better known as the Spiaggina. Appearing on 4 July, 1957 just one year after the launch of the Fiat 500 proper, the Spiaggina was built by Carrozzeria Ghia off the Fiat 500, and later also on the Giardiniera version, it was produced from 1958 to 1965 and sold in Europe, the United States and even South Africa. Costing twice the price of the normal version, the special seaside version found favour with the most influential personalities of the age – including shipping magnate Aristotle Onassis and actor Yul Brynner – who chose it as a “land tender” for their yachts or as a golf car on their country estates.
One of its distinctive features was the absence of doors – guard ropes were not introduced until around 1965 – although the most innovative aspect of its design was inclusion of the chromed rails in the sides and along the top of the bodywork, supporting the sunshade-canopy.
