FIAT

600

The Fiat 600, known in Italy as the Seicento, is a rear-engined city car designed by engineer Dante Giacosa and built by Fiat at the Mirafiori plant in Turin from 1955 to 1969. Unveiled at the 1955 Geneva Motor Show, the Fiat 600 was Fiat's first production car with a rear-mounted engine, a packaging revolution that allowed a full four-seat interior within a body just 3.22 metres long. Priced at 590,000 lire at launch, roughly equivalent to an average Italian worker's annual wage at the time, the Fiat 600 democratised car ownership across post-war Italy and earned its reputation as the car that motorised a nation. The original 633 cc water-cooled four-cylinder engine drove the rear wheels through a four-speed gearbox, while all-independent suspension gave a comfortable ride for its size. In 1956, Dante Giacosa adapted the Fiat 600 platform into the extraordinary 600 Multipla, a four-door six-seat microvan that positioned the driver directly over the front axle, creating the world's first MPV and the ancestor of every modern minivan; the Multipla sold over 240,000 units. The Fiat 600 D arrived in 1960 with a bored-out 767 cc engine and a redesigned front-hinged bonnet lid, extending production until 1969. Beyond Italy the Fiat 600 was licence-built as the SEAT 600 in Spain from 1957, the Zastava 750 in Yugoslavia, and the NSU-Fiat Jagst in Germany, pushing global production toward an estimated five million units. Italian-only output reached a precisely documented 2,695,197 cars. Coachbuilder Ghia produced the rare and exotic Fiat 600 Jolly beach car variant, which now averages US$96,289 at auction. Standard Fiat 600 saloons command US$15,000-40,000 in good condition, with the overall model averaging US$28,940 on classic.com, confirming the Fiat 600 as a blue-chip Italian classic.