500

Five hundred. What a beautiful number. Especially when thinking about Fiat cars. The Fiat 500. It is in Italy what the VW bug was in Germany, and what the Deux Cheveaux was in France, and I suppose what the Ford Falcon was at one time in the US, or maybe even the Model A. It was the people's car.

The old style models have been out of production for quite some time by now, two decades I think. That of course does not mean that you can drive down any street in most of Sicily without seeing one or two within fifteen minutes. They are still being driven in great numbers. When the styling was updated to the late 1980's box look, the old style was no longer sold, but it was lovingly held, kept, tinkered with, repaired, and repaired again, and again, and of course, again.

I have looked longingly at them, wondering in my more foolish moments if I should buy one, have the front seats removed, put in a center seat in the back, move the controls over just a bit, and drive one around. Even if the motor was gone, I could probably buy a replacement, and throw the rest of the lawn mower out. Or I could soup it up and get a riding mower motor. And of course I would have to get a convertible, with the fold up canvas top, and if I put the seat up a little higher, I could drive with my head sticking out.

Of course, having said all of that about the cute little cars, I should also mention that I have seen a family of five driving down the road in comfortable bliss in the old 500's. Indeed, there is the joke about the traffic accident in Naples, where a 500 hit a moto, and fifteen people were injured. Ah me.

When Fran and I were first in Sicily, we rented our landlords new style Fiat 500, which had already been replaced by the Fiat 600. It is a tinny little car, but certainly serviceable for city driving. Of course one tends to see many more of the 500's and 600's in the south of Italy (the mezzogiorno) than in the richer north. They are family cars for people who do not have or do not want to spend a lot of money to have a car. And they work, and they do what needs to be done.

This year, Fiat came out with a new 500, styled to look like the old one on steroids, and I think it even has a 1.0 liter engine. This model is again extremely popular, and they are coming out with a convertible soon.

Sunday afternoon, in the San Michele neighborhood, Sciacca had a meeting for people who own, love, and take care of their old Fit 500's. There were some beautiful cars there, all in mint condition. I joked with the owners about having to change them significantly were I to buy one.

And of course, as with any show like this, there was someone who showed up who did indeed have a Fiat 500, but it was second generation, and not lovingly taken care of.