The modern day Fiat 500 is a huge success in Europe. According to reports coming out of the Chrysler bankruptcy hearings in New York, it will be on its way to the US in the next 18 months. I thought that it would be fun to look back on the car that served as inspiration for the successful 500 of today: the iconic 1957 to 1975 Fiat 500, best known as the Cinquecento (pronounced chin-kwe-chen-to). Like the VW in Germany and the Mini in the UK, it is the car that motorized Italy as the postwar economic recovery took hold and the new Italian middle class emerged. Almost two years ago I got my first taste of the Fiat 500 on a tour of the Abruzzo region of Italy, and I've been hooked by the tiny, quirky car ever since.

I love collecting period automotive advertising and marketing images. Thankfully the Fiat press site makes hundreds of these iconic photos available to registered members of the media. Thanks to their well-organized archives we're happy to make these images available for you to enjoy.