Maybe it's just me, but i love that red body with white walled tires.

Your drive segment illustrates just what was so great about little Italian cars - they were terrific fun - and as you rightly say, they have character, charm and are just engaging. Such a shame that most cars no longer exhibit these characteristics.

Brilliant watch! There's a guy with one of these near me who I often see in Sainsbury's car park and its sheer tiny cuteness always makes me grin.

Twin Cam, one of the very best car programs on youtube 😊🙏🏼

This is such a good video. The history, the technical detail, and the smiley Ed when driving this incredible little car! I really must drive one of these one day, myself!

My aunt had a dark blue one it was a noisy little bugger I remember I was only a little boy Greetings from Scotland 🇬🇧🇬🇧🇬🇧

Fascinating information. I adore these little cars. On a visit to Lucca we saw a rally of around 100 of these. The locals were misty eyed.

"A man who wasn't particularly fond of petrol stations but didn't yet know it" - genius. Would have been nice to see a current bloated version side by side with this original.

A superbly well researched and presented video. Twin Cam is one of the finest car journalists on this platform. Bravo. What a brilliant little car. One of the very best that there's been.

Ed, as I'm sure you know, Nick Mason agrees with you. Of course, the Mini is more sporting, but it was made for a completely different market. The 500 was the first car millions of Italian families could afford. I have owned a '65 F model for 9 years over here in the States. Earlier today, I was sitting in my garage, ogling it for an hour as i prepared to redo the brakes. It's not simply cute; it is actually a masterpiece of industrial design without a bad viewing angle to be found. Giacosa was inspired when he penned it-- the greenhouse and beltline, the little fender flares and the puppy nose look as though they were born, not stamped, and the 12" wheels-- necessary on the unimproved roads of Italy's countryside, are visually balanced to it. Mine does run out of steam on steep or long hills, but that was not an issue in it's day, as the populace was groomed by economic conditions to expect a wide performance range on Italian roads. When I want more pop, I can take out my vintage Suzuki SC 100 "Whizzkid", that is only slightly larger, but boasts 47 hp out of its 970cc 4-banger out back, and has a pretty fascinating backstory, too. The two have so much in common, yet are wildly different in character. If you haven't driven one, I would love to get your take on an SC. You are well placed to speak to today's generations without incurring the gimlet eye from those who were young when the cars you review were new. Bravo to you!

The early 2CV also lacked a fuel gauge and used a fabric dip stick to judge fuel level remaining

Magnificent video, Ed! My mother had 2 of these and I grew up on the back seat. Still remember the smells and the sound. The choke and start handles. We have taken parts from Italy when on holiday. So many good memories. Luckily, the first one is still in the family, restored by my cousin. I also tracked down the 2nd one which is now an Abarth replica. Wonderful little cars 🇮🇹🥰👌

The single transverse peaf spring is an independent front suspension. It is mouted to the body or subframe in the middle, with what is effectively a quarter eliptical spring on each side. This system has been used for years on the Chevrolet Corvette. It seems to work rather well.

A fantastic little car full of character. A friend at work had one in the 1980’s, she gave me a lift home in it once it was so under powered that we had to go home the longer way avoiding all the hills 😂

I was so excited and thrilled to find this fantastic review on my old laptop because I had searched for days to find you and worried that academics, work or finance had ended your exquisite classic tests! Phew! And what a car and what a thoroughly researched, presented and enjoyable video it gave, Scripting and presentation, as usual, was unsurpassable, and with new novel edition and filming of the driving sequence that was, as again as usual, a chance for you to really portray the character of the car and show your obvious fun and smile! Thanks, Ed, to know you are still providing such unique reviews on Utube is a real joy, and the fact that they are chronologically a surprise from the norm, merely enhances to pleasure! Brill! Rob

Fantastic stuff again twin cam. Great review of the car and a history lesson in one. Learn something new from all your videos. Thanks for another great watch.

Oh absolutely. Good you’re back with a video. Indeed the little 500 and the original Mini and the VW Beetle are perfect little city cars as is the 2CV too! In today’s world the Japanese KEI cars are perfect, as are the SmartForTwo and other little EV’s like the AMI etc.

My big brother bought one new in 1969 and I used to learn to drive in it. It was fantastic and we loved it to bits. I still have the original sales brochure and I sometimes look at it and get wistful for it and my late brother. Nice video. 😊

Great review Ed, have to confess I’ve been away from you’re channel for a while but I’m back now and will be tuning in more regularly

Cutest car ever😎soon we start a 50000km tour in our 1971 Fiat 500

My first car and I rolled it!

Brilliant. I've had three of these. I repaired and fettled them as running restorations. Mostly the 'tin worm' got at them, but I rarely had to touch the engines. There was no oil filter. It had a centrifuge, on the crankshaft pulley, which you cleaned out at oil changes. Shims to adjust the dynamo/cooling fan belt. My first one blew out a spark plug, where the previous owner had cross threaded it, into the ally head. I managed to limp home at 30MPH on ONE cylinder. I've driven one with a boken clutch cable. Pushing the car to get it rolling, then snicking it into gear, thereafter matching the revs to the speed and nudging the gears in. No synchromesh, so you had to learn double de-clutching. The achillies heel for MOTs (apart from rust) is the King pins on the steering. They need geasing. If you don't, they jam up, push the locating scoll pin out of the way and turn steel on steel, causing wear and wobble. I loved all of them and was impressed by the engineering.

Would love to have one - or something similar. Like every other car of it's era, though, prices have taken off to the point of ridiculousness.

My first car. £417 on the road in 1965.

Ich werde niemals ein Produkt kaufen welches hier beworben wird, aber danke für das schöne Video

My dad owned one in the late 60's. If I remember correctly, the original dashboard was all steel and had a single, circular instrument 'cluster'. Also (could be wrong here) the choke lever was down by the drivers seat. Great video.

excellent review - as usual. very detailed on the tech side, and able to perfectly explain the essence of the machine. i had one until a few years ago. i drove it from roma to northern europe where i was living, drove it daily during long snowy winters, and then drove it back to italy when i moved back. you need to drive it on snow or other loose surfaces to fully understand the incredible suspension setup. you can spin around a modern car stuck on ice. and in case it struggles climbing up an icy hill, just ask a couple of pedestrians to stand on your back bumper! the car which taught me Driving.

Great Video Ed- Many Thanks. I remember being given a lift home from school by a neighbour's Mum in one of these. It was brilliant in the snow.

Great vlog and a beautiful example of a 500, would love you to review an Imp

I always liked the little 500 Fiat, I remember as a kid having a lift with a family friend from school back home in theirs.it was never intended to be “cute” but that’s what people probably think of it. It was more practical, roomy and safe than a Vespa scooter but I think the Vespa would have probably been faster and more fun, not saying the 500 is not fun, just not AS much fun. Nowdays a 500 would cost a few pounds more than the value of a pack of “peanuts” though. Another great informative video again Ed, thanks.😀👍

What an adorable little nugget!

Outstanding review on a true classic. They sound so good. Fun fact - the earliest Smart City Coupé models had a transverse leaf spring at the front. Later models (Fortwo) had McPherson struts but the springs on those are very prone to breaking.

Noice video. Love the review!

Excellent work. You have talent.

My Auntie has one in green that my Uncle maintains. It hasn’t been out for a few years, but they’re hoping to get it out this year. I’ve sat in it in their garage though. At 6’1” with big legs, I can just about get into a driving position.

I do enjoy these videos which contain so many interesting facts. Personally I believe Fiat's original Panda is a finer city car than the 500. Why ? Because it's sturdier, more practical and has better performance. Check the 1980s Fiat ads on KZfaq ...they are amusing !

A Long time ago, a friend of mine made an 'epic' journey in one of these cars. "Over the Alps ?, Crossing a dessert ?, or Circling the globe ? NO, he drove from Yorkshire all the way to the West Midlands ! ! ! Why was that epic ? (I hear you scream), well he did it without the help of functional brakes ! ! ! How did he slow down and stop ? As he was a strong bloke with 'Sturdy Boots' he had no problem with opening the door and stopping it by foot pressure ! And being a tiny car with a tiny engine, it was a 'credible strategy' to just be slower than everyone else and use the gears to slow down until it was possible to 'ram' the kerb side to stop ! And to 'cap it all' he made it back a few days later. On both journeys he also carried a passenger (without any 'sturdy boots) but I'm not sure if this helped ! Allas, later on that year, it's suspension broke and it got discarded on some waste ground and when my friend returned to recover it, it had been 'Taken' ! This was a shame as the way the world has 'turned out' had he given it a bit more love and respect, it could be worth a 'ton' of money now !

Wow what a sum up 👌🏻 I just secured mine 500 and it's the same year as yours! I was 5% unsure about the move to have this as my first car but after watching your video I'm doubt less about the choice 👌🏻

Great review, thank you

I enjoyed this informative and very well produced video very much.

What great review of the nice little car. Very interesting and informative. Big thanks for your work. Peace and Love!

Bedankt

excellent presentation as always Ed, though you really don't look yourself in those follow-car scenes 😉 back in the day when I were a lad working on cars, the thing that really got me about those little air-cooled FIAT engines was the centrifugal oil filter. simple cheap and reliable though if nobody bothered to clean them out an engine failure would be the ultimate result.

Another informative and interesting presentation.....Thank you so much...Great memories..Roger...Pembrokeshire

great video and some nice in-depth info. And you seem to have mastered the art of the down -shift with the non-syncro box. Took me ages

1977 I drove up Hardknott pass in the Lake District, no problem just stay in first gear, the gearbox, you need to double de-clutch on the change down, gets easy with practice. First gear can only be selected when the car is stationary, so stop and get into first gear before attempting any very steep hill. And stay off the M62 motorway, I was forced to drop into 2nd gear on the climb, maximum speed in 2nd 30mph, the heavy lorries will be òvertaking, although the car did climb hills better than the Citroën 2CV which had faster acceleration on the flat. The Fiat did ride with more comfort on its springs than the Mini with its rubber cone suspension.

Love your uploads young man

IN 1962 a worker earned 50,000 lire a month. He paid for the car in 3-4 years with monthly bills

Damn, I love this car!!!!

Even our 1972 500L still had the early speedo with just a light for low fuel level. With a big bore kit it was a lot of fun. The gearbox was non synchro but once you got the hang of it fast double de-clutches could be made. My next car was a 850Sport which had the same suspension layout but with the 903cc water cooled engine and a more stylish body. The suspension of the 500 would have just been based on the 600.

Such a sweet car, great presentation.

There are also a termodynamic efficiency reasons why you don't want 4-cylinder engine under 500 cc, not just economical ones. And from what I have read, that was why Fiat choose 2-cylinder engine for 500, rather than just cost. P.S.: That bag on a hook, replacing conventional tank for windscreen washers, is a typical Fiat design, that lived on until the 1990s!

Excellent vlog. Great cars but not the best option in Australia's large brown land.

An enjoyable video, cheers

17 horses flat out all day... sounds like the description of a good lawnmower engine

I like your video's in The Netherlands

Great video tkx

Beetles also had no fuel gauges for quite awhile, into the 60s I think. You raised the bonnet and put a wooden dip stick into the tank to see how much fuel you had. Fortunately, they had an auxiliary tank operated by a little foot lever mounted on the front firewall. Experienced VW hands could jam the brakes on and listen for the sloshing noise as a rough guide.

Good episode, I especially like the 'seamless' cuts between you driving and then your Dad? driving seen from the car in front? threatening the Beastie Boys "Intergalactic" dodgy car cuts supremacy. AND that is the most beautiful dashboard ever? now that's what I call minimalism (2) & I have been accused of being a minimalist architect myself I'll have you know! tar, Col

I love these

I ride in one as being a kid and that I understod how good it was, in that small car segment there where nothing like it. Small cars in general where as quirky, a stigma. I fell in love and still that I apprichiate small clever designs. I think small cars "key cars" as to be the future, it will be the only honest way in dealing with envoiremental issues. Smaller cars as driven by hybrid systems, do we actually realy need huge cars of 2-4 tonnes in weight as pulling 150- hk and in most cases as haulin one ass and a smartphone? Me driving a SUV no I do not think so.

I absolutely bloody love these cars so very, very much! I must have another one. When finances allow of course.

The Seicento of 1955 was the official replacement of the Topolino

I spotted a 500 Jolly last week, nobody seemed to recognise it (people just walked past without looking).

You may, of course, have picked this up in the course of your research, Ed - but Topolino doesn't only mean 'little mouse', but is also the Italian name for Mickey Mouse.

The 600 morphed into the 850. I had one for a year - miles better than an original mini 850

I prefer the 600 or the 126 that succeeded it

What was the red light on the left of the dash...?

"Safer than a Vespa"???? Hmmmm Thats kind of pushing it........ lol

Hi. I agree that FIAT could produce a peach of an engine but the bodywork was completely rubbish. I hav an 850 that had a fabulous engine engine but the bodywork was riddled with rust after 3 years. The floor fell out on both sides and the rest of the body was also rusty.

Well, it seems like Fiat engineers cared more about average driver needs than Sir Alec Issigonis.

I spy birchwood business park

Although fabric is cheaper than steel, I doubt a fabric sunroof is cheaper than a continuous steel roof due to its extra engineering and construction costs. Like the vid though, well done

At 14:17 am I seeing things? Who's driving?

incorrect, the ultimate city car is the fiat 126... which is a fiat 500 but with more headroom for the reas passangers