Ah, Padua Franciscan High school, in good Ol’ Parma Ohio US of A, the year was 1996, and Mr. Baziki was teaching Italian language class, and every time the #500 came up, he would tell us another story about his beloved Fiat Cinquecento (that is Fiat 500 for all yall English speaking folks) back in Italy. Most people who were not into cars would have most likely forgotten about these stories by now, but they still live in my mind. I imagined a little younger Baziki zipping through the streets of some small Italian fishing village, with his equally small Fiat. He stops beeps the horn, and a lovely Italian beauty bops down the stairs of her turn of the century home. The two of them cruise out to the countryside for a nice drive in the Italian summer…… It was a good 40 years after he drove his last Cinquecento and the fact that he was still thinking about his little Fiat really said something special about this car. Fast forward to today, and imagine all the history that this little Italian “people’s car” has. So it is no surprise that it has been on the hearts and minds of people since the unveiling of the concept, and so it goes……….

If Fiat had any concerns about its neo-retro 500 being anything other than a smash hit upon launch, the consumer response to its initial offering should alleviate them. The first 500 cars overall, aptly-named the Opening Edition, were made available on the web between April 18 and April 23.
Thousands of requests came flooding in, and according to the automaker, that batch of cars was spoken for within two hours. Trimmed out in bespoke touches by furniture designer Giulio Cappellini, the Open Edition 500s will be delivered to their new owners shortly after the car’s official debut on July 4th. We have a feeling that Fiat dealers will have wait lists a mile long once full production starts.
[Source: AutoExpress]