An influx of tiny, efficient microcars might have made sense amid a post-war drive for cheap personal transport, but for BMC supremo Leonard Lord, it presented an opportunity. With the backdrop of the 1956 Suez fuel crisis upping the ante, he promptly told Alec Issigonis to drop everything and design a proper small car that would drive the “bloody awful bubble cars” off the streets.
The Mini, or the Morris Minor-Minor and Austin Seven to give it its launch titles, emerged in 1959 as a proper four-wheeled car wrapped up in city-sized package less than 10 feet long.
But it had been comprehensively beaten to the post by a diminutive Italian in the shape of Dante Giacosa’s Fiat ‘Nuova’ 500, which had already been on sale for two years and was even shorter at just over nine feet. Admittedly the earliest 500s had only two seats compared to the Mini’s four, but that was quickly remedied. Besides, the blueprint for the 500 was even older, with the four-seat Fiat 600 – itself hardly a giant at 10 feet seven inches – launched in 1955.
While Issigonis went for a revolutionary transverse front-engine layout with front-wheel drive and the gearbox in the sump, Giacosa had opted for a rear-mounted 479cc engine driving the rear wheels. The 500 arguably had an even bigger impact on Italian transport than the Mini did in the UK, with its cheap price getting many off their scooters and on to four wheels for the first time.
Of course, both cars went on to be huge successes, spawning various derivatives and hot performance models, as well as being loved by people who normally wouldn’t give two hoots about cars. They even inspired the retro-styled current-day models we now see just about everywhere. But which makes the best classic buy?"
Fiat 500 Vs Mini: Tiny Treasures:-
https://classicsworld.co.uk/guides/fiat ... treasures/
