Fiat 600

This article is about the car manufactured from 1955 to 1969. For the car manufactured from 1998 to 2010, see Fiat Seicento. For the car manufactured from 2023, see Fiat 600 (2023).

Fiat 600
Overview
ManufacturerFiat
Also calledFiat 770[1]
NSU-Fiat Jagst 600/770
Neckar Jagst 600/770
Production1955–1969 (Italy)
1955–1985 (Yugoslavia; Zastava)
1957–1973 (Spain; SEAT)
1960–1982 (Argentina; Fiat Concord / Sevel)
1979–1982 (Colombia)
AssemblyItaly: Turin
Argentina: Caseros
Australia[2]
Chile: Rancagua
Colombia: Bogotá [N 1]
Malaysia: Johor Bahru (KPKK)[3]
Spain: Barcelona (Zona Franca)
Uruguay: Montevideo (Ayax)[4]
Yugoslavia: Kragujevac [N 1]
West Germany: Heilbronn (NSU Automobil AG)
DesignerDante Giacosa
Body and chassis
ClassCity car (A)
Body style2-door saloon, 4-door mini MPV
LayoutRear-engine, rear-wheel-drive
RelatedFiat 850
SEAT 600
Zastava 750
Powertrain
Engine
  • 633 cc Tipo 100 OHV I4
  • 767 cc Tipo 100 OHV I4
  • 843 cc Tipo 100 R7.038 OHV I4 (600S)[5]
Transmission4-speed manual
Dimensions
Wheelbase2,000 mm (78.7 in)
Length3,215 mm (126.6 in)
Width1,380 mm (54.3 in)
Height1,405 mm (55.3 in)
Kerb weight585 kg (1,290 lb)
Chronology
PredecessorFiat 500 "Topolino"
SuccessorFiat 850, Fiat 127, Fiat 133

The Fiat 600 (Italian: Seicento, pronounced [ˌsɛiˈtʃɛnto]) is a small, rear-engined city car and economy family car made by Italian carmaker Fiat from 1955 to 1969 — offered in two-door fastback sedan and four-door Multipla mini MPV body styles. The 600 is considered a pop icon of the Italian economic miracle, and the three-row seating Multipla, though diminutive and odd-looking, is seen as one the first mass-produced minivans.

Measuring just 3.22 m (10 ft 7 in) long, its all-new design was Fiat's first rear-engined car, and was priced at 590,000 lire (the equivalent of about €8,680 or US$9,440 in 2023). [6] The total number produced from 1955 to 1969 at the Mirafiori plant in Turin was 2,695,197.[6]

The 1955 Fiat 600 also formed the blueprint for an even smaller sibling, the 2.97 m (9 ft 9 in) 2nd generation "Nuova" (New) Fiat 500, launched two years later – which was, although rounder in shape, largely copied from the 600's layout and design. Later, the 600's platform also formed the basis for the larger 850 saloon, coupé and spider, launched from 1964, which coexisted with the 600 in Fiats line-up for five years, until the 600 was cancelled.

During the 1950s, 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, many units were built under licence in countries such as Spain (as SEAT 600), where it became the cultural icon of the Spanish miracle and where it was nicknamed Seiscientos; Argentina, where it was nicknamed Fitito (a diminutive: "little Fiat") and former Yugoslavia where it was nicknamed Fića or Fićo (pronounced 'fee-cha' or 'fee-cho' respectively).

Fiat replaced their 500 and 600 with the 126 and 127 models, featuring much more modern, but again very similar styling, however where the 126 carried over much of the 500's underpinnings, the 127 was an all new, slightly more expensive design with a front-engine, front-wheel-drive layout, and possibly a rear hatch.[7] But in Spain, SEAT chose to develop a more affordable successor, the 1974 SEAT 133, updated with a similarly modernised body and interior, but largely reusing the Fiat 600 platform. For a while, Fiat also sold it as the Fiat 133, a cheaper alternative to the 127.

  1. ^ "Fiat 770". autos.pytalhost.eu (factory brochure). Archived from the original on 26 April 2014. Retrieved 26 September 2012.
  2. ^ Davis, Tony (1986). The Macquarie Dictionary of Motoring. p. 152.
  3. ^ "Assembly of cars: 'No more' decision". The Straits Times. 4 May 1968. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
  4. ^ World Cars 1980, page 405
  5. ^ Fiat 600S: Uso e manutencion [Fiat 600S: Use and maintenance] (PDF) (in Spanish), Buenos Aires, Argentina: Fiat Concord S.A., November 1978, 401.598-8000, archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2009
  6. ^ a b "Fiat mod. 600". museoauto.it. Museo dell'Automobile di Torino. Retrieved 27 November 2012.
  7. ^ The 127 was launched as a fastback, but through customer demand, a 127 hatchback with the same profile was also introduced.


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