Fiat

Bellissimo! Bella! Cinquecento 500!

In life you will see a zillion faces, one of which you will fall in love with.

Why? Heaven knows. There will be one face in your life that will make your neurons go off like a cracker, “bang!” If you walk past it, expect your head to turn and “watch out!” you may just bump into something. Now what on earth is this “head-turn-ability” that some faces are born with, or, in the case of an object, designed with?

One night, some 30 years ago, somewhere in Benoni, a certain Mr & Ms Theron loved each other very much. So much so, that in that divine act of procreation, a little girl was born. They called her Charlize, and today her face is worth billions. They did not know what they have wrought – yet it was an Oscar winning achievement.

Neither did Ferdinand Porsche realise, when he drew that little beetle face on the people’s car on order from the Reichsmeister, that he has just designed the most memorable shape any car will ever have. Maybe he thought, “Ach, das ist cute!”  But we’ll never know. I surmise it must have been a moment as glorious as the Theron’s experience.

Of the gazillion faces and  products that will be touched, used, loved and looked at in our lives, only a handful will ignite our neurons to create waves of acceptance and of desirability and of likeability. Waves so strong they will be stored in our memory bank, and like a good wine, they will just get better as time goes by.

Let’s face it, it takes a little more than a lucky DNA string, to design an object that will not only stand the test of time, but touch us so deep in our souls that we will cherish it forever … like the 1956 Fiat 500 has done. The Nuova Cinquecento!

Feed the Neurons Baby!

Dante Giancosa designed this little car for Fabrico Italiano Automobilo Torino. It was created to save the company and to give every Italian a set of wheels. Much rode on the back of this bambino. Now 50 years later, after producing 17 million Fiat 500s over 22 years, thousands of them
are still buzzing around: the Fiat 500 story has become a legend.

Even the scribe of this exultation for Dossier, owned not one, but two 500’s! (And will gladly trade his 4 litre bakkie for one!) My pen is filled with fondest memories.

Back to the hand that penned this wonderful little vehicle, and my theory of “it’s all in the neurons!” Giancosa grew up in a typical Italian town; imagine this child walking to school every morning along the vias glorifica of his town, buildings designed and built during the renaissance, the greatest enlightening period on earth, his young eyes feasting on the façades, sculptures and stained glass windows as he strolls along. The bells in the towers ringing him on as he goes. His neurons feeding on the handicrafts of the best craftsmen in Italy, it created in the young master a fountainhead that would flow with great designs. His mind was being wired for beauty and golden proportions. He had to succeed.

Ciao Cinquecento! Circa1960

I was studying architecture in Pretoria when my father bought me my 500 Cinquecento. When I drove that little car out of the showroom I could never have imagined the wondrous times and journeys it would take me along. I courted my future wife in it. A famous artist once looked through the sunroof at me to give me a one liner that changed my life forever, “drop architecture” Ernest Ullmann said, “go to art school.” I followed the wise man’s advice and the rest is history.

Can you believe that 3 of us drove all the way to the north of (then) Rhodesia with it? Three crazy young people on two little pistons! On strip roads! With a petrol tank that barely holds a bucket full! No petrol gauge, just a lever you turn when it gasps for fuel! Caught behind a huge truck on the way, we had to bombard it with oranges through the open top to get the drivers attention to let us pass! 500 adventures of all kinds.

Ciao Nuova Cinquecento 2008!

Today, after 50 years, the Fiat 500 is back. Its happy little face must have haunted Fiat designers through all these years, trying to design a new model that would have the character and cheeky obstinacy of the original Nuova. Maybe it was the last straw when world champion Ferrari driver Michael Schumacher was seen tooling around in his 500. With that they finally threw in the towel.

Volkswagen was the first auto company, with the new Beetle, to draw from the DNA of past classics, as an antidote against today’s bland designs. The Ford Mustang is another good example, and BMW’s Mini proved just how great an impact a classic design has in today’s marketplace.

And “Hello!” it really is! This new Nuova Cinquecento is a Pandora’s Box of funky, fabulous design. It’s as fresh and perky as just ground espresso. From the outside its 50’s DNA genes are obvious, once behind the wheel you’re surrounded by the magic of Italian design, the kind that says, “Buonisimo!” and in olde English, “mamamia!”

We’re going to pay a premium for this new Fiat 500, but that won’t stop us. Matter of fact, it’s kind of nice to pay a little bit extra for something special.

When 500 becomes 1400!

It’s when you turn the key that you know this is a new millennium 500! Those 13 horses of the old 500 have become a galloping 91 horses in the new 500! The old 500 basics have morphed into state of the art engineering as if a huge computer hand has swooshed it into the 21st century. Oh man! It’s like seeing your wife of 50 years turn into the chick you fell for as teenager! For you guys who weren’t around then, (and that’s about all you Dossier readers!) that’s like seeing Brigitte Bardot in a 60’s film. They don’t make girls like they used to, and they can’t do what the automakers are doing!

Now, that all of us have to drive smaller more fuel efficient cars, we can only thank our lucky stars that classics from the past are remade and reengineered for the present. The computer has a nasty way to design cars that all look like clones of each other, it’s time someone takes their computer for a walk down the Via Veneto, or the sit it down for a Campari at the Duomo in Milano. Let it live a little!

The great product designs of yesteryear touches places and strokes egos where today’s advanced technology can’t reach, the new Fiat 500 gives us the best of both worlds, beautifully engineered machines crafted in classic lines.

In 1938 a young Spanish debonair landed his biplane on the Champs-Élysées to order a wrist watch from Louis Cartier – the very first wrist watch ever, as he wanted to fly and see the time without reaching for his pocket! Today that design is also a classic. It’s a wonderful way to salute the great designers; it’s a wonderful way to look at the time and to drive to the mall.

Let’s also hope the new 500 is an inspiration to all young designers to be brave and different and bold. Let’s fill the earth with beautifully designed products, if we can’t all live in the Renaissance cities of Italy, let’s at least drive in the Renaissance autos of today! That way we will inspire the neurons of a whole new generation of designers.

Grazie Fiat! Lunga vita bei disegni! Grazie

Roberto Giolito (by the way, Robert, who designed the new 500 has been promoted to Head of Fiat Design!)

Ciao Cinquecento! Take me for a ride!

*Louis Wilsenach writes & paints and raises funds for Children in Need. He’s married to his high school girlfriend, father of two, Opi of two, and Dad of two adopted black boys.