The Fiat 500 from 2007
This charismatic little car has truly maintained its allure over the decades and remains one of the most recognisable vehicles on our streets. From affordable practicality to quirky and fashionable - particularly with its array of bright paint colours - the Fiat 500 has moved with the times.
Currently, around 394 thousand people own a Fiat 500 in the UK, while other Fiat models only clocked up 320 thousand owners (2020 data provided by Statista). What makes it such a popular car?
Fiat - a tiny history of the biggest Italian car brand
The Fiat 500 has a healthy bloodline. Fiat Automobiles was founded in 1899 as FIAT (or Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, which literally translates as ‘Italian Automobiles Factory, Turin’). Still based in Turin, it’s been Italy’s biggest car manufacturer for around a century. Since 2021, it’s been a subsidiary of Stellantis.
Its first car was the Fiat 3 1/2 HP, which was designed and built in 1899. Since then, it’s produced a great many models including the Brava, Cinquecento, Punto, Panda, Uno, 124 Sport Spider, Fiat 500, Fiat 500X and many more.
History of the Fiat 500
This small vehicle was manufactured by Fiat Automobiles between 1957 and 1975. In its early days, it was known as the Nuova (‘new’) 500 and is arguably one of the first purpose-designed city cars. Several models were launched during this time, including the 500 F (Berlina) and the 500 R (Rinnovata).
Production ended in 1975 and the Fiat 500 was succeeded by the Fiat 126, which was in production until 2000.
The Fiat 500 from 2007
After a break of almost 30 years, the 500 was revived, in 2007, in time for the 50th anniversary of the Nuova 500's launch.
It was initially available as a hatchback coupé and a cabriolet. Its renewed popularity prompted the addition of three additional models - the 500C (Cabrio), Abarth (sport) and the 500e (electric).
Image and style of the Fiat 500 from 2007 onwards
If you’ve ever lurked around the petrolhead forums or talked about cars in the pub, you’ll know there’s some not-so-subtle snobbery around small cars like the Fiat 500. It’s compact and many of the colours are bold.
But it doesn’t pretend to be anything other than it is - affordable and fun. However, there are subtler paint colours available for a more grown-up look too - the Fiat 500 offers something for everyone.
The look and feel of the 2007 Fiat 500 is reminiscent of the 1957 Nuova 500. Externally, the modern paint palette is limited, but this gives an impression of exclusivity. This couldn’t actually be further from the truth - the names of the car paints for the 500 show how there is something suitable for every taste (see below).
Internally, there’s a similarly limited choice of trim levels too. But this just reminds us that the Fiat 500’s raison d’être is affordability - if we want the luxury of choice, we need to choose one of the bigger models.
In 2016, the 500 and the 500C got a facelift - updated and restyled elements (inside and out) including grille, headlights with LED, alloy wheels, new paint colours, rear bumper and rear tail-lights, and a redesigned steering wheel.
Fiat 500 car paint colours
You can often tell the personality of the car you’re buying by the names of the paints. It’s a small thing that often goes unnoticed, but a marketing department has probably spent a lot of time thinking about the car paint names!
The modern (post-2007) Fiat 500 has a small but potent palette of car paint colours available. Car paint is normally visible on just the exterior of the car, but in the case of the Fiat 500, there’s some statement, same-colour interior paintwork visible.
- Bossa Nova White (a dance popular in the 50s and 60s)
- Pasadoble Red (misspelling of another dance)
- Sicilian Orange (for that holiday feeling)
- Crossover Black (wearing the colours of a bigger car)
- Dew Green (fresh and new)
- Electroclash Grey (a fusion of 80s and 90s electronic dance music)
- Epic Blue (heroic or grand)
Other colours are available throughout the different models of the Fiat 500. The La Prima Fiat 500 by Bocelli comes in Ocean Green, Celestial Blue, Mineral Grey, Rose Gold and Onyx Black.
Fiat 500 car touch up paint
Car paint for the 500 (or any other model of Fiat) is available in all the colours listed above, plus any manufacturer discontinued paint colours or limited editions.
PaintNuts can mix all these colours for colour match touch up car paint, available as a high precision pen, bottle and brush or car spray paint/aerosol. Just look up your colour code using your car reg, and off you go.