1972 FIAT 500 R/Rinnovata 0.6L 4MT (18 HP)

Vehicle Overview

It was time to say goodbye to the beloved Fiat 500, but the Italian manufacturer did that in style with the last version, named Rinnovata.

Maybe the 500 was not the car that saved Fiat, but it surely helped it grow on a market where the running costs were important, and it did it with a charming look and an interior fit for two adults and two kids in the back. The rear engine construction helped the car to turn on a dime and handle well.

After the rear-hinged doors were banned from production, Fiat changed them with front-hinged ones (regular), which brought some critics from its customers. The Rinnovata, or R, was built with the same front fascia as the D model, with a simple chromed bumper at the front. Above that, on the fenders, the carmaker installed a set of simple, round, turn-signals. The 500 R was easy to recognize from other models since it didn’t feature a chromed badge on the front panel.

The interior was carried over from the L-version (Lusso – Luxury) with vinyl covered seats and a small tray in front of the floor-mounted gear-stick. There were pockets on the doors and vinyl-covered door panels.

Fiat installed a bigger engine in the back, which was used in the larger Fiat 126. Unfortunately, it kept the same 4-speed un-synchromesh gearbox from its predecessors.