Fiat 500 Trip

I'm not sure if you really meant a 'vintage' Fiat Cinquecento from the old days (1957-1974), or the new Fiat 500 (2007- present), which is the modern car that is designed like a 'vintage' 500, but a very modern car.

If it's truly a 'vintage' car from the 1960's/early 1970's, the car is much smaller, the trunk (if you can call it that) is in the front while the engine is in the back. The cooling system is not a cooling liquid, but air, and the engine is likely to heat up in very steep hills. The power is very low, because the car had only 2 cylinders with a total displacement of, you guessed it, 500 cc (479cc to be exact, or 499cc in the 'Sport' model).

But the thing you should know is that the car had an unsynchronized gear box mesh, therefore in order to change gears, you need to become familiar with the 'double clutching' technique ('doppietta' in Italian). The way to do it is by depressing the clutch once, to disengage the gear and place in neutral, then depressing again and engage the gear. The movement takes place in a very short time. It took me a few tries to learn it with my dad as my teacher (he used to drive city buses in Florence at the time, so he was a good teacher since the old buses were also unsynchronized). Read about it and test your skills on a manual transmission car before you go. Failing to double clutch will result in 'grinding' the gears ('grattare' in Italian).

Hi Roberto,

Thanks for replying. This is the website I'm looking at: http://www.500touringclub.com/hire.php

It does mention double clutching, so maybe it is a vintage car? Regardless, the website says we can't drive over 100km/day. Any recommendations on where we could go and what we could do/see?

Thanks!

Jana

Take a drive down SR222 to Panzano. Beautiful Tuscan countryside with wineries all along the way. Plus "The Mad Butcher of Panzano": https://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g635878-d1427138-r165501511-Mac_Dario-Panzano_in_Chianti_Greve_in_Chianti_Tuscany.html

Wow. $250/day to rent one of those old Fiat 500!! I should have kept my cousin's old 500. Or I could have rented my Fiat850 for even more.

Based on what I see in the website the pick up point is on via Silvani, at the Galluzzo (some of my relatives lived down the street from it). So Jim's suggestion is a good one. They don't allow those cars in the freeway, so from there you should go toward Impruneta, that's a nice little town. Then from there you could go toward Strada in Chianti and get on the Via Chiantigiana (SR222) through Greve, Panzano all the way to Castellina. At that point you'd come back through San Donato, la Sambuca, till you hit the Via Cassia (SR2) through Bargino, San Casciano, Tavarnuzze, and back to Galluzzo. I think you'd be staying under 100km that way.
San Gimignano would be a nice detour, but I don't think you'd stay within the 100km if you also go there.

Do you know how to 'double clutch'? Or at least drive the stick?
As I said to down shift from 4th to 3rd, for example you depress the clutch, put from 4th to neutral, release the clutch while simultaneously quickly hit the accelerator (while in neutral), depress clutch again, engage 3rd gear, release clutch. Everything is done in a fraction of a second. It requires a bit of coordination of your feet.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jum03Ld62NU

hahaha

My parents had a 600, just like a 500 but completely unsuited to New York City or Vermont.

Memories of putting a raincoat over the engine whenever we parked and my Dad forgetting to take it out one day with associated flames.

My my.

Better not be tall or wide. Better not be heavy. Will one of you be able to push on the hills? When they say it tops out at 70 kph that's ambitious.

$250 eh?

Thanks for the replies! I have some ideas about where to go now. Still debating about whether or not to book and spend a whole day touring around.

Thanks again for everyone's help!

Don't worry, Wonderful.

I have nothing but good memories about ours, even the fire and the dent in the back after we got on some ice and the heavy back (where the engine is) swapped ends with the light front and the car went into the retainer.

I have a model of a second version of the 500 in my living room, and my ambition one day is to drive one from Rome back to my home in England. Got to have an old Roma number plate though.

My cousin told me that the old 500 was blessed by the pope, because its too small for any kind of sinning to occur inside.

My cousin's wife had one of the Messerschmitts. Some ride.

Then there were the bubble cars....