Vintage Fiat 500 tours Florence/Tuscany

Over 1,85m (6'1'') is going to be increasingly uncomfortable, but I've had friends at 1,90m (6'3'') driving an old 500 (vintage). Not ideal but doable. I don't think you can be over 1,95 without getting your legs stuck and hitting your head on the roof. But I've never personally known anybody at 2m, no matter what car they drove.

It does kinda sound a bit like torture at 6'7".

I've never been in an old Fiat 500 but I've been around them at shows. They are really small. How many miles are you intending to do? Doing any sort of milage would be tough for someone that height I think. Really, really uncomfortable, bordering on the dangerous if you were to be really picky about it, but maybe worth putting up with if you really want to do it in an old interesting car. It's probably going to be a pretty scary prospect on the Autostrada with two full size people aboard. You'd be maxing out at about 80km/h, less on hills.

I'm 6'3 and my closest experience is daily driving a 1979 Mini. That gave me a bad back and a bruise on my elbow from knocking on the door card all the time while I was driving it. I also drove a Miata for a couple of years and I'm too tall for it too. My head would be up in the airflow by a couple of inches with the top down, which got pretty chilly on a cold winter's night. I still loved driving it and did it anyway which may be the story with you too. I'm about 6'3", not 6'7" though.

He might be OK in the passenger seat, where the steering wheel won't get in the way of his legs, which will probably be bent. There is lots of headroom in those, though, I think. I'm not sure his size 15(?) feet could work three pedals, either. Ask around and see if your friends know anyone with one of these cars and ask for a "test sit."

I don’t think this is the best idea, but maybe they have a convertible one and he can ride with his head out the top? ;-)

My wife says if you do this you better be very nice to that man.

@ Primary

Last century, 70’s, in Perth my father bought my sister a new one of these snails. She could not drive it. She preferred to abscond with my Austin Healey 3000. Left me with the Fiat Bambino. Gutless heap. But I loved it. Needed to rev the engine to death. Could thrash it to within a millimetre of its life and it would come back for more.

They have a canvas sunroof that is manually pushed back. Stick your head up. Passenger could stand up with their head out through the open sunroof and harangue other drivers. In a fun way of course. I remember the skinny seat could be pushed back till it touched the back seat. The seats have no padding to speak off. Basically, a two-person car. Could be a little tricky if it rains. Though the canvas sunroof started to leak even before it rained.

With the sunroof open could carry three or four surf boards sticking up. On a number of occasions pulled over by the cops to question whether the boards were secured properly. They ended up just laughing at us. Parking at the beach was easy, just drove into the sand until resistance stopped the car. After surfing there was always a bunch of blokes willing to help pick up the Bambino and carry it back to the road with a gaggle of sheila’s laughing at the manoeuvre. A fun time. A great bird magnet.

The 5-speed manual gearbox is the tricky bit. It does not have synchromesh on any gears, including reverse. It requires a technique known as double declutching. A standard technique employed in the old days when changing down gears on manual racing cars. As long as your husband knows how to do this, you will have a fun time.

Regards
Ron

I am old enough to have driven the original 500 (well, the second revision of the model) and my late mother, grandfather and paternal aunt each owned one of them, so I guess I have spent more time in 500s than most of you. I would not recommend it to a very tall person, and the back seats are more for children than for adults. The clutch is not a big problem if you already know how to drive a manual, as it is still common in Italy. What eludes me, driving a 500 would really be so entertaining? The memory of slow and cramped travel (it was already slow and cramped 50 years ago) is always with me. I would spend my time touring on a modern car.

It does not have synchromesh on any gears

I did not know this and Googled to check. Ooft. It was made right up until the end of production in 1975 with a crash gearbox. Being the OP's driver's height and and doing twice the work on the clutch doesn't sound fun. You can get away with it on the way up if you match revs, but you have to do it on the way down. I haven't driven a car with no synchros, but a I drove a high mileage Saab with very worn synchros for a while.

I'd imagine there's a good chance one which is going out as a rental will have a later engine and gearbox in it. I think a swap from a Fiat 126 is common iirc.

@ Primary. I was hoping you would give some feedback.

This is the website for the Toronto Chapter of the Fiat Club of America. https://fiatclubamerica.com/content.aspx?page_id=22&club_id=152684&module_id=712793

Middle-aged blokes who are trending toward insane on the car spectrum. Just like me. Scrolling down shows a goodly number of 500’s.

If you have time give them a ring. Without doubt they will fall over themselves to help you. Show their cars so you can actually feel the interior and try out the seating positions. I would be surprised and disappointed if they did not offer driving lesson to ensure you could manage the tricky gear changes.

This business offers other cars from around the same time period and arguable more comfortable to dive. https://www.happyrent.com/en/vintage-car-rental-old-car-rental-italy/car-rental-florence-siena-tuscany-3.html

A couple of them group B and C have Ferrari sourced engines if you ever dreamt of driving a Ferrari.

I know a little about most of these cars. If you think there maybe another alternative in this lot, I should be able to tell you about them. The blokes in the Toronto Club will be all over them.

@ Gerry. I presume you know that SAAB will always be associated with architects who are on the rather boring scale. My geologist mates and I are planning to catch a test match or three during the Ashes next year, between time in Greenland. Pity Old Trafford will not be in use this series. Might be able to catch up with you.

Kind Regards
Ron

As much as I remember driving my grandfather's 500 (by the time I got a driving license, my mother had already changed to a Diane), the the dreaded clutch was not so terrible. You had to be aware of the "doppietta" (stay in neutral, turn up a little the motor from the gas pedal and then move to the higher gear), but it was not always necessary, and to persons trained on manual clutch it was manageable. You should have a feeling for the manual transmission, of course. As much as I remember the motor was started not from the ignition key but from a small lever.

This business offers other cars from around the same time period and arguable more comfortable to dive.

They have some great cars. Things that wouldn't be as punishing as a Cinquecento. I think my choice would be the '65 Lancia Flavia, one of their Fiat 124 Spiders or the jewel of their collection, the '62 Giulia. I can see why that is in the top category. They're all probably going to be a bit small for someone of 6'7". Italian cars aren't really designed for people that height. Some real gems behind that link though.

I presume you know that SAAB will always be associated with architects who are on the rather boring scale.

Yes. I think they appeal (appealed) to people who like design in general. I always liked how Saabs looked right since I was a child, and the function is key too. I think I owned about twenty between all the various models, including some which never made the road. Double declutching made me think of the 900 Turbo. The 900 Turbo gearboxes were never strong enough for the torque so the high mileage cars I owned all had gearbox issues or whines.

and of course it was also SAAB who came up with the cunning plan to have a three cylinder two cycle engine in their car. Long nose, no power.

and yet they could make rally cars that would really go.

any fellow petrol heads?

Was just about to say there's a goodly lot of petrolheads on here! My daily is a "neo-vintage" 911. The Germans designed even their little cars for tall blokes as 2m was never as uncommon there as it was in Italy. Clarkson is 6ft5 and he managed to shoehorn himself into a raft of little cars including at least one vintage 500, but a) he wasn't in them for long, and b) he was paid handsomely for enduring it.

Also, Italy is hot in the summer these days and that car won't have aircon. But by far the most massive concern I'd have driving a vintage 500 today is the disparity in power, handling and braking compared to the modern cars with whom you'll share the road. Personally I wouldn't drive an old 500 or its ilk (Mini, Renault Dauphine, even a Beetle) apart from a closed track or residential streets unless it's been kitted with a bigger motor, disc brakes and some suspension mods aimed at keeping all 4 wheels planted on the road in an evasive manoeuver. If you insist on hiring one just remember to allow plenty of room between you and the car ahead as that 500 can't stop, go or steer like your modern daily to which your muscle memory has become accustomed.

if on the other hand you could stand driving a French car instead, similar vintage, you could get one that would fit any height person comfortably, well reasonably comfortably, and would be able to drive across a field without breaking any eggs. 2 CV, commonly called a deux cheveux

oh and it is similarly underpowered