Start with what the Fiat 500 is: a 2-door Sedan (automobile) / saloon / 2-door semi-convertible / 3-door Station wagon / estate ('Giardiniera') / 3-door panel van with 479 , built from 1957 to 1975, at the height of the post-war boom. What it meant takes a little longer. The shape is credited to Dante Giacosa.
Where it came from
The Fiat 500 (Italian: Cinquecento, pronounced [ˌtʃiŋkweˈtʃɛnto]) is an economy / city car that was manufactured and marketed by Fiat Automobiles from 1957 until 1975. It was sold as a two-door semi-convertible or saloon car and as a three-door panel van or estate car. Launched as the Nuova (new) 500 in July 1957, as a successor to the 500 "Topolino", it was an inexpensive and practical small car.
Measuring 2,970 mm (9 ft 9 in) long, originally powered by a rear-mounted 479 cc two-cylinder air-cooled engine, the 500 was 245 mm (9.6 in) smaller than the Fiat's 600, launched two years earlier, and is considered one of the first purpose-designed city cars. In 1959, Dante Giacosa received a Compasso d'Oro industrial design prize for the Fiat 500. This marked the first time a Compasso d’Oro was awarded to an automotive manufacturer.
Under the skin
The engine is 479 other versions carried different engines, listed in the specification table below. On the scales it comes to 499 kg. Drive goes through a 4-speed manual (non-synchronous). The layout matters: the engine hangs behind the rear axle, a layout that gives ferocious traction out of a corner and a reputation to match on the way in. The wheelbase is 1840 mm / 1940 mm (Giardiniera). These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
In context
In the Fiat line-up the Fiat 500 has a clear place: it replaced the Fiat 500 "Topolino"; it handed the line to the Fiat 126 / Fiat 500 (2007); the factory was Turin. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Nissan Skyline, the Nissan Patrol, the Dodge Challenger. Nearby in the Fiat catalogue sit the FIAT 702 and the Fiat 1.
Owning one today
MotorJury scores cars on the United States complaint and recall record, and the Fiat 500 has none: too old, too rare, or never sold there. Its value today is a collector's question, decided by provenance and condition rather than by a class average.