Start with what the Fiat 509 is: a 2/4-door sedan / 2/4-door cabriolet / 2-door spyder with 990 , built from 1924 to 1929, the vintage years, when coachbuilders still shaped most of what was sold. What it meant takes a little longer. 92,514 were built.
How it came about
The Fiat 509 was a model of car produced by Italian automotive manufacturer Fiat between 1925 and 1929 as a replacement for the 501. Approximately 90,000 of the model were sold. In 1926 the car was upgraded to the 509A. For 1928, the 509 was offered with standard insurance, also. In addition to as the standard car, there were 509S and 509SM sports models, as well as taxi and commercial versions.
The hardware
The engine is 990 . On the scales it comes to 650 kg-800 kg. Drive goes through a 3-speed manual. The layout matters: a front engine drives the rear wheels, the classic proportion — long bonnet, cabin set back — that most people picture when they picture a sports saloon or a grand tourer. The wheelbase is 255 cm. These are manufacturer figures carried by Wikipedia and Wikidata, not road-test measurements.
Family and rivals
In the Fiat line-up the Fiat 509 has a clear place: it replaced the Fiat 501; it handed the line to the Fiat 508. The cars a buyer would have weighed it against include the Bugatti Type 35, the Packard Eight, the Chrysler Six. Its Fiat stablemates include the FIAT 702 and the Fiat 1.
Owning one today
There is no federal ownership record for the Fiat 509 — it predates the complaint database or was never sold in the United States — so MotorJury publishes no running-cost figure for it. For a car of this age the price is set by the collector market and the condition of the individual example, not by a formula.