Today’s car is a 1937 Fiat 500 Topolino 2 door convertible saloon. In the 1930s the Fiat 500 was then the smallest 4-cylinder car to ever go into mass production. Topolino means “Little Mouse” in Italian, but it owed it’s name to Walt Disney’s Mickey Mouse. The Italians were enamored with Mickey Mouse at the time and called him Topolino. This car is finished in Porsche India Red with a tasteful set of Flames. The interior is finished in Black with Gray Tweed seats and a Black cloth convertible top (a saloon with folding roof). This car is owned by Richard Tupper and I saw it at The Zimmerman Automobile Driving Museum Gasser Show in El Segundo, CA. It is powered by Chevy 383 Stroker producing 395 hp and transfers that power through a GM 3 – speed automatic transmission. Delivering that power to the rear wheels through a 3.73 t0 1 rear end.
The Fiat 500 Model A was produced between 1937 through 1948. It was originally equipped with a 569 cc four-cylinder, side-valve, water-cooled engine mounted in front of the front axle. The radiator was located behind the engine which made for the lowered aerodynamic nose profile. The horsepower of about 13 hp, its top speed was around 53 mph, and it could achieve about 47 mpg. Nearly 520,000 Fiats were sold during 1936–1955.
This is a great car and a packaging engineers dream. You know putting 10 pounds of stuff in a 5 pound bag. This is a great bit of engineering, a real pleasure to look at, and fast too. Thanks for traveling along. Frank
