1936 Topolino.
Fiat's alliance with Chrysler might have some North American car buyers thinking they'll soon be able to walk into their local dealership and find parked between the Dodge Ram Hemi pickups, Jeep Wrangler 4x4s and Chrysler Town & Country minivans exotic makes such as Alfa Romeo, Lancia, Maserati and even perhaps Ferrari - all brands the Italian auto maker owns.
Reality is a little different. The first Italian car due to appear in those showrooms - reportedly within the year - currently wears a Fiat badge and represents a line of tiny basic transportation devices stretching back to the 1930s and a cheap and cheerful model called the Fiat 500 or more affectionately "Topolino" or "Little Mouse."
Take a look at the tiny cars that were the foundation for an iconic Italian auto empire
How these tiny cars will affect Chrysler's North American future remains open to question, although they'll likely find buyers among small-car-conscious Canadians, but they've long been a cultural icon in their homeland.
The first Fiat 500 was introduced in 1936 - a diminutive two-seater designed by famed Fiat designer Dante Giacosa with appealing perkiness, a 596 cc four-cylinder engine and four speed gearbox that gave it a top speed of 85 km/h and fuel economy of 6.0 L/100 km. Today, they're collector cars with Canada's RM Auctions recently dropping the hammer on one for $22,000 (U.S). You can also buy a lightweight fibreglass replica Topolino body for your altered-coupe drag racer project.
More than half a million of the originals were built (production resumed after the war) until it was replaced by the somewhat larger and certainly more modern Fiat 600 in 1955.
Italians, like other Europeans were keen to get back on the road following the Second World War, but with resources of all kinds limited, motorized bicycles, mopeds, scooters and very small automobiles were all most could aspire to.
The Fait 600, also a Giacosa inspiration, was the company's first modern times mini-car with a rear engine and rear drive and was 3,220 mm long or about 605 mm shorter than a Toyota Yaris hatchback. The "Seicento" was produced from 1955-1969 and 2.6 million were made. It was also produced in Spain and Yugoslavia.
But even while the Fiat 600 was being penned, Giacosa (who joined Fiat in the 1920s as a newly hatched designer and left in 1970 a legend), was eyeing something smaller and simpler.
"I put people to work on a minimalist car, even smaller and more economical," he later recalled. "Italians wanted cars and were willing to make do with even less pace as long as it was on four wheels. No matter how small, a car would still be more comfortable than a scooter, particularly in winter and rain."
The result was the Nuova (new) Fiat 500 in 1957.
The car certainly met Giacosa's "minimalist" target being just 2,970 mm in length or 255 mm less than the Fiat 600 and weighing 470 kilograms. Its two rear-hinged "suicide" style doors opened to a Spartan two-seater interior (there was just a platform in the rear) with a roll-back cloth top, non-automatic wipers and a canvas bag of tools.
Suspension was independent all round with drum brakes and the engine was a 479 cc, air-cooled, four-stroke twin that produced just 13 hp, which got to the rear wheels via a four-speed gearbox. Top speed was 85 km/h and fuel economy 4.5 L/100 km.
It was soon discovered that too many potential customers decided they'd rather save money and risk getting wet on scooters than pay for the minimal luxury offered by the 500. And at 465,000 Lira it only cost 125,000 Lira less than the bigger and better equipped 600.
Within months, Fiat upped the 500's game with two new models, the Normale and the Economica, both of which actually had more equipment - including "real" rear seats, some dress-up chrome and two more horsepower - for another 25,000 Lira.
Naturally it didn't take long for a Sport version to appear. The 1958 Sport featured a tin top and a 499 cc engine with 21.5 hp that gave it a top speed of 105 km/h. An open roof Sport arrived in 1959 and a year later a station wagon version called the Gardiniera with a 100 mm longer wheelbase and its 17.5 hp engine tipped on its side under the rear load floor. The "D" series was also introduced in 1960 with 17.5 hp, 499 cc engine and minor mechanical and styling changes.
Bigger changes came in 1965 with the "F" model, which now sported front-hinged doors and improvements to the driveline, plus an additional half horsepower.
What were essentially tarted up versions of the 500, called the Bianchina and the Panoramica, were also built by Italy's Autobianchi in the 1950s and '60s. Austrian firm Puch also made a version.
And then there were the "tuner cars" of renowned Fiat modifier and transplanted Austrian Carlo Abarth. His first modified "cinquecento" was shown at the '57 Turin car show (with power upped from 13 to 20 hp) and other mods, alongside a joint effort coupe created with the Pinninfarina design studio. Abarth later worked with Zagato to create the 500GT. And Abarth's 595 Saloon of the mid-60s, with 30 hp, was described as "a bullet."
Coachbuilders Vignale created a neat little version called the Gamine and Fissore tried its hand with an off-roader called the 500 Ranger.
The swan song model of this Italian mini-classic was the Lusso of 1968, which Fiat literature says addressed a need for a more "customized and luxurious" 500. It came with chrome "nerf" bars up front and rear bumpers, additional chrome trim, radial tires and inside a redesigned steering wheel and better upholstered seats.
The Lusso lasted until 1972 when the 500's replacement the Fiat 126 was launched. The sole remaining 500 model, continued to serve a persistent demand, was called the Rinnovata (renewed) and built until 1975. A total of 3,893,294 of this middle-generation Fiat 500 - that did so much for Fiat and put Italy on four wheels - were built in its 18-year lifespan.