The Fiat 500, one of Italy’s best known and iconic motor cars turned 60 years old yesterday on 4 July and to commemorate this, a new postage stamp featuring the iconic vehicle has been commissioned.
One million stamps were produced and went on sale in Italy from 4 July 2017, celebrating the model that made motoring history. With a value of 0.95 Euro, the stamp features the unmistakable outline of the classic Fiat 500 superimposed on that of the now equally famous current Fiat 500.
The dark blue background with a band in the colours of the Italian flag near the top edge frames the dates 1957-2017 and the words “Fiat Nuova 500” in the same font as the 1957 advertising posters.
A fine specimen of Italian design, the car heralded a new age of mobility for countless citizens of post-War Italy. It has accompanied the economic recovery, put Italy on four wheels and was exported all over the world, so much so that today, 80% of Fiat 500 models are sold outside of Italy.
The Fiat 500 then regained cultural and automotive relevance in 2007, when the new model became popular worldwide.
Across the Atlantic, on the eastern seaboard of the United States, the original Fiat 500 was also celebrated on its 60th anniversary, as New York’s Museum of Modern Art added a 1968 Fiat 500 F ‘Berlina’, commonly known as the Cinquecentos, to its selective collection of cars.