NF500 / 500 Design

Normally HAMANN-Motorsport is seen as a tuning company for BMW and for offering styling and tuning upgrades to luxury cars. But this time the Laupheim-based technicians have taken a break from the norm and devoted themselves to something rather unexpected, the Italian built Fiat 500.

Those clever bods at HAMANN took to the task with great enthusiasm for the cool little retro sports car and developed the new and extensive HAMANN Sportivo tuning programme. The range includes wheels, exhausts, suspension, brakes and tuning gear for the Fiat 500 range, all designed to improve style and performance for those who just couldn’t, or don’t to wait for the official Abarth 500 upgrades.

Available across the Fiat 500 range is the HM sportivo wheel, which HAMANN claim offers both improved style and fantastic handling. The matt black varnish rim in one piece has a diamond-polished outer edge and is offered in the size 7.0 x 17. HAMANN recommends matching tyres in the sizes 195/40 ZR17 or 215/35 ZR 17 by its technology partner Hankook, but we’re sure any other high end rubber will do just as well. A complete set can be yours from 1,420 €.

The HAMANN-set for lowering chassis leads to a further improvement in handling the car and ensures that the vehicle centre which is made up from four progressively spun springs is lowered by 30mm.

For the 1.4 petrol, HAMANN have prepared a sport exhaust system. The system includes a muffler (from 390 € onwards) with two round end pipes made of high-grade steel (70 mm diameter), a pre-muffler with metal catalyst and a sport fan manifold. All components can also be obtained individually.

Also for the 1.4 Fiat 500, HAMANN developed a stable sport braking system for improved stopping power. The set consists of two perforated and ventilated brake discs (diameter 280 x 28mm) at the front axle in connection with red 4-piston fixed yokes and steal flex brake lines. The back axle can be upgraded with brake discs measuring 240 mm in diameter.

For the 1.3 Diesel Fiat 500, HAMANN have joined other tuning houses in offering and ECU program upgrade, which increases power to 90 hp / 66 kW at 4,000 r.p.m. (standard: 75 hp / 55 KW) and a maximum torque of 230 Nm at 1,750 r.p.m. (standard: 145 Nm at 1,500 r.p.m.).

As for a final flourish to your HAMANN Fiat 500 make over, how about an aluminium pedal set including footrest and a car mat set with an embroidered HAMANN sportive logo?

Ever wondered what would happen if an evil wizard turned your Fiat 500 into a pasta dish, or mad genius chef backed a full size Fiat 500 meal? No? We hadn’t either, until we’d seen this Giovanni Rana special Fiat 500 display car.

According to reports, there are no plans from Fiat to bring this into full, or even limited scale production, but there’s nothing stopping you going out and recreating this look with your own Fiat 500 should you so desire.

The detailing is quite immense, the outside is shod with a wrap to appear like ciabatta bread, the headrests look like ravioli and the gear stick finishes in a giant agniolotto, pedals are formed like linguine… The list goes on!

This tasty (tasteless?) mortal was introduced recently by Mr Rana himself at a Parma food festival earlier this month. He seems delighted!

Via Repubblica

Alpine Europe have invested 1000 man hours, and no doubt quite a sum of money into developing their latest show car, based on the new Fiat 500.

The Taifun5 combines some of Alpines latest high-end in car multimedia technology with a custom built interior and MS Design Fiat 500 Cup body kit to achieve some pretty spectacular results.

While the finished article of all the money time and technology invested by Alpine on the Fiat 500 will be to everyone’s tastes is open to debate, but there’s no doubt the transformation, including complete custom dash and seating arrangement, is nothing if not dramatic.

Check out the following photos, and 10 minute video of the design and production process, for details of what Alpine multimedia gear is included in the Taifun5, check the Alpine Europe website.

Car Design News, the largest media in car design, has announced the two winners of their Car Design of the Year, the winners are:

• BMW Concept CS wins Car Design of the Year 2007 – Concept
• Fiat 500 wins Car Design of the Year 2007 – Production

For the third consecutive year, Car Design News ran an online vote for the best car designs to debut during 2007. With over a thousand responses and an international readership including more car designers than any other media, this is considered the most qualified award within the car design world – as Car Design News would have it, ‘by designers for designers’.

Awards were presented to the design team of each winning design at the Geneva Motor Show on Wednesday 5th March.

The voting in full was as follows:

Car Design of the Year 2007 – Concept:

• 1st Place: BMW Concept CS, 4794 points
• 2nd Place: Mazda Taiki. 4495 points
• 3rd Place: Citroën C-Cactus. 4115 points

Car Design of the Year 2007 – Production:

• 1st Place: Fiat 500, 4643 points
• 2nd Place: Maserati Gran Turismo. 4140 points
• 3rd Place: Audi A5. 3965 points

For the second year running Fiat group have won the production car category, this year claiming the top two places. The Fiat 500 was the clear winner, with 50% of readers giving it a top three ranking. This clear victory for the 500 is made more impressive when considering the other top five contenders were all luxury models costing far more than the baby Fiat.

Roberto Giolito, Head of Fiat Design, accepted the award together with Lorenzo Ramaciotti, Design Director of Fiat Group Automobiles.

We are really pleased to receive this award

said Ramaciotti,

it’s the second year in a row that Fiat Group have won, last year with the Alfa 8C at the top end and now the Fiat 500 at the lower end of our range and the Maserati in second place this year

At this year’s Geneva Motorshow, Italian specialist coachbuilder and tuner Caroozzeria Castagna will be showcasing their new Fiat 500 “WoodyWagon”.

The WoodyWagon is the first example of an aftermarket company considerably altering the bodywork and underpinnings of the standard 500, stretching and dressing the Fiat 500 to produce a retro futuristic station wagon version of the hit small car.

Could this give a glimpse of the official Fiat 500 Station Wagon, or Giardiniera, that Fiat are said to be planning for the year 2010?

Not in a gun toting craaaazy kind of way, more of a take a tour with a Fiat 500 and a Polaroid camera (RIP) and see what you can up with fashion.

The results are pretty cool, some we think work better than others, but beauty is, as they say, in the eye of the beholder.

Catch more examples on Maurizio Galimberti’s official website.

Geneva hosts the global premiere by Fiat Automobiles of the Concept car 500 Aria which Fiat claim furthers the exploration of new “ecological” frontiers in the automotive sector.

Manufactured on the base of the Fiat 500 – the first model in its sector with the entire range of Euro5 Ready motors – the Concept car 500 Aria adopts all the latest generation, and indeed future technology, resulting in a significant reduction of consumption and emissions. The Fiat 500 Aria has extremely low CO2 emissions, a record value of 98 g/km.

The prototype vehicle is equipped with a Diesel 1.3 16v Multijet Euro 5 powerunit (with anti-particulate DPF filter) combined with robotic Dualogic shift (distinguished by a transmission and control box with the best containment of consumption).

In addition, the 500 Aria includes a Stop&Start system, allowing the temporary switch-off of the engine and it’s subsequent ignition, typical of urban journeys. In particular, uniting the Stop&Start system and the Dualogic shift, around a 10% (urban cycle) reduction of the consumption is obtained. Fiat predict the technology used here will make it into mainstream production during 2008. So if you’re considering a diesel Fiat 500 for its eco credentials, you may be inclined to hold of a little while before pulling the trigger on your new purchase.

The prototype’s interior foresees the use of recycled materials, for example, the recycled rubber used for the floor is composed by rubber granules deriving from used tyres, bound together with polyurethane binders. The seats have been upholstered with recycled and woven leather (called “mataleather, and supplied by the Matamata company) whilst the fabrics - guaranteed by the Ecolabel brand – are in polyester and in a design similar to the raffia palm with natural whirls (supplied by the Apollo company).

“Mataleather” is born out of the re-use of leather amalgamated with natural lattice and subsequently worked in sheets like real leather. The “DNA” Braided leather (the material used on the 500 Aria) is worked on until it forms a textile of real ecological leather, composed only by natural re-used fibres.

In regards to the textiles, Ecolabel is the European eco-quality brand that rewards the best products from an ecological point of view – the whole life-cycle is taken into account – whilst maintaining at the same time high performance standards.

Lastly, some important interior components – from the samplers to climate control and the control shield, down to the panel fittings – are made in materials composed by thermoplastics and natural fibres.

One day, all mainstream cars could be made like this.