NF500 / 500 Wagon

Auto Express, among others, are running some mock-ups produced by future vehicle imagineer extraordinaire Poblete.

Not much we can add really, as it’s pure speculation, but see what their scribe managed to twin with the images on the Auto Express website.

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?

Auto Express are at it again with their crystal ball gazing, predicting the complete line up which they claim will form the Fiat 500 family.

From our experience, future predictions in Auto Express are to be taken with a fairly large chunk of salt, but none the less as one of the UKs leading publications it’s taken quite seriously by a fair few readers.

This week they’re carrying an article claiming an exclusive on the Fiat 500 family.  Nothing new in the text for 500 watchers, but they have had photoshop artist Poblete, who has a good reputation for the quality of his guesstimations, to have a stab at visualising the Convertible, Wagon and Abarth version of the Fiat 500.

You can read the full article and see the pictures on the Auto Express website.

CWW Cardesign, who specialise in creating imaginative Photoshop interpretations of rumoured, planned and fantasy future vehicles have conjured up these images of a new Fiat 500 Giardinetta Station Wagon.

The images have been created from Fiat’s official photos of the new 500, and show a stretched wheel base Station Wagon concept.  Which is not so far fetched considering it is rumoured that Fiat will decide by the end of 2007 if they will pursue Station Wagon and SUV derivatives of the new 500, most likely based on the Panda’s AWD platform.

Fiat have revealed they are now seriously considering how best to expand the Fiat 500 family, following a rapturous reception from the public and a vast majority of motoring media alike.

Of course, beyond the three engine types offered for the new Fiat 500, a hot new Abarth version will be unveiled to the public at the Tokyo Motorshow later this year, and a Cabriolet is already under development to be premièred next year. Although it remains to be seen if the 500 Cabrio will sport a full cabriolet soft top, or perhaps be more like the traditional 500, with a full length canvas roof peeling back, leaving the side-pillars and cross section in place.

Beyond these variants, Fiat will decide “by the end of the year” on how viable SUV and Wagon versions of the new 500 would be. Fiat has indeed already shown a station wagon concept, which appeared in a video shown at the 500’s media introduction last week. Like the original 500 Giardiniera launched in 1960, the new model concept shown in the video was a three-door wagon.

So the Fiat 500 family could quite possibly end up consisting of the hatchback, including Abarth and 155 hp Abarth Super Sport, Cabriolet, Station Wagon and SUV.

The SUV could potentially utilise the body of the station wagon, and AWD system from the Fiat Panda.

Yet talk of all these future possible configurations feels somewhat premature, as demand for the hatchback alone as exceeded all expectations, with Fiat Automobiles CEO Luca De Meo telling Auto News Europe

If Italian orders continue at this pace, we might delay the new 500 introduction outside Italy.