Scanning Around With Gene: The Sex Appeal — and Bad Reputation — of the Fiat

I’m old enough to remember when Fiats were a fairly common site on American roads — not as popular as Volkswagens, but surely more numerous than, say, Peugeots or maybe even Volvos. The sedans looked like good workhorses and the sports models were, well, shapely. One of my favorite college professors had a ’70s-era 1500 Spider convertible, and it was a joy to ride in.
But on the street Fiats were notorious for being trouble — like a gold-digging gigolo — best to stay away. Because I never owned a Fiat, I do not know firsthand if this reputation was well deserved or not. In Europe Fiats are thought of as quite reliable, apparently. Surely this venerable brand has pulled its act together by now. Over the last couple of years Fiat has, in fact, established a controlling interest in America’s Chrysler Corporation. Click on any image for a larger version.



Fiat stopped selling cars in America in 1983, due to declining sales and in part to its reputation. Its reputation was so bad that the name Fiat was widely joked to stand for Fix It Again Tony or Fix It Again Today (which are, I learned, referred to as a backronyms). They seemed to rust easily, as I recall.



But now it’s 2012. Fiat is a respected auto brand with tentacles into many different countries around the world. The company has since returned to America through Chrysler dealers, and it’s introduced a pretty cute little car called the 500. I see quite a few of them on the road in the Bay Area, and expect they are a small hit. Here is the original Sixties-era Fiat 500 and the new, larger and more powerful version from 2012.



The Fiat 500 was a very popular car in Europe from 1957 to 1975. It was small and powered by a 2-cylinder engine not much bigger than that from an average motorcycle. But darn, was it cute. It’s no surprise they chose to re-introduce the model number in 2007 (now it’s only available in the United States).



Fiat prided itself on its designs and played up the “sexy” part as much as possible. One ad campaign had Fiats being the “second best shape in Italy.”


But I guess the question is, will Fiat get a second chance in America? It’s been about 30 years since the last Fiats were sold here, I realized, so I knew the company could easily re-establish itself here. People who remember Fiats — like me — are not the demographic the company is after with the new 500. This new generation won’t have a bad taste in their mouths for Fiat.



Another possible black mark on Fiat is the ill-fated Yugo (a sister vehicle from Yugoslavia based on Fiat designs), which was marketed briefly in America and became synonymous with terrible, terrible cars. It was also ugly — no sex appeal at all.


But again, the only people who remember Yugos are unlikely to buy a Fiat anyway. So yes, I think Fiat can bring its brand back and enjoy some success. The new 500s are made in Mexico at a Chrysler factory there.


Fiats were, as you can tell from the many languages represented in the ads pictured here, sold all over the world. They enjoyed particular success in Eastern Europe during the cold war.


The new Fiat television ads are once again playing off the “sexy Italian” image. I hope it works for Fiat this time around and that the cars are a little better now than they were back when.

Gene Gable has spent a lifetime in publishing, editing and the graphic arts and is currently a technology consultant and writer. He has spoken at events around the world and has written extensively on graphic design, intellectual-property rights, and publishing production in books and for magazines such as Print, U&lc, ID, Macworld, Graphic Exchange, AGI, and The Seybold Report. Gene's interest in graphic design history and letterpress printing resulted in his popular columns "Heavy Metal Madness" and "Scanning Around with Gene" here on CreativePro.com.
  • Anonymous says:

    LOL.. I owned a Yugo. paid $1500 for it.. brand new when the dealers were going out of business. The body was a piece of junk.. like it came pre-rusted. But the engine and drive-train were straight Fiat. They actually were not bad.. at all. Great on gas, but basically reliable.. as long as you had a mechanic who could work on them. One of the main problems was.. during a tune-up; adjusting the valves.. a crucial item on those high-strung little engines. All other cars adjust the valves with a screw/lock bolt set-up.. where you check the clearance with a set gauge slid between the cam (or valve lifter) and valve head. Fiat.. in their Italian wisdom used a set of shims to set the proper valve clearance. This was not a problem.. if your mechanic had the shims. 95% or so of American mechanics did not.. however. The real problem with driving a Yugo was the laughter that you got from other drivers.. :-)

    (please withhold my name to avoid more laughter)

  • Terri Stone says:

    As always, Gene, great images and commentary.

    Thanks!

    Terri Stone

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