If an Aperol Spritz was a car

The Fiat 500 is a strong contender for the cutest car ever made. I think it being anthropomorphised in Cars, albeit as an Italian stereotype with a short fuse, certainly helped add some charm in my eyes. But even despite this, there’s something about how smol and round and bubbly it is with its two perfectly-spherical headlights up front that just make me go "awww 🥹"

I can only imagine that sauntering along the Italian coast in the 50s and 60s was as magical as it’s made to seem in the black and white stock photos you find adorning cafe walls trying to inject a bit of vintage Italy into their otherwise stale atmospheres.

Throughout its 18 year lifespan, the Fiat 500 remained fairly unchanged. There were of course some changes, and adjacent models like bread vans and panel vans, as well as derivatives like the 695 by Abarth, but the fundamental design was pretty untouched.

One of these derivatives was the Fiat 500 Jolly Ghia. It was designed by an Italian coach builder called Carrozzeria Ghia, inspired by the Fiat 600 Jolly (I should note at this point that "Jolly" is such a perfect name for this car). The Jolly Ghia just screams European summer, French Riviera and Aperol Spritz.

The Fiat 500 Jolly Ghia is completely open-air, has no doors, wicker seats and an optional striped canopy roof. Just imagine cruising in this little thing all the way down to the beach, popping up the canopy to shade yourself from the Italian sun and pulling out your wicker hamper full of fresh breads and olives. It’s perfect. A dream.

I’m of course romanticising things, making assumptions about the past and am certainly being influenced by a 'retro is cool' attitude. But, much like that first sip of an Aperol Spritz at a beachside bar in southern Europe, I can’t help but imagine that the Fiat 500 Jolly Ghia just hit the spot in a way that nothing else could

And as a little bonus for making it this far, let me show you the Fiat 500 Offshore. Yes, a modern Fiat 500 shell with a 100hp outboard motor *chefs kiss*

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This post is part of my # WeblogPoMo2024 series. You can see the rest of the blogs in this series here