Fiat 600 car range and history 

Vehicle technical details
Manufacturer:	Fiat
Production:	1955  to 1969
Class:	Small car
Designer:	Dante Giacosa
Total production:	2 695 197
Assembly plants:	worldwide
Top speed:	96.25  km / h
Also called:	SEAT 600,Zastava 600 , 600 Kombi ,750 and 850
Body and chassis
Body styles:	Sedan
Doors:	2 door
Chassis/body:	steel
Engine and Powertrain
Drive:	rear
Engine Type:	4- cylinder in-line
Displacement:	633  cm³
Engine location:	rear
Engine power:	21-29 hp
Transmission:	4 speed
Cooling:	liquid cooled
Brakes:	front: drum  / rear: drum
Fuel supply:	Weber 22 DRA carburetor
Tyres:	12"
Weights and Dimensions
Wheelbase:	2000 mm
Length:	3215  mm
Width:	1380 mm
Height:	1405 mm
Weight:	585  k g

The Fiat 600 is a small car produced by the Italian car manufacturer FIAT ,the 600 was built from 1955 to 1969 .

History

After World War II FIAT was governed by Vittorio Valletta , who was entrusted with the task of powering the new republican Italy , as had already been attempted and partially achieved through the " Topolino " model . If in the thirties the "Topolino" project had been poorly innovative, in the fifties it was surely surpassed. Valletta commissioned Dante Giacosa to build the new car; a daunting task as the company had very modest potential.

The small utility car Fiat was presented on March 9, 1955 in Geneva.Equipped with 2 doors (in the first versions produced until May 1964 with rear hinged doors ) and with a discreet habitability for 4 people, it was equipped with a newly designed engine , the " 100 ", located at the rear and of 633  c m³ , a power of 21.5 hp (equal to 15.8  k W ) at 4600 revolutions per minute , able to push the car up to speeds of 95  km / h . 

The "600", born as a popular car,  , and, after a few months, the waiting time for delivery will exceed the year . Strategic ingredients of success were the competitive price,the winning weapon was also the low management cost: 14 km with a liter of fuel.Contrary to what has sometimes been thought, the 600 was not simply the result of an intervention to remedy the delays in the presentation of the next 500 , but a reasoned project, the result of a long study and various alternative projects, started as early as the end of the war in 1945 when it was submitted to FIAT (shareholder of SIMCA ) a project supported by the French government of car with aluminum frame and front wheel drive . 

Certainly certain daring experiments at the turn of the war were left aside when the design of this car was outlined.After the launch of the " 1400 " and the "103" was presented in 1949 and 1951.The stylistic-dimensional setting of the car was defined in 1951, but the problem of the engine was posed: initially a 150 ° two-cylinder V engine was studied combined with a semiautomatic gearbox, like that of Cisitalia. The interesting solution was discarded because it would have taken a very long time to develop, while the aging of the 500C was now evident.For its part, the FIAT management was pressing for the immediate production of an economic model that could replace the now obsolete "Topolino". Maximum experimentation was required with minimum spending. The choice of rounded shapes was instead made to save sheet metal (and weight).A relatively conventional 4- cylinder vertical water-cooled powerplant was designed .

 It was the beginning of 1953 and the definitive experimentation could start. The morphology of the engine of the first 600, with the necessary upgrades and increases in displacement, will be recognizable to an expert eye in the engine of many future models. His proverbial rationality, robustness, reliability and parsimony will make it one of the best ever designed at Mirafiori. Based on the old " 100"(633 cm³) and" 100D "(767 cm³), the engines of the 850 .The engine, project “100” , with 633  c m³ presented great innovations such as the intake manifold integrated in the fusion of the head (great economic advantage) and for the first time for FIAT the monoblock base . It was a type of engine that had a very long life, suffice it to say that with developed displacements it will remain used until 1999 , after the production had been moved to Poland .

The transverse leaf spring suspension would have been used on the rear still by the 127 and 128 almost thirty years later, with the advantage of having the elastic element also acting as an anti-roll bar .Risky but effective was the solution of the radiator placed in the rear with the fan keyed on the water pump (an integration of function, evidently designed to reduce costs).The fan worked pushing the air against the direction of travel (from the back towards the front) but this did not create insurmountable problems, thanks also to the adoption of a rubber conveyor adhering to the radiator. The design ended in mid-1954 and the Mirafiori workshops were set up , where the car will be produced until the end of the sixties .

Models manufactured under license 

The Fiat 600 Argentina 

From 1958 to 1960 the Fiat 600 was imported into Argentina , to then be produced by the local "Fiat Someca SA" first in Caseros ( Buenos Aires ) and then in El Palomar (now factories of the PSA group ). Initially, components from Italy were used, later "nationalized" components (starting with the engines produced in Córdoba ).On April 7th 1960 the first Fiat 600 Argentina to come out of the brand new local Fiat factory .

In 1962 it was replaced by the 600D which in 1964 had some mechanical and aesthetic improvements.In 1965 , the company Fiat Someca SA transformed into "Fiat Concord SA", the 600E was introduced , with the doors with conventional opening.In 1970 , at the end of production in Italy, the 600R model was launched with some improvements and a fake front radiator grille.In 1977 , finally, it was adopted an engine of 843 cc and 32 hp (23.6 kW) similar to that of the Fiat 133 . Production will end in 1982, with a production of more than 302,000 units. In 1980, Fiat Concord was merged into Sevel Argentina, a joint venture established by Fiat with the PSA group.

SEAT 600 

During the years of production of the original model and even later, it was also produced under license in various European countries, above all in Spain by SEAT under the name of SEAT 600 (814 926 units).

Production began on May 27, 1957 with the 600N frame No. 100-106-400000 , entirely similar to the Italian version. Between 1957 and 1963, 131 958 were manufactured.In 1963, it adopted the 767 cm³ engine and the name of the Italian sister Fiat 600D , while maintaining the opening of the doors with hinges positioned at the rear. Between 1963 and 1970, 418,000 were manufactured.

After the production in Italy, in 1970, SEAT also adopted the conventional opening of doors today with the 600E version (in fact the same as the Italian 600D). This version was the one most exported to Latin America ( Mexico and Colombia especially, it was also manufactured in Argentina by Fiat Concord, and in Africa).In October 1972 the latest version, the 600L, was released. Small improvements were made and the engine power was increased from 29 to 32.5 hp. On 3 August 1973, the last unit left the Barcelona Zona Franca factory.

Between 1961 and 1967 it was built for SEAT, first by the Italian SIATA  , then by the Carrozzeria "Talleres Costa", a van version (with two side doors) called "Formichetta"; just under 10,000 were manufactured.Also from the "Talleres Costa" workshops a very original version, the SEAT 800, was released between 1964 and 1967, in 17 577 units . Elongated by 18 cm, it was equipped with four doors, the two rear ones with conventional opening, and approved for 5 seats.

Zastava 600 

In Yugoslavia it was produced by Zastava under the name of Zastava 600, Zastava 750 (767 cm³ engine) and Zastava 850 ( Fiat 850 engine ). Also in Yugoslavia a van version was produced. Between 1955 and 1959 the cars were produced in Italy under the "Zastava" brand, then from 1960 production was started at the Kragujevac plant with the name of 600D and the 767 cm³ engine, but still with the upwind doors. The Zastava 750 model, started in 1964 with the 767 cm³ engine and traditional doors, remained in production until 1985, flanked in 1980 by the Zastava 850, equipped with the engine of the old Fiat 850.Also in Yugoslavia a version similar to the Spanish "Formicheta" was produced.In fact, in Yugoslavia the Zastava 750 was better known as the name of 'Fičo' (or even Fiko or Fica), from the name of a cartoon character who advertised it in the Balkan state .

The Fiat 750 model Zastava was also produced in Colombia between 1977 and 1979, at the Compañia Colombiana Automotriz of Bogotà .

Between 1960 and 1969 the models ZАЗ-965 and ЗАЗ-965А (Zaz-965 and Zaz-965A) were produced by ZAZ, the front of which reproduced that of the Fiat 600, also borrowing the "all back" technical arrangement. The affinities, however, stop here, given that the type of engine is different and many mechanical differences for suspension and directional and braking systems. Some sources assume that this model derived from a demonstration prototype " 350 Vetturetta " made by FIOM in 1952, on a FIAT project, while others argue that the ZAZ engineers in charge of the design were ordered by the Soviet Government to take the Fiat 600 as a model. 

The Fiat 600 between 1956 and 1967 was also manufactured in Germany at the Fiat Neckar , the German subsidiary of the Fiat group born from the previous Fiat NSU.

First introduced as Neckar Jagst, in 1960 with the release of the Fiat 600D it became Neckar Jagst 770. The model was manufactured until 1967 in more than 172,000 examples.

Derived models 

The mechanics and parts of the bodywork of the "600" were used by many bodybuilders and preparers to make special versions , characterized by slight or important aesthetic and mechanical reworkings, with the purpose of distinction and comfort or intended for mixed transport and sports or leisure use .

Among the various types built from designers. Such as  Frua , Accossato , Vignale , Caprera , Motto , Viotti , Pininfarina , Boano , OSCA , Serra , Canta , Allemano , Mantelli , Coriasco Monviso , OSI , Scionieri , Fissore and Moretti  ., the sports elaborations of Abarth and Giannini , the comfortable 4-door " Lucciola " by Francis Lombardi , the small off-road vehicle " Jungla " by Savio and the entertaining " Jolly ", first mass-produced small boat , were very successful. made by Ghia .

Range and updates.

600 I series : (March 1955-February 1957) 633 c m³ engine  , Weber 22 DRA carburetor, 21.5  HP (15.8  k W ) at 4 600  rpm , maximum speed about 90  km / h . Doors hinged to the rear (portes suicides), sliding glass, direction indicators on the fenders like on the Topolino, front frieze "600" with the 6 aluminum whiskers, small taillights with aluminum base, rear direction indicator absent in the first examples until February 1956. In the summer of 1955 the petrol level indicator was perfected, eliminating the oscillations during the journey.

600 II series : (March 1957-February 1959) the displacement remains unchanged, but the power becomes 22 hp (16 kW) at 4 600 rpm, thanks to the Weber 22 IM carburetor. Descending door windows with crank mechanism are adopted, but without deflector, rear lights with yellow direction indicator and built-in reflector (later Fiat will supply a round adhesive reflector to be applied by the customer).

600 III series : (March 1959-September 1960) further increase in engine power, which with a Weber 26 IM carburettor and the compression ratio increased from 7: 1 to 7.5: 1 reaches 24.5 hp (18 kW ) at 4 900 rpm, for a maximum speed of 100 km / h. Unchanged consumption. Dinamo 230 W instead of 180. The rear lights become like those of the 500D (larger with square reflector), the front arrows on the fenders are replaced by round repeaters at the end of the half-side moulure, and on the front round lamps are applied (lights of position / arrows) type 500.

600D Series : (September 1960-April 1964) 767 cm³ engine, 29 hp (21 kW) at 4 800 rpm, maximum speed about 110 km / h. Despite the increase in power, consumption remains at 5.7  l per 100 km. On the bonnet the grilles become from 30 to 36, deflectors to the doors that were still hinged to the rear.

600D II series : (May 1964-October 1965) mechanics unchanged. In conjunction with the launch of the 850 passage to the doors with front hinges no longer visible from the outside.

600D III series : (November 1965-December 1969) the mechanics remain unchanged, except for the replacement of the cartridge oil filter with the centrifugal type. Various the best aesthetic and functional, such as the disappearance of aluminum moldings, except those on the sills, or floodlights with a larger diameter of 170 mm, unified by the " 850"which earned the model the nickname of" fanalona ". Bumpers with renewed rostrums fitted with plastic protrusion. Furthermore, we note the new front frieze with only one whisker and the fuel tank of greater safety, ingot size of 31 liters , which slightly decreases the capacity of the trunk.Another novelty, the wheel cups equal to those of the 850. The most important novelty, however, is represented by the return of the optional sunroof, as on the first series, available however only until 1969, a year before the final production release Presented at the Turin Motor Show in 1965, it was proposed to L. 690 100 in the version with closed roof and to L. 704 200 in the "Transformable" version with openable roof.last production came out of production in December 1968 . The 600D (also known as "750") was sold on the markets of northern Europe as a Fiat 770 (not to be confused with a model of the same name produced in Argentina and derived from the 850)

Great success was also achieved by the subsequent Multipla version , in which the space was considerably extended to reach 6 seats in 3 rows of seats. The backrests and armchairs of the two rear rows, through an ingenious interlocking play, could be easily pulled down, forming an extended and coplanar loading surface. This latest version met the favor of artisans, taxi drivers and large families.

Destined to replace the "500 C Giardiniera" it was the daughter of a daring idea of ​​Giacosa, who decided to advance the driving position straddling the front axle (fitted with the 1100 suspension) and adding two rear doors.

The "Coriasco" body shop carried out a van version, for the Italian Post Office , with a different tail and a door with a small load compartment above the engine, whose setting will be taken from the parent company and with a new square front and front doors with conventional opening will become the Fiat 600T, which later became 850T when the displacement was taken first to 843 and then to 903 cm³.