Jolly returns for retro Fiat beach buggy
Fiat is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its 500 Jolly beach car with a low-production retroinspired tribute: the Fiat 500 Spiaggina ’58.
Or rather two tributes. The first, more true-to-history version is actually named the Spiaggina by Garage Italia.
“Spiaggina” roughly translates as “beach buggy” and Garage Italia refers to the coach builder that will assemble the car in partnership with Pininfarina.
The show car has its roof completely removed and replaced with a roll bar, rear seats removed and a built-in shower head nozzle installed, floors and trunk trimmed in cork, front seats replaced by a custom bench seat and, optionally, its windshield cut down.
Garage Italia hasn’t named a price or said how many it plans to build, but it sounds like it will turn them out on a made-to-order basis.
Fiat will produce its own much tamer-looking Spiaggina ’58 in greater numbers, specifically in a 1,958-unit run that pays tribute to the year the original Fiat 500 Jolly debuted. The special-edition car will be available only as a convertible and will have retro 16-inch wheels, a two-tone interior and vintage Fiat logos.
The Spiaggina ’58 will have an exclusive Volare Blue paint scheme with ivory soft top and accents, but unlike its Garage Italia show-car sibling, it will be available only with the 500’s 69-horsepower, 1.2-litre engine. We don’t expect to see it hit dealerships in North America.