It’s not the flashiest, the quickest, or the most exciting car ever made. Despite that, something about the compact size and endearing design of Fiat’s two-door economy car kindled people’s hearts and minds during the mid-century. Maybe you can recreate that same feeling while you sprawl out on the floor of your bedroom building the LEGO Creator Fiat 500.
A LEGO kit based on the Fiat 500F from the 1960s, the model lets you recreate the iconic vehicle in all its unimposing glory, so you can add an underpowered economy ride to your LEGO fleet of Bugattis, Aston Martins, and American muscle cars. More impressively, though, the vehicle brings not just the classic car to life, but also the romantic overtones of 1960s Italy with its roster of accessories.
The LEGO Creator Fiat 500 is an advanced set that lets you build a display-worthy model of the extremely practical and inexpensive small car that saw large sales all throughout Europe. It’s quite the faithful rendition that recreates many elements of the Berlina in great detail, from its curvy shape and chrome-plated bumpers to the front-hinged doors and the signature sunroof. Not only can you build the car, you can interact with many of its parts. Both driver and passenger doors, for instance, can be opened completely, giving you access to the detailed interior, where you can play around with the steering wheel, load up your minifigs’ luggage in the back, or fill it with contraband to get your minifigs arrested.
Lift the hood out front to reveal storage for a spare tire (those Italian cobblestones are unforgiving), while the back hatch opens to give you a peek at the rear-mounted, air-cooled engine. No, the engine is non-functional, so you’ll have to push it around and imagine the darn thing running if you want it to travel the streets of your tabletop city.
The LEGO Creator Fiat 500 has a functional sunroof that you can open to give your minifigs a view of the skies, as well as reclining front seats to make it easier to load luggage or fit extra passengers in the back. There’s a luggage rack in the back that you can use to carry the included suitcase (we guess people traveled like that frequently back in the day?), as well as a painting of the car in front of the Colosseum, along with painting supplies, to harken images of 1960s Rome.
It measures 9.5 x 4.5 x 4.5 inches (length x height x width) when assembled, making it a nice size to add to your display shelf of LEGO vehicles. There’s no minifigs included, so you’ll need to have someone in your collection to drive it, provided they’re granted a license by the DMV in your tabletop city. A total of 960 pieces are included in the set, so while it’s designed to be challenging (it’s a Creator Expert model), it shouldn’t take up your entire waking hours over the weekend. Or maybe it will. At least, you’ll have fun.
The LEGO Creator Fiat 500 is available now, priced at $89.99.