Fiat 500

• The 500 L or ‘Lusso’ (1968 – 1972)

The penultimate model, the main change for the L is a much modernized interior (including a renewed dashboard) which brought the Fiat 500 up to date. Greater comfort and style were provided in this new model for the new generation.

This version, which appeared in September 1968, had a clear mission: to meet the demands of a clientele looking for a car that was more comprehensive, more customized and more ‘luxurious’. These motorists were prepared to spend as much as 525,000 lire, in other words, 100,000 lire more than the 500 F. Marketing, evolving tastes and changing lifestyles were leading the people at Mirafiori to develop a car that was a small status symbol for its day. The age of the Spartan car was already coming to an end, because the customer wanted more.

The 500 L did not change where the engineering and performance were concerned (engine capacity of 499.5 cc, 18 bhp, top speed of 95 km/h), but fuel consumption was down to 5.3 liters/100 km from 5.5 liters/100 km on the 500 F. The interior and exterior styling of the 500 L was new. Chrome nudge bars on the front and rear bumpers increased the length to 3.025 meters compared to 2.970 meters on the 500 F (the weight also increased by 10 kg to 530 km empty). The front and rear light clusters changed radically, and the two round front headlights, the direction indicators and the rear lights were all larger.
The Fiat logo on the front also changed, becoming rectangular, whereas on the 500 F it was still surrounded by a grille, with two chrome-silver painted plastic whiskers. A chrome-plated trim appeared on the roof drip channels for the first time. At the rear, the model name in italics used on previous series was abandoned in favor of new rhomboid-shaped brand and model graphics with black upper case lettering, positioned horizontally and no longer transversely on the bonnet, surrounded by squares with a metallic Grey background which recalled the rhomboids of the Fiat trademark, that were used on all Fiat models from 1968.

There was plenty of chrome work, and not only in the seals, new hub trims and radial tires, an important novelty in safety terms. But it was inside that the 500 L lived up to its name as the ‘luxury’ version. For example, the design of the steering wheel changed; it still had two spokes, but with a central recess that was no longer made of plastic but of metal painted Matt black, the fascia and a number of interior details were redesigned, and the seats were upholstered in leather cloth with vertical quilting, usually in a light hide color or red. The seats themselves were better padded with reclining squabs, and the number and size of the storage compartments increased (for example on the doors).
But the 500 L was a sort of swansong for the model. In 1972, when it was taken off the market, there was a new small Fiat, the 126, and from 1972 to 1975 only one version of the 500 was still in production, the last, and most Spartan version, the 500 R.

Below is a photo of the Fiat 500L