Brit and Euro Classic Car Show in Auckland / New Zealand from March 5, 2023
The Fiat 500s at the other end of the world – a Report by Todd Niall
At the other end of the world in New Zealand, 10 members of Auckland’s Fiat 500 community lined up for one of the city’s biggest classic car gatherings, the annual Brit and Euro Classic Car Show. Most the small Fiats were survivors from the almost 5,000 Fiat 500s assembled in a car factory in Auckland during the 1960s. One was a a1971 500L privately imported from the United Kingdom in 1973, and another was a 1972 model, built in Torino and sold new in Auckland, at the end of the 500s time on the New Zealand market.
The theme of this years Brit and Euro Classic Car Show, was Micro Cars, so the organisers were keen on a good 500 turnout, to supplement smaller numbers of Messerschmidts, and Isettas. In New Zealand, from the introduction of the F model in 1965, the Fiat importer came up with the name Bambina for model, and locally most classic 500s, even the D model and commonly called “Bambinas”. The 500 had an adventurous life in New Zealand, from being part of the prize package for the Miss New Zealand contest, to spending a summer season in the Antarctic with the country’s scientific programme on the ice (Todd's book on the history of the “Bambina” in New Zealand can be found here in our online shop in English or Italian).
There continues to be a strong 500 community in New Zealand, with organised groups both in Auckland and in Christchurch in the South Island.
Picture gallery: The Fiat 500s at the other end of the world
