A Love Letter to the Fiat 500: The New Popemobile Inline

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    Photo: Everett Collection
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    1957

    The Cinquecento debuted on July 4, 1957.

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    Photo: Oskar Poss/ullstein bild / Getty Images
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    1959

    More than a family car, the Fiat 500 was—and is—a fun car.

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    Photographed by Henry Clarke, Vogue, August 15, 1963
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    1963

    Vogue photographed Marella Agnelli, wife of Fiat head Gianni, with her Fiat 500 Jolly in 1963.

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    Photo: Francois Pages / Paris Match / Getty Images
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    1966

    A car as stylish as its driver: Actress Brigitte Fossey with her Fiat.

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    Photo: National Motor Museum / Heritage Images / Getty Images
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    1969

    The diminutive Fiat 500 resembled Fiat’s earlier Topolino (“little mouse”).

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    Photo: Courtesy of the Lyndon B. Johnson Library
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    Circa 1969

    President Lyndon B. Johnson’s Jolly 500 is believed to have been a gift from Fiat. Here, he’s joined by daughter Luci and grandson Lyndon Nugent.

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    Photo: Mondadori / Getty Images
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    1970s

    The Fiat 500 had flair, and in this case, flares.

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    Photographed by Arthur Elgort, Vogue, December 1994
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    1994

    This car has become a symbol of Italy and la dolce vita. This one appeared in Vogue in 1994.

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    Photo: Alamy Images
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    2006

    The character Luigi who appears in Cars is a 1959 model Fiat 500. His motto? “If you’re gonna be driving through this world, why not look good doing it?”

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    Photo: Splash
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    2008

    Apparently all 6 feet of Elle Macpherson fits into a Fiat.

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    Photo: Corbis Images
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    2009

    Johnny Depp drove a classic 500 in The Rum Diary.

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    Photo: Corbis
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    2009

    Even the French like Fiats. This one’s in the courtyard of Merci, a Parisian concept store where profits go to charity.

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    Photo: REX USA
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    2015

    Production of the Dante Giacosa–designed car ceased in 1975, but there are lots still on the road. Here, Marky Ramone uses one as a prop.

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    Photo: Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images
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    2015

    A people’s car for the people’s Pope. The license SCV 1 means “Status Civitatis Vaticanae”—Latin for “State of the Vatican City.”