Fiat 500 Is Real Italian Cars’ Accessible Classic

• Want a Fiat 500? You'll be able to buy a brand-new 2024 Fiat 500e after November.

• But if you want an original, a company in Italy is doing restomods of the 1957–1975 classics.

• Builds start under $10,000—including the car—and Real Italian Cars is willing and able to ship completed cars anywhere in the United States.

City-car fans, mark your calendars for November 2023. That's when Fiat North America is unveiling the American version of the 2024 500e. But as exciting as that is for buyers of stylish EVs—as well as Fiat's current U.S. lineup—it's not the only Cinquecento resurrection. A new company in Italy is building classic 500 restomods, and unlike Singer's 911s or Cyan Racing's Volvo P1800s, buying one won't require a second mortgage.

It's hard to find clearer, more apt names in the automotive business than Real Italian Cars. Firstly, the new shop is headquartered in the Tuscan city of Lucca in Italy. Secondly, the business's focus is restoring an Italian automotive legend: the original Fiat Nuova 500. And thirdly, co-founders Amedeo Provenzali, Anthony Peacock, and Mattia Vita all have ties to Italian automotive culture. Vita, for example, is an active rally driver, and Peacock has consulted for Pirelli Media and written stories for numerous car publications.

"We've been friends a long time," Peacock recently told Car and Driver over the phone, and he expressed their fondness for vintage 500s. Yet while "millions and millions of these Fiats were produced, they're a little bit of a dying breed," he said. The trio wanted to keep the ones that remained around, "to preserve something for the future." It started as a hobby, with the initial clients being mutual friends asking for repairs. But "without realizing it," he said, "we were trying to set up a business, one that encourages more people, particularly future generations, to get into classic car ownership."

Regarding that business, Real Italian Cars takes on any 1957–1975 Fiat 500 model, from the base 500D all the way to the wonderfully wicker-seated open-air 500 Jolly. The shop's services range from simple cosmetic corrections as well as interior and engine work all the way to a full restoration or custom overhaul. That includes sympathetic modern touches like an Apple CarPlay–equipped stereo. And before you ask, yes, the shop has already gotten requests for Abarth re-creations.