General Newspaper Ad circa Sept 1965 (features 500 and 850)

[woz]

I stumbled across this, dated around September 1965 (as far as I know).
For the Millennials the price of the 500 was £409 19 shillings and 7d (d is old pence - the d was missing on the original)
(There were 240d (old pence) or 20 shillings in £1, a shilling was 12d)

£410 in Sept 1965 is the equivalent of (approx) £9700 now according to BOE inflation calculator. On that basis it's at least 3x more expensive to buy a base 500 now than it was in 1965.
£581 for the Fiat 850 is equivalent to about £9500, not sure what you'd compare it to now, but slightly less than 3x the cost of a base 600

OK so the 2025 Fiat 500 is safer and more sophisticated, but it's not as much fun....

 

[bugsymike]

I stumbled across this, dated around September 1965 (as far as I know).
For the Millennials the price of the 500 was £409 19 shillings and 7d (d is old pence - the d was missing on the original)
(There were 240d (old pence) or 20 shillings in £1, a shilling was 12d)

£410 in Sept 1965 is the equivalent of (approx) £9700 now according to BOE inflation calculator. On that basis it's at least 3x more expensive to buy a base 500 now than it was in 1965.
£581 for the Fiat 850 is equivalent to about £9500, not sure what you'd compare it to now, but slightly less than 3x the cost of a base 600

OK so the 2025 Fiat 500 is safer and more sophisticated, but it's not as much fun....

View attachment 465254

We used to get the Seat 850 versions as well as the Fiat ones in the early 70s to work on, quite popular.
Mind you depreciation was quite heavy , I bought a 500 in late 70s for around £60, just needed a clutch and push rod tube oil seals and ran well..

 

[the hobbler]

We used to get the Seat 850 versions as well as the Fiat ones in the early 70s to work on, quite popular.
Mind you depreciation was quite heavy , I bought a 500 in late 70s for around £60, just needed a clutch and push rod tube oil seals and ran well..

Going by your inflation rate for the Fiat 850 (in 1965)---the Fiat 500 equivalence is only £6704.---still a ruddy great jump!

 

[bugsymike]

Going by your inflation rate for the Fiat 850 (in 1965)---the Fiat 500 equivalence is only £6704.---still a ruddy great jump!

At the time we saw more Seat 850's both the saloons and coupes,than the Fiat version, but very few around these days.

 

[Twotone2]

A wee bit off topic but I'm currently watching 'Cold Summer' on Walter presents, it's a series about crime (mafia) in Bari in the early nineties anyway the son of the local mafia boss gets kidnapped (he's only about 10) and the police are watching the mafia guy's house and his wife the mother and they end up following the wife to a medium in old Bari town.

She's being driven there in an old Panda (Mk2 I think) but it's a SEAT which I thought was odd, I'm presuming that the film makers couldn't get hold of an old Fiat Panda of that vintage which surprised me.

Carry on

 

[bugsymike]

A wee bit off topic but I'm currently watching 'Cold Summer' on Walter presents, it's a series about crime (mafia) in Bari in the early nineties anyway the son of the local mafia boss gets kidnapped (he's only about 10) and the police are watching the mafia guy's house and his wife the mother and they end up following the wife to a medium in old Bari town.

She's being driven there in an old Panda (Mk2 I think) but it's a SEAT which I thought was odd, I'm presuming that the film makers couldn't get hold of an old Fiat Panda of that vintage which surprise me.

Carry on

A bit like Fiat 124s that were actually Lada.

 

[Twotone2]

A bit like Fiat 124s that were actually Lada.

Aye but were they badged 'Lada'? I think not

 

[porta]

I stumbled across this, dated around September 1965 (as far as I know).
For the Millennials the price of the 500 was £409 19 shillings and 7d (d is old pence - the d was missing on the original)
(There were 240d (old pence) or 20 shillings in £1, a shilling was 12d)

£410 in Sept 1965 is the equivalent of (approx) £9700 now according to BOE inflation calculator. On that basis it's at least 3x more expensive to buy a base 500 now than it was in 1965.
£581 for the Fiat 850 is equivalent to about £9500, not sure what you'd compare it to now, but slightly less than 3x the cost of a base 600

OK so the 2025 Fiat 500 is safer and more sophisticated, but it's not as much fun....

View attachment 465254

Later Bristol Street Motors on Water Lane
There seemed to be a glut of Fiat 133’s which were really Seats

 

[124BC1]

Here's a Fiat Ireland price list and model specifications dated 1st Jan 1969. Cars were always dearer in Ireland than in the U.K. (The Irish and U.K £ were the same at that time).
Note the 'trick' of only stating Average Touring mpg.
The 124 Coupe was expensive, costing as much as an 850 and 124 Saloon combined (with a little discount).
Notice also, the engine capacity of the 500D is given as 499.5cc, I always thought it to be only 499cc, but I guess every little bit helps

 

[woz]

At the time we saw more Seat 850's both the saloons and coupes,than the Fiat version, but very few around these days.

ooops quite correct brain/finger slip, the 9 should have been a 6 - sorry!

 

[bugsymike]

If we are going to have some old Fiat stuff, how about this.
Not your 500?

 

[124BC1]

If we are going to have some old Fiat stuff, how about this.

Now you're talking!

Ah, the 'good ol' days, why did we ever abandon them in pursuit of (so-called) progress...