THE Fiat 500 Jolly Icon-e from Garage Italia meets one of the most recent trends in the world of classics and restomod — electrifying them. We've even seen it on an official level, for example, in the Jaguar E-Type Zero, an “exciting” conversion of the unavoidable British sports car.
For those who don't know, the original Fiat 500 Jolly was a conversion of the Nuova 500 into a kind of beach buggy, designed by Carrozzeria Ghia and produced between 1958 and 1974. In the transformation from Nuova 500 to 500 Jolly, it lost its rigid roof (an awning to protect from the sun was in its place), the doors and benches were changed to wicker.
It is not known for sure how many units were produced, but they are considered highly collectible, with prices to reflect this status, in the range of several tens of thousands of euros.
With that in mind, Garage Italia's Fiat 500 Jolly Icon-e — owned by Lapo Elkann, brother of John Elkann, president of FCA and Ferrari, and grandson of Gianni Agnelli, L'Avvocato, former Group president Fiat — didn't start out as an original 500 Jolly, it started out as a regular Nuova 500.
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According to Garage Italia, despite the loss of the roof and doors, the torsional rigidity was maintained thanks to the installation of a safety cell. The windshield also retained its entire frame, reinforced for this occasion, unlike the original 500 Jolly, which featured a windshield cut at the top.
Inside, the analogue instruments gave way to a 5″ screen; the natural rope seats are handmade; the tires come from the Michelin Vintage line.
Of course, the highlight of the Fiat 500 Jolly Icon-e is the replacement of the characteristic air-cooled bi-cylinder with an electric motor developed in collaboration with Newtron Group. Unfortunately, no further technical data about your new powertrain — power, battery, autonomy, etc. — has been provided. — but what we do know is that the electric motor was coupled to the four-speed manual gearbox of the original model.
Carlo Borromeo, Director of Garage Italia Style CenterWe know that people still love historic cars, but that some of those cars would be difficult to drive. That's why we wanted to make these vehicles, which still continue to excite entire generations, usable, bringing Garage Italia's signature quality, style and philosophy.
It is not the first time that Garage Italia has decided to revisit the Fiat 500 Jolly. Last year, to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Fiat 500 Jolly Spiaggina, he created a contemporary recreation based on the current Fiat 500 — the 500 Spiaggina.