{"id":8846,"date":"2016-02-04T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-02-04T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/museonicolis.com\/?p=8846"},"modified":"2024-07-12T12:45:31","modified_gmt":"2024-07-12T10:45:31","slug":"fiat-508-balilla","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.museonicolis.com\/en\/fiat-508-balilla\/","title":{"rendered":"Fiat, 1933, 508 Balilla"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fiat \u201c508 Balilla\u201d, 1933, Italy<\/strong><\/h2>\n

Fiat called the model 508 \u201cBalilla\u201d<\/strong> to celebrate the fascist regime.<\/strong> It was the name given to Italian little boys who, in Mussolini\u2019s mind, were supposed to demonstrate the same courage of the young Giambattista Perasso<\/strong>, nicknamed\u00a0Balilla, showed when he rebelled to the French invasion of Genova.
\nThe 508, was introduced at the 1932 Milan Motor Show.<\/strong>\u00a0Sold at the amazing price of Lire 10.800, <\/strong>it immediately became the car of the collective imaginary: affordable, small but comfortable and a good all-rounder. It was fitted with a 3-speed gearbox<\/strong> and was offered with different types of bodies (2-door sedan, torpedo, spider, van); the first deliveries\u00a0began on July 15th, 1932.
\nThe 2-door saloon, as the one shown in the museum, had 4 comfortable seats<\/strong>, cloth interior, bright paint, wide doors with manual lowering windows, rubber mats, electric windscreen wiper and a rear view mirror. Offered as options, you could purchase: special cloth, chromed headlights, handles and bumpers<\/em>. Other extras were available, like back stop light, clock, ashtray, back trunk, a second spare wheel, wire wheels and leather interior<\/em>.
\nThe Fiat Balilla is known to the public for its appearance in the torpedo version on Roberto Benigni’s movie “Life is Beautiful”<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cAt the\u00a01932 Milan Motor Show Fiat launched the first popular car, the 508 Balilla.\u00a0It was a low-priced car (the normal version started at 9.900 Lire), that got a good mileage ( 8 l \/ 100 km<\/strong>\u00a0)\u00a0and good performance\u00a0(it could reach\u00a080-85 km\/h<\/strong>).
\nDespite the sport success, the Balilla still was not the 5.000-lire popular car wanted by Mussolini\u201d.
\nTaken from\u00a0Storia Sociale dell\u2019Automobile in Italia<\/em>, Federico Paolini<\/p>\n\r\n\r\n \r\n