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Fiat 500 hits a 1.5 million milestone

11 November, 2015

Fiat produced just over 3.4 million of their classic 500 ‘Bambina’ cars between 1957 and 1975, and on November 10, the 1.5 millionth example of their modern 500 rolled off the lines at Fiat’s Tychy plant in Poland.

 

Confirming the popularity of the new 500, that impressive figure has been achieved in just eight years and four months following the car’s initial launch — and, today, the Fiat 500 is now for sale in more than 100 countries around the world, from Japan to North America and, of course, New Zealand. Interestingly, the UK accounts for more than 240,000 of the total number of 500s sold in Europe.

Check out the latest edition of New Zealand Classic Car for a full feature on a fully restored 1963 Fiat 500D.

Picking over the past – 1940 Ford V8 ½-Ton Pickup

12 February, 2026

Jim and Daphne Ledgerwood have been around Fords most of their lives. They love their Ford coupés and two door hardtops, while also making room for an occasional Chevrolet. Their Wanaka based ‘Originals’ collection, featured in New Zealand Classic Car’s July 2022 issue is headed by an outstanding time-warp black 1940 Ford Coupé, its original factory assembly markings and documents offering something of a nostalgia trip.
Jim’s early days in hotrodding in Dunedin were spent building up a number of early Ford pickups and he became a prolific builder of modified pickups.
“I had lots of early Ford V8s in those days and once I had finished them I often sold them on. I would run out of garage space. I had up to a dozen restored Fords at most times then.”

Motorman – The saga of the Temple Buell Maseratis

30 January, 2026

Swiss-born Hans Tanner and American Temple Buell were apparently among the many overseas visitors who arrived in New Zealand for the Ardmore Grand Prix and Lady Wigram trophy in January 1959. Unlike Stirling Moss, Jack Brabham, Ron Flockhart, Harry Schell and Carroll Shelby who lined up for the sixth New Zealand Grand Prix that year, Tanner and Buell were not racing drivers but they were key players in international motor sport.
Neither the rotund and cheery Buell nor the multi-faceted Tanner were keen on being photographed and the word ‘apparently’ is used in the absence of hard evidence that Buell actually arrived in this country 64 years ago.