Photo: Silverstone Auctions
Everyone loves the Fiat 500. The original that is. It's downright impossible to resist the Cinquecento and its flamboyant Italianness, even if you're a dedicated fan of the Dodge Challenger SRT Hellcat and other new or vintage brutes packing hundreds of horsepower under their long, sleek bonnets.
The old 500 isn't that expensive or rare as other vehicles, but there's a way you can enjoy that quality with the lil' bugger. This is where the Steyr-Daimler-Puch 500 comes on the scene. Basically, the car we're talking about today was built under license from Fiat by Austrian manufacturing conglomerate Steyr-Daimler-Puch back in 1960, the year the Beatles made their live debut in Hamburg, Germany.
So what's so special about it? Well, only 33 right-hand drive examples have ever been made and this is one of the best preserved. Compared to the Fiat 500, the Puch was equipped with a different engine, transmission, carriage and engine cover, all manufactured in-house to boot. Moreover, this blue Steyr Puch 500 is believed to be one of only two cars still in private hands, with the rest of the surviving production run residing in a museum.
Set to go under the hammer on September 20th at the Silverstone Auctions Autumn Sale event, the Steyr Puch 500 is expected to change hands for anything between £15,000 and £18,000. Even the original delivery note from the factory to the first owner is included with this car. Sold as a demo vehicle in 1960, 'AEM 655' was kept in storage for 28 years before the current vendor acquired it last year.
So what's so special about it? Well, only 33 right-hand drive examples have ever been made and this is one of the best preserved. Compared to the Fiat 500, the Puch was equipped with a different engine, transmission, carriage and engine cover, all manufactured in-house to boot. Moreover, this blue Steyr Puch 500 is believed to be one of only two cars still in private hands, with the rest of the surviving production run residing in a museum.
Set to go under the hammer on September 20th at the Silverstone Auctions Autumn Sale event, the Steyr Puch 500 is expected to change hands for anything between £15,000 and £18,000. Even the original delivery note from the factory to the first owner is included with this car. Sold as a demo vehicle in 1960, 'AEM 655' was kept in storage for 28 years before the current vendor acquired it last year.
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