Fiat 500 Wins ADI Golden Compass Award

Fiat’s little 500 has scooped up the coveted "Compasso d'Oro ADI" (ADI Golden Compass), Europe's oldest and most prestigious design award. An international panel, chaired by Arturo Dell'Acqua Bellavitis and made up of industry experts, selected the Fiat 500 and presented the trophy to Roberto Giolito, Fiat director of design, who attended the awards ceremony yesterday held in Rome at the Pelanda Museo Macro del Testaccio.

With the 5-star EuroNCAP and 40 awards it has won internationally to date, the new car has proven since its launch in July 2007 that it is not merely a compact based on the Panda, but an authentic platform upon which Fiat Automobiles is building a whole family of cars with technology and attention to detail worthy of a higher category.

This is also the second time the prestigious design award has been given to a Fiat, as back in 2004, the Panda on the coveted recognition, proof that both models “express the very best of Italy's manufacturing capabilities combined with a design that has often anticipated future trends in the world of automobiles.”

Members of the public will have the chance to admire all of the products that took part in the competition and those published in the 2008-2010 triennial in the ADI Design Index yearbook until 25 September 2011 at the Pelanda Museo Macro del Testaccio. The yearbook totals nearly 400 new design objects. Also on display until 25 September at the Palazzo delle Esposizioni is the historic "Compasso d'Oro" exhibit, with 300 award-winning products from 1954 until today.

Both exhibits are part of the activities organized to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Italian Unification, which Fiat is celebrating with special edition models.