Coming to America: The Fiat 500

Nothing to It
The Italian carmaker, Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, or Fiat for short, debuted the Nuova 500 in 1957. The first version only had two seats and an air-cooled engine with a displacement of a measly 479 cc, which is about the size of the motor on a mid-range John Deere riding lawn mower today. With an engine that small, the 500 was able to average more than 60 miles per gallon of gasoline — better than a 2011 Toyota Prius. Of course it was also only able to hit a top speed of 53 mph, but that is still a lot faster than you can cut the grass.

• Happy Birthday Mercedes Benz!