Fiat 500 Jolly

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Of the eleven variants of the beyond-iconic Fiat 500, this quirkily named Jolly would have to be the very, very rarest and coolest of them all!  Sure, it doesn’t have quite the pint-sized pugnaciousness of its also ultra exclusive Abarth 695 Esse Esse sibling - which, until today’s encounter, was my favourite Cinquecento - but it does have charm in absolute bucket loads!

From what I can glean, the Jolly was intended to be an automotive tender that the mega-rich and famous - Aristotle Onassis being touted as an example - could store aboard their super yachts, ready for land-based sorties in whatever Mediterranean resort city they found themselves gracing.  This is apt, given that Mrs UMPH and I stumbled upon today’s example in Cap Martin, France, about 15 minutes’ drive east of Monaco.

It’s also reported that many were also deployed to high-end resorts, much like the ubiquitous Mini Mokes that once undertook tourism-related duties on Australia’s Gold and Sunshine Coasts, and beyond.   And, like the Moke, the Jolly made a virtue of being extremely basic, with no doors or windows, other than the front windscreen, a rudimentary golf cart-style canvas roof and seats that look like they belong on a patio - the latter’s being constructed of wicker to allow beach sand to fall through to the floor without overly bothering the occupants’ privileged bottoms.

Our example - resplendent in flawless pastel blue duco with glittering bright work- was immaculate, suggesting that it may have been recently restored.  Its wicker seats looked brand new and were perfectly paired with a lovely chrome, stained wood and tan leather luggage rack - a finishing touch that may have been a little optimistic but really was the icing on the cake.




I hope to bring you a report on my ride around Manchester in Peter’s Iso Rivolta soon.   Until then, it’s au revoir from the UMPHs.




U M P H


(uppermiddlepetrolhead.blogspot.com.au.)


iPhone images   





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