The Electric FIAT 500 Spiaggina Revives Bonacina's Traditional Rattan Seats
A throwback to the ’50s, redesigned for today.
The FIAT 500 is the archetype cute supermini. It’s been that way since 1957, a time in which Italian coachbuilders were at their height, taking cars such as the original Cinquecento and giving it a newfound life, often fit for cruising through Milan or heading to Lake Como. Now, this ethos is revived thanks to the heritage Italian furniture brand Bonacina and Garage Italia Customs, which have worked with the marque to produce the FIAT 500 Spiaggina.
Based on an original FIAT 500, the car looks back at the custom builds Vittorio Bonacina designed in the ’50s. As a result, the car is found with rattan seats — the Bonacina signature — as well as a fabric roof and ropes in place of the standard doors.
As the car is a resto-mod from today, Garage Italia Customs has converted the car to electric power. It is rechargeable in a “few hours” from a normal household socket, which should give you plenty of range to explore the local Italian seaside towns.
Speaking on the car, Elia Bonacina, CEO of Bonacina, said: “It was nice to travel back in time with our craftspeople, we found ourselves with the same bare seat of the classic version and had to figure out how to weave our material within its metal skeleton. This has been developed with our philosophy in mind: creating a product that lasts over time and offering an ergonomic and comfortable solution, as for all the products that we design and manufacture.”
What makes this custom build particularly special is that the woven rattan seats have been aniline-dyed, meaning that the material can take on any color the customer wishes, desired to match the paintwork. The FIAT 500 Spiaggina can be seen above, and those interested can order one via Garage Italia Customs.
Elsewhere, Hypebeast recently got behind the wheel of the all-new, all-electric Rolls-Royce Spectre.
