Puch 500 History

The Puch 500 launched in 1957 as a licensed adaptation of the Dante Giacosa–designed Fiat 500, built at the Steyr-Daimler-Puch plant in the Thondorf district of Graz. While the body shell came from Turin, Puch replaced every mechanical component with Austrian engineering: a proprietary horizontally opposed twin-cylinder engine, gearbox, and chassis. The result was a city car that was substantially different under the skin — smoother and more rev-willing than the Fiat's straight-twin unit.

The model family expanded rapidly through the 1960s. A 643 cc engine produced estate variants (700 C and 700 E, 1961) and the sporting 650 T and 650 TR sedans from 1962, with the twin-carburettor 650 TR II developing up to 40 hp in its hottest tune. These rally-oriented versions earned the Puch 500 an outsized motorsport reputation: in 1966, Polish driver Sobiesław Zasada won the European Rally Championship driving a Puch — making the 500 the smallest car ever to claim that title. A total of approximately 60,000 Puch 500-family cars were built before production ended in 1975.

A 1967 facelift introduced front-hinged doors in place of the original rear-hinged 'suicide' design and updated the roofline in step with Fiat's own refresh, producing the 500 S and Europa variants. The final cars used the 643 cc engine under Fiat's 126 body for 1973–1975, rounding off eighteen years as Austria's definitive small car.