Fiat Tyres


Classic Fiat Tyres

On the following pages, Longstone Classic Tyres give classic tyre fitment recommendations for Fiat cars.


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Fiat 500 Tyres

The first little Fiat 500 Topolino ran from 1936 to 1955 was officially calle the Fiat 500 A however because it was so cute it was called “little mouse”. In Italian “topo ‘li no” was also the name given to Mickey Mouse. The little Fiat 500 A Tolpolino was a big hit in Italy. These first 500A effectively pre-war cars fitted skinny little pressed steel 15” wheels. The first 500 A from 1936 to 1948 fitted 4.00-15 then the later 500B & 500C fitted 4.25-15 tyres. Currently there are a choice of 2 tyres which are dual marked covering both sizes: 4.00/4.25-15 Excelsior and the 4.00/4.25/4.40-15 Waymaster. We would suggest that the Waymaster gives a more comfortable ride, and the Excelsior has a bit more carcass structure and will give slightly better directional stability.

Because of its popularity Pirelli are now looking into remaking the original fiat 500 Topolino tyre, a 4.00/4.25-15 Pirelli Stella Bianca. If there is a development on this tyre's production we will let people know as soon as possible.

Classic Fiat Cinquecento tyres, 12” tyres for the fabulous Fiat 500 from 1957 to 1975

The first little Fiat 500 cars up to 1964, so that is the Nuova 500, Nuova 500 Sport, 500D, 500 Gardinia and 500Furgoncino all fitted little crossply tyres up until 1964. Currently, there isn’t really a crossply tyre that we feel happy to recommend for these early little Fiat 500. However the good news is that for the rest of the production, the 500F, 500L and Fiat 500R Fiat moved on to the 125SR12 Pirelli Cinturato CN54 that Pirelli are making again today.

Because these classic Fiat 500 Cinquecento cars had early 3.5” wide rims they need to fit inner tubes...

In the period when the Fiat 500 was developed all cars fitted inner tubes. The Fiat 500 wheels do not have a safety rib on the rim, as a result even though the correct 125Sr12 Pirelli tyre can be used without an inner tube on a more modern wheel, when fitting it or any tyre on a standard Fiat 500 wheel we would recommend fitting the Michelin 12C inner tube.


Vintage Fiat Tyres

From the cheeky Fiat 500 to the beautiful Fiat Dino, we have all your tyre needs covered here at Longstone Tyres.

The following list are our recommendations for Fiats:


Fiat History

Giovanni Agnelli was a founder member of FIAT, Fabbrica Italiana di Automobili Torino, on July 11, 1899. The first Fiat facility debuted in 1900, with 35 employees producing 24 automobiles. Fiat was known from the start for the brilliance and innovation of its technical personnel, and by 1903 it had generated a little profit and manufactured 135 vehicles, which had increased to 1,149 automobiles by 1906. After then, the firm became public by selling shares on the Milan stock exchange.

Fiat Dino on Pirelli Tyres
Fiat Dino on Pirelli Tyres

Agnelli oversaw the corporation until his death in 1945, leaving Vittorio Valletta in charge of day-to-day operations. The 3 ½ CV (only 24 copies were manufactured, all bodied by Alessio of Turin) was based on a design obtained from Ceirano GB & C and had a 697 cc boxer twin engine. Fiat developed its first truck in 1903. The first Fiat was sold to the United States in 1908. The first Fiat aeroplane engine was built the same year. Around the same period, Fiat taxis gained popularity in Europe.

Fiat was the leading automobile firm in Italy by 1910. The newly formed American F.I.A.T. Automobile Company erected a new facility in Poughkeepsie, New York, the same year. At the time, owning a Fiat was a mark of status. In the United States, the cost of a Fiat began at $4,000 and grew to $6,400 in 1918, compared to $825 for a Ford Model T in 1908 and $525 in 1918, respectively. Fiat had to devote all of its manufacturing during World War I to supply the Allies with aeroplanes, engines, machine guns, vehicles, and ambulances.

When the United States entered the war in 1917, the plant was forced to close because US restrictions were too onerous (the site was eventually sold to Western Publishing). Fiat introduced their first tractor, the 702, after the war. Fiat had an 80 per cent market share in Italy by the early 1920s.

Workers seized Fiat's facilities in 1921 and raised the red flag of communism over them. Agnelli reacted by resigning from the business. However, in an effort to reach a compromise with the centrist parties, the Italian Socialist Party and its associate organisation, the Italian General Confederation of Labour, ordered the occupation to stop. Fiat began construction on the famed Lingotto automobile plant, the largest in Europe at the time, in 1922, and it opened in 1923. It was the first Fiat facility to adopt assembly lines, and by 1925, Fiat had captured 87 per cent of the Italian vehicle market. Fiat offered insurance at the purchase price of the 509 in 1928.

During WWII, Fiat produced military gear and vehicles for the Army and Regia Aeronautica, as well as for the Germans. Fiat produced outdated fighter aircraft such as the biplane CR.42 Falco, one of the most popular Italian aircraft, as well as Savoia-Marchettis, light tanks (obsolete in comparison to their German and Soviet equivalents), and armoured vehicles. The G.55 fighter was Fiat's greatest aircraft, but it arrived too late and in too few numbers. The National Liberation Committee removed the Agnelli family from Fiat leadership positions in 1943, the year Benito Mussolini was deposed, due of their links to Mussolini's administration. They were not recovered until 1963, when Giovanni's grandson, Gianni, became general manager until 1966 and chairman until 1996.

Fiat employed more than 100,000 people in Italy in 1970 when it produced the most automobiles, 1.4 million, in the country. Fiat manufactured over a million vehicles in 2002, and the country accounted for more than a third of the company's sales. It was revealed at the end of 1976 that the Libyan government would take a stake in the firm in exchange for a cash injection. The Libyan accord also included the development of a truck and bus facility in Tripoli.

Fiat S.p.A. (the former owner of Fiat Group) stated on 29 January 2014 that it will be merged into a new Netherlands-based holding company Fiat Chrysler Automobiles NV (FCA) by the end of 2014. Fiat Chrysler Automobiles took over as the new owner of the Fiat Group. Fiat S.p.A. got the required shareholder approval on August 1, 2014, to proceed with the merger, which became effective on October 12, 2014.


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