Fiat 500 UK Charity boost

One of the Fiat 500s donated by Fiat and decorated by Damian Hirst which were auctioned for the ARK Charity

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The Fiat 500 Convertible is about to launch in the UK (the first country to get it), and cars are starting to arrive for the official launch on the 24th June. And Fiat, quite sensibly, is keeping the profile up with some bright marketing to get people like us to write about the Fiat 500C. Happy to oblige!

Over the course of a couple of days this week six Fiat 500s have been donated by Fiat for charity auctions and raised almost £500,000 in to the process. Which, cute and interesting as the Fiat 500 is, does sound rather a lot. After all, even the new Fiat 500C retails (in pop spec) at just over £11k. And this works out at an average of over £80k each. Not exactly a bargain buy, even if it is charity that benefits.

But these weren’t any ordinary old Fiat 500s. These were Fiat 500s decorated by two of our most famous living artists, which no doubt accounts for the price.

First up was a Quintet of Fiat 500 saloons that were donated by Fiat to the ARK Childrens’ Charity, which were decorated in butterfly designs by none other than Damien Hirst (and there was no formaldehyde in sight). The Damien Hirst decorated Fiat 500s were part of the ARK charity auction held at Waterloo’s disused Eurostar Terminus where a total of £15.6 million was raised on the night, of which £440k came from the Fiat 500s.

Fiat 500C decorated by Peter Blake

Second was a Fiat 500C which was donated by Fiat to the Raisa Gorbachev Foundation and decorated by Peter Blake, who is probably most famous for his Beatles Sergeant Pepper Album Cover. The Fiat was auctioned at a Gala Evening at Hampton Court attended by the likes of Boris Johnson, ex-President Gorbachev and J.K. Rowling (so at least one person had a few bob, then). The £55,000 raised for the 500C will be split between the Gorbachev Foundation and Marie Curie Cancer Care in the UK.

Cheap publicity for Fiat, but good on them for supporting worthy causes, even with an ulterior motive.

We look forward to bringing you a road test of the Fiat 500C shortly.