There are two major automotive events planned for early next month: the EICMA motorcycle show in Italy, and the SEMA show across the pond and one full continent away, in Las Vegas. With that in mind, very few people were paying attention to the trade show dedicated to vintage and classic cars taking place over the past weekend in Bordeaux, France.
It is from there that news of a new version of a vehicle called the Spiaggina reached us. Named, simply, M, it reinterprets the already reinterpreted Fiat 500 by adding an extra 6.7 inches (17 cm) of real estate, in a bid to make the four seats available genuinely comfortable.
That’s the phrase the makers of the Spiaggina, a crew that goes by the name Garage Italia, use to describe the Spiaggina M newcomer, admitting that the base Fiat 500’s legroom in the rear is not usually all that great.
The company added the extra inches at the rear of the Spiaggina, hoping that people will start using the vehicle for other activities, ranging from hospitality to longer pleasure journeys. In doing so, however, it didn’t affect the rest of the car, nor did it modify its standard look.
To make sure that people do recognize it as a special car of its breed, Garage Italia gave the M a special paint job in Barolo metallic, which is, more or less, a shade of red, with contrasting Tellina (white) spread over the tubular structures and details.
All that is pulled over an interior in Mariaflora fabrics in red and white spread over the soft top, cushions, and the Alabastro seat produced by furniture company Bonacina 1889. Wrapping up the interior detailing are floor mats made so that their surface evokes natural fibers.
By trade, the Spiaggina is an electric vehicle conversion, and the same can be said about the recently presented M variant. Garage Italia does not go into the details of that, which means it packs the standard drivetrain we already know.
That would be electric motors that crank out just 13 hp and 82 Nm of torque, and a battery pack that promises a range of 87 miles (140 km). The car’s top speed does not go over 47 mph (75 kph), but it doesn’t really need to do that, seeing the way it is generally used.
The M version, however, does throw in something other Spiagginas don’t usually get, and that is off-road tires, which, combined with the raised look of the design, makes the M look particularly potent.
This version also throws in a keyless entry system, dynamic power steering, and additional lights shielded by dedicated grilles.
The Italian company did not share the cost of the Spiaggina M, but don’t imagine it to be cheap. After all, any Fiat 500 modified by Garage Italia and turned into the Spiaggina starts at a minimum of 85,000 euros, or $95,000 at today’s exchange rates.
