Fiat Zicster
The Fiat Zicster is a concept car, presented in 1996 at the Geneva Motor Show. It is a development of the 1995 Fiat Zic concept, which was based on ergonomic and environmental criteria.
The name combines Zic with Spider to form Zicster, reflecting its open-top roadster design. This two-seater spider version was developed by Centro Stile Fiat and the Fiat Research Centre, with CNR participation.
The Zicster features an aluminum spaceframe attached to composite polymer sandwich panels. This construction process was pioneered by Fiat’s early-1980s VSS concept car. The use of aluminum and composite materials reduces weight while increasing rigidity, resulting in an extremely light vehicle that weighed only 850 kg including all batteries.
The motor is a 21.5 kW AC unit producing 128 Nm of torque, which equals approximately 29–30 bhp of maximum power. This electric motor gives the car a top speed of 100 km/h (62 mph). Fully charged, Fiat claimed a range of 230 km (143 miles) at a constant 50 km/h. In urban use, the range becomes a still decent 170 km.
The genesis of the 2007 Fiat 500’s design is so obvious in the Zicster that it raises the question of why it took more than a decade to bring the production model to market. The Zicster’s compact proportions and rounded styling clearly prefigure the later 500.
