Garage Italia 500 Spiaggina
The 500 Spiaggina from Garage Italia is a modern reimagining of the classic Italian beach car, presented as an icon of La Dolce Vita.
Built as a bespoke electric vehicle, it combines traditional craftsmanship with contemporary technology and is now offered in two length versions: the original Spiaggina S and the new Spiaggina M, which adds 17 centimetres to the rear to improve passenger comfort while preserving the proportions of the original design.
Garage Italia is a Milan-based creative workshop that extends car customisation into art and fashion. Its bespoke and electrification expertise has been applied to the Spiaggina through the company’s Icon-e project, giving the car a fully electric powertrain. The Spiaggina therefore follows the same general idea as the historic beach cars of the 1950s and 1960s, but uses modern components and production techniques rather than original Fiat 500 mechanicals.
The interior is produced in collaboration with Bonacina, an Italian company specialising in woven furniture since 1889. Seats and accessories such as the picnic box are handcrafted in natural or tinted rattan, or in Polycore, an outdoor material developed to withstand sunlight and sea salt. The seats and baskets can be matched to the car’s colours, finishes and fabrics, allowing each car to be tailored to an individual specification.
The interior can also be customised through a choice of fabrics supplied by Mariaflora. The range includes patterns such as Bombay nights, Onda, Crisalide, Alga and Lantana, available in plain, striped and geometric designs across eighteen shades. The overall effect is intended to reflect the finest traditions of Italian craftsmanship and open-air living.
The powertrain uses a rear-mounted three-phase asynchronous brushless electric motor producing 10 kW and 82 Nm of torque at 1,734 rpm. Power is transmitted through a direct-drive transmission with electronic gear inversion, and the car uses regenerative braking together with drum brakes. The motor drives the rear wheels, giving a maximum speed of 75 km/h.
Energy is stored in an 11 kWh LiFePO4 battery. The claimed range is 140 km on the WLTP cycle, and charging from a 2.75 kW charger takes approximately four hours. The self-supporting chassis has independent suspension at both axles, using lower transverse leaf springs and upper triangular arms at the front, and oscillating triangular arms with coil springs at the rear. Hydraulic telescopic shock absorbers are fitted.
Overall dimensions are 2,945 mm in length, 1,320 mm in width and 1,232 mm in height. The wheelbase is 1,840 mm, while the front and rear tracks measure 1,131 mm and 1,135 mm respectively. Ground clearance is 130 mm and the turning circle is 8.6 metres. Kerb weight ranges between 520 and 600 kg. The car rides on 3.5 x 12-inch rims with reinforced 125 SR 12 tyres. Steering uses a roller-screw system with electric power assistance.
Garage Italia x Hot Lab Fiat 500 Jolly Spiaggina
A further development of the Spiaggina has been created with Hot Lab, the yacht design studio belonging to the Viken Group. This special version has been designed to function as a “Yacht Toy,” a high-quality product intended to be stored aboard a superyacht and used at the seaside destination. It is fitted to the dimensions of the tender garage and lifting equipment used on 50-metre yachts, with an overall length of approximately 3.2 metres and a width of about 1.5 metres.
The exterior of the yacht-toy version carries a graphic livery running horizontally across the body, dividing the upper and lower sections like a boat’s waterline. This colour treatment is intended to give the impression that the car is the hull of a vessel. Inside, the central section features a mahogany-style “Heritage Tunnel” inspired by classic speedboats, with a magazine rack at the rear and an optional bottle holder built from a metal base and leather straps.
The driver sits behind a wooden Nardi Classic steering wheel, while the floor is covered with blue and white marine floor mats produced by Italdek. Marine knot ropes are used as side decoration. The seats and trim use a fabric called “Scia,” developed in collaboration with Mariaflora, which takes its name from the Italian word for a boat’s wake and reinterprets traditional stripes as overlapping waves.
The yacht-toy version uses a larger powertrain than the standard Spiaggina. It combines a lithium-ion battery of approximately 15 to 20 kWh with an electric motor producing 20 kW, or roughly 27 hp, allowing a top speed of approximately 85 km/h. The car therefore reflects Garage Italia’s broader programme of applying restomod techniques, where the basic design of a classic vehicle is preserved while modern electric drivetrains and contemporary technology are incorporated.
