The latest Fiat Topolino is a tiny electric runabout designed to make city driving as easy as possible. GFG Style, however, has decided that what it really needs is more pizzazz. The Italian design house has created two one-off versions of the Topolino, and they couldn’t be more different from each other. Called the Top.L and Top.J, the two concepts were created by GFG Style, the design firm founded by Giorgetto Giugiaro and his son Fabrizio, together with Director of Ferrari, Lapo Elkann. Both were shown at Salone Auto Torino and are essentially design exercises, rather than cars Fiat plans to put into production.
The Top.L is the more dramatic of the two. Based on the Topolino Dolcevita, it loses its roof completely and gets a much lower windscreen. The result is a tiny open-top two-seater. The body is finished in aquamarine, while the cabin gets matching aquamarine leather and Alcantara. There isn’t much else to it, either. The roof is gone, the windscreen is tiny and the little EV suddenly looks like it belongs on a sunny Italian coastal road rather than squeezing through city traffic. There is one thing it doesn’t get, though: more power. The Top.L retains the standard Topolino’s 6 kW (about 8 bhp) electric motor and 5.4 kWh battery. That gives it a top speed of 45 kph and a claimed range of up to 75 km.
Then there’s the Top.J, which takes inspiration from the Fiat 500 Jolly beach car from the 1960s. Instead of going for a sporty look, this one is all about enjoying the sunshine. It gets a fabric roof and a bright blue-and-green exterior, while the seats are covered in terry cloth, giving the cabin the feel of a beach towel on wheels. The biggest change, however, is at the back. GFG Style has removed the Topolino’s rear luggage space and used the area to add another bench. That makes the Top.J a four-seater, although the two passengers at the back sit facing backwards. It’s a rather unusual solution, but then again, there isn’t much room to work with when the entire car is only 2.53 metres long.
The colours also have a little family history behind them. The blue and green combination is inspired by a Ferrari 166 MM that belonged to Lapo Elkann’s grandfather, adding a small connection to Ferrari history to this otherwise tiny electric city car.
What GFG Style has done is show how much character can be added to a very simple car with relatively simple changes. One turns it into a tiny open-top runabout, while the other transforms it into a miniature beach cruiser. And while neither is heading into production, we’d argue the Topolino looks considerably more interesting after these makeovers.
