Fiat Fuels The Excitement At Diesel Party

LONDON – October 22, 2008: The ever-popular Fiat 500 lapped up the limelight once again at Diesel’s xXx worldwide 30th birthday celebrations, earlier this month.

A special-edition Fiat 500 by DIESEL version of the in-demand supermini was displayed outside the London party, at matter nightclub in the O2 Arena in Docklands, where more than 3,000 lucky ticket holders partied late into the night.

The limited edition 500 by DIESEL model – just 10,000 will be produced – was created by Fiat Style Centre designers and the DIESEL design team headed by Lars Schwartz. The idea was to create an ‘Urban Survival Vehicle’, perfect for town traffic, yet expressing the personality of its alternative young brand lovers.

Based on a 500 Sport version, the 500 by DIESEL comes in metallic shades of green, black or brown. The exterior features 16-inch alloy wheels with the DIESEL logo, brake callipers painted yellow (an option only on the 100 bhp 1.4 version), unique side trim with the wording DIESEL and a special door mirror faring.

Inside, the car features special upholstery in denim fabric. The label logo also appears on the instrument panel and gear knob, while a special pouch reminiscent of the fifth pocket on DIESEL jeans appears on the side of the front seats.

Jade Jagger, Paris Hilton, Kelly Osbourne and Roisin Murphy helped celebrate the brand’s 30th anniversary, while 30 bands performed a one off ‘Creative Experiment’ in which 30 artists took part in a musical relay, including producer Mark Ronson, The View, Patrick Wolf and Friendly Fires.

A one-off car, signed by all 30 artists who performed at the event, is up for grabs as part of the Diesel xXx charity auction, with all proceeds going to the Livity Trust.

Eighteen other major cities hosted similar high profile parties on 11 October, including Paris, New York, Milan, Amsterdam, Helsinki and Tokyo.

The 500 by DIESEL will be available with all three Euro 5-ready power units in the Fiat range – the 69 bhp 1.2 unit, 75 bhp 1.3 Multijet unit with DPF, and 100 bhp 1.4 16v unit. Prices start at £11,400.

“The DIESEL party was a great success and proved a perfect opportunity to show the new 500 by DIESEL” says Elena Bernardelli, marketing director, Fiat UK. “The Fiat 500 is a perfect fit for DIESEL and we are pleased to have this fantastic association with them.”