The Fiat Topolino is the smallest and cheapest offering from the Italian brand, designed as a twin to the Citroen Ami. The L6e light quadricycle classification comes with weight and performance limitations, but it didn’t stop seasoned automotive designer Fabrizio Giugiaro and Italian entrepreneur Lapo Elkann from using it as a base for their latest project.

The two men are close friends and wanted to create something together for a long time. Instead of building an exotic supercar or an expensive restomod, their first project was to “take one of the smallest and most accessible cars on the road and turn it into something surprising – something capable of delivering emotion and fun.”

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The result is a pair of Topolino-based concepts created by GFG Style, the design studio founded by Giorgetto and Fabrizio Giugiaro after leaving Italdesign. The Top. L (Love) is a roofless speedster, and the Top. J (Joy) is a four-seater with a fabric top.

A Tiny Speedster With A Big Attitude

Top. L by GFG Style

The Top. L swaps the roof and greenhouse of the Topolino for a short wraparound windshield. Instead of doors, the concept is fitted with Wicker Ropes, which are available as an option on the roadgoing Topolino Dolcevita.

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Other highlights include redesigned LED headlights reminiscent of the Fiat 500, vintage-style multi-spoke chrome wheels, and a Matte Aquamarine exterior finish combined with matching leather and Alcantara upholstery. According to GFG Style, the attitude of the Top. L was inspired by James Dean’s iconic Porsche 550 Spyder nicknamed “Little Bastard”.

A Four-Seater Version With An Asterisk

Top. J by GFG Style

Next is the Top. J, designed to accommodate four people in an unconventional configuration. The cargo area has been retrofitted with a rearward-facing bench, leaving the legs of the rear passengers hanging over the rear bumper. The additional seats mean that the Top. J doesn’t comply with the L6e regulations, and could only be registered in the higher L7e segment.

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The model features a cloth canopy for sun protection and tube doors for an open-air driving experience, skipping the windows entirely.

The blue and green livery is inspired by the Ferrari 166 MM driven by Avvocato Gianni Agnelli in the ’50s, while matching the preferences of Umberto Agnelli and Lapo Elkann’s signature colors from his time at Garage Italia. The same theme continues inside the cabin, with blue and green shades for the terry cloth and leather upholstery.

No Changes Under The Skin

The concepts retain the underpinnings of the Topolino. The factory setup includes a single electric motor producing 8 hp (6 kW) and a 5.5 kWh battery for a claimed 47 miles (75 km) of range. While the little Fiat won’t set any speed records, Lapo and Fabrizio claim that “passion for cars has nothing to do with horsepower.”

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Lapo Elkann said: “Fabrizio and I had wanted to create something together for a long time. We share a friendship, a passion for cars, design and motion, and above all a lateral way of thinking. We had fun transforming the Topolino, playing with colors, materials and volumes.”

The company didn’t announce any production plans, but Fabrizio Giugiaro and Lapo Elkann confirmed their intention to continue their collaboration with more projects in the future.

Not The First Special Topolinos

GFG Style is not the first company to redesign the EV. Back in 2024, Italian firms Castagna Milano and Carrozzeria Garavini took on the same challenge, resulting in a pair of coachbuilt specials available for sale in limited numbers as pricey conversions.

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Fiat has also capitalized on customization options for the Topolino by unveiling the Sport and Vilebrequin variants alongside the mechanically-related Multiplina four-seater concept earlier this year. Furthermore, there are rumors about a potential Abarth-branded version of the EV, although any upgrades will be focused on styling.

Americans are understandably tired of hearing why a new vehicle now costs the better part of $50,000. Automakers did not totally invent the country’s appetite for SUVs and pickups. But there’s no doubt that they have spent decades feeding it, moving buyers into bigger, plusher, and far more profitable machines. Their newest answer to affordability may be a $15,000 electric low-speed vehicle. In other words, when America asks for a cheaper car, the industry may offer a more convincing golf cart.

As CNBC reports, companies including Stellantis’ Fiat, Waev, and startup Chip Motors, see an opening for electric LSVs. Fiat is using Miami to test its tiny Topolino quadricycle, while Chip plans to begin production of a four- or six-seat vehicle next year. Both are expected to start at roughly $15,000, a figure that suddenly looks interesting in today’s market.

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There is a real use case here. An LSV can be ideal in some spaces. Think of a retirement community, a beach town, a resort, or a dense development where the grocery store, restaurant, and mailbox are all a few miles away. They can generally charge from a normal household outlet, cost less than a conventional EV, and offer more weather protection than a typical golf cart. As a second vehicle, that sounds perfectly sensible and even a little fun.

Still, it takes a remarkable amount of optimism to frame one as an answer to America’s broader transportation problem. Federal rules generally limit LSVs to 25 mph, and states may allow them only on roads posted up to 35 mph. They need lights, mirrors, turn signals, and a compliant windshield, but airbags are not required. That is not a cheap replacement for a normal family car. It is a vehicle for people whose lives happen to fit inside a very narrow operating envelope.

That is where the affordability pitch begins to wobble. America does not need another clever way to sell a vehicle that cannot safely handle the daily realities of American driving. It needs genuinely affordable, highway-capable cars with enough room, safety equipment, and range of ability to serve as a household’s primary transportation.

LSVs may become a healthy niche, and good for them if they do. The roads will be more whimsical with them there. But they are cheaper precisely because they are less capable and subject to fewer requirements than a normal car. Sell them honestly as fun, useful local runabouts, and there is a case to make. Sell them as the industry’s answer to soaring vehicle prices, and it starts to look like the affordability crisis has been answered with a loophole.

The Fiat Topolino has just landed in America at $13,995, which technically makes it the cheapest EV in the country. The catch is that it isn’t classified as a car and can’t be sold as street legal, at least not until Stellantis rolls out an optional Low Speed Vehicle (LSV) conversion kit that clears it for roads posted at 35 mph (56 km/h) or less.

In base form, its 19 mph (31 km/h) top speed keeps it well clear of any highway on-ramp. So it’s slow. Very slow. Then again, nobody buys something that makes the original Smart ForTwo look roomy expecting speed. None of which has stopped Stellantis from weighing an Abarth-branded version to make the tiny EV more tempting to young buyers in Europe.

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That hotter model would go beyond the Fiat Topolino Sport that was recently introduced in Italy. The Sport brought fresh colors, stripe graphics, black accents and wheels to match, though nothing underneath changed.

Fiat and Abarth CEO Olivier Francois told Autocar the company is developing an Abarth take on the Topolino. He called the idea a “dream” and predicted it would be a “total hit”.

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So why hang a performance badge on a heavy quadricycle built to crawl through city traffic? Gaetano Thorel, who runs Fiat and Abarth in Europe, laid out the thinking.

Chasing Teenagers Who Want Noise

“We want to make an Abarth feeling for the Topolino, because we are still trying to boost selling it to young people. It’s amazing: Topolino is the most successful quadricycle in Italy, and if we’re being honest we still don’t catch the heart of 16- and 17-year-olds. I want to gain their hearts, which is why we now have Topolino Sport. An Abarth Topolino could be another solution.”

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The Fiat Topolino, Citroen Ami, and Opel Rocks Electric triplets are classified in the L6 quadricycle segment, which lets 14-year-old teenagers legally drive them in countries like Italy and France. Even so, Fiat’s European boss admitted that parents usually prefer rivals like the Ligier, which feels sportier thanks to the sound of its 50cc engine compared with the “more gentle” Topolino EV.

Styling Over Speed

To win over that younger crowd, Fiat needs a spicier take on its retro-flavored quadricycle, possibly borrowing the fake engine noises from the fully electric Abarth 500 along with a more aggressive bodykit and special touches inside the cabin.

That said, don’t expect the pint-sized EV to turn into a pocket rocket. Regulations wouldn’t allow the Topolino to carry anything stronger than the current 8 hp (6 kW) electric motor. Abarth’s engineers would likely go no further than perhaps some minor tweaks to the suspension along with different wheels and tires. The special edition will be more of an Abarth lifestyle product than a genuine performance machine.