First Fiat 500 in North America Brings in $85,000 at Toronto Charity Auction

Fiat would not exactly be considered a luxury automaker, but their spritely 500 hatchback has been winning over premium buyers around the world. Soon it will be on American shores as well – a little sooner than we thought, as it turns out, as the first one has already been sold on the Western banks of the Atlantic. But not in the United States.

Chrysler Canada donated the very first Fiat 500 for the 17th annual Venetian Ball in Toronto as a fundraiser for the Villa Charities. The organization helps the elderly and mentally handicapped in Canada's Italian community, and the little Fiat raised $85,000 – in Canadian funds, mind you, which are worth more than American these days – for the charity.