The long awaited delivery of the first of the Mexico-built 500s to North American customers comes after many delays to the project; originally the stateside relaunch of Fiat had been talked about for late last year. However building an entire dealer network from scratch has been a major task for the Chrysler Group to undertake, especially so due to all the requirements laid down to create a specific brand image and conditions.

The arrival of the 500 Prima Edizione in the showrooms comes just as Allan Mulally, the CEO of Chrysler Group's Detroit rival Ford, attacked the U.S. launch of the 500, saying that he didn't seen market room for the car, and comparing it to the recent stateside launch of Mercedes-Benz's Smart city car which proved to be a failure. "I do not see [a] big market space for [a] car in the U.S. smaller [than the] Fiesta," he told Italian journalists yesterday. Ford's current-generation Ka is built on the same platform as the 500 at Fiat's Tychy plant in Poland; however Ford have never developed plans to bring it to North America. Fiat North America hasn't changed its sales target of around 55,000 units of the 500 for 2010.

The Prima Edizione (First Edition) model is meant for Fiat stalwarts like Shaun Folkerts, 38, who has a barn full of Fiat vehicles, dating back to 1958 and in various stages of restoration on his property in Douglassville, Pa. He has 90 Fiat vehicles in his collection, about a third of them housed in the barn, and the rest in a nearby warehouse.

Folkerts, a former environmental consultant and now stay-at-home dad, drove today from his home in southeastern Pennsylvania to take delivery of his Prima Edizione at Fiat of Gaithersburg, a Fiat Studio in Maryland in the metro Washington D.C. area. “I’ve been waiting almost 28 years for this model to arrive, so I would drive anywhere, anytime for this Fiat 500,” an elated Folkerts said. Folkerts’ first car as a teenager was a Fiat Spider “and I’ve never looked back.”

In July 2010, Fiat fans attending the Club Fiat-Lancia Unlimited annual convention in North Carolina were given the opportunity to place reservations and select their vehicle build number for the unique Prima Edizione model.

Folkerts took delivery today of Prima Edizione No. 11, produced in Toluca, Mexico. The model appeals to a broad spectrum of customers, like the father and son from Pennsylvania, each getting their own Prima Edizione model, and the husband and wife team of Italian descent in Philadelphia who will soon take delivery of a Rosso (Red) Prima Edizione and a Bianco (White) model. Even a 16-year-old high school sophomore soon will drive her Prima Edizione model home in suburban Detroit.

“The fact that these cars are reserved by a father and son, a husband and wife, and even a high school girl illustrates the strong appeal of this model to a broad array of customers who identify with Italian design, modern technology, fuel efficiency and overall value,” Soave said.

According to a Chrysler press release Soave was 'ecstatic' as she handed the keys of the No. 11 Prima Edizione to Folkerts at the new Fiat of Gaithersburg dealership. It also was a special moment for dealer Harry Criswell. “This is clearly one of the highlights of my automobile career,” Criswell says. “This is a perfect car for the perfect time. The American public is ready for this vehicle. I think this Fiat 500 will create an entirely new market segment of vehicles.”

The Fiat 500 Prima Edizione is exclusively available in three colors: Bianco, Rosso and Grigio (Gray). These limited-edition Fiat 500 models are equipped with a manual transmission. Designed as a collector vehicle, each Prima Edizione will feature a sequentially numbered vehicle identification number (VIN) and unique numbered matching badge on the instrument panel.