I think FIAT organized this event hoping that a number of people would be in town for the LA auto show (the 500's debut here has been known for quite some time now), and scheduled this preview as best they could around their official announcement on the 17th.
I honestly think that it's a nice gesture that they would even organize a preview event for their fans before the big reveal (not to mention the live stream of the actual introduction), and I'm sure that on the 17th there will be more than just a few 1" images to go around.
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