Business Car trailblazers Fiat Panda
The Panda name tag makes a return this year, morphing into an EV and growing to be a B-segment hatch. Time to look back at this iconic Italian model’s history, then.
Martyn Collins
It says something about the original Fiat Panda’s styling, that when I look back at the first car magazine I was given aged five years old, a copy of the 1981 Daily Mail Motor Show Review, it’s the only car I remember on the cover!
Like the Classic Mini, Citroen 2CV, and the 500 that came before the Panda, with its sharp but boxy lines, and flat glass, the Giugiaro-styled Panda put function ahead of form! It was certainly a shape that endured, as despite a relatively light facelift in 1986, it carried on in the UK until 1995, when after 161,501 UK sales, the Fiat Cinquecento took over. The Panda was equally pared back inside. Highlights being the hammock-style front seats, plus adjustable back seat. Yet, remove the rear seat, and the Panda could carry up to 1,000 litres of cargo. Other ways Fiat kept the weight down included the full-width dashboard pocket (replicated in the new Grande Panda!), with the instruments stuck on top of it. Underneath, there was a 903cc engine badged 45,
which gained five-speed manual transmission and ‘Super’ badging after a year on sale. The biggest addition to the Panda range came in 1984, with a capable four-wheel drive version. It might have lacked a low-ratio gearbox, but with its raised stance, and short dimensions, it was more capable than bigger off-roaders.
The 1986 facelift was mostly made up of the new full-width front grille, but underneath it received shared uprated suspension, and new FIRE (Fully Integrated Robotised Engines) engines. The final round of original Panda updates came in 1991, with the introduction of a Continuously Variable Transmission (CVT) version, combined with an 1,108cc engine.
Then, just as we thought the Panda was dead, the second-generation launched in early 2004, with almost no link to the original. Still, its high-bodied styling was very much of the moment, echoing mini
MPVs and SUVs. As a result, it walked off with the coveted Car of The Year award in 2004. Originally powered by a choice of 1.1 and 1.2-litre petrol engines, then a 1.3-litre Multijet diesel, it was the mildly sporty 100hp petrol engine that got the most attention. It was launched at the end of 2006, and was the first Panda I drove.
The Panda 100HP came with a 1.4-litre petrol engine offering 0-62 acceleration in 9.5 seconds, and on to a top speed of 115mph. But it wasn’t about the performance – it was how it dealt with the corners! I can remember leaving my house early to get to the office, just so I could enjoy the taut handling and feelsome steering!
More capable four-wheel drive models and a third-generation Panda have followed. However, the original is closest to the latest Grande Panda, and if you can find one, prices start from £2,500 for the 45 version built in 1991.
50 | May/June 2025 |
www.businesscar.co.uk
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