Fiat Multipla review
by Ross Finlay (29 January 2000)
Fiat people say their own styling centre was responsible for the Multipla, but they can't kid me. I recognise elements of that weirdly-presented fascia. The stacked-up ventilator grilles are the dead spit of the space helmets of some of those extra-terrestrial baddies we see on television, in re-runs of early black-and-white episodes of <Dr Who>.
So, did aliens design the Multipla? Not quite, but some very ingenious people did, and they weren't the slightest bit concerned that such an original piece of work would hit first-time observers slap between the eyes like a wet haddock.
It's wide - wider than Fiat's Ulysse MPV. It's short - as short as a Bravo hatchback. And it's tall. The Multipla has scrambled our usual ideas about car dimensions in order to accommodate six people with ease, in two rows of three-abreast seats with plenty of room for luggage at the back.
You may wake up screaming in the night about the eccentricity of the fascia and the interior door handles, and some of the cabin colour schemes, but you have to recognise that this car is an original and practical alternative to the mid-range MPV.
It's also built in what, for a vehicle in this area of the market, is a very unusual way. No conventionally pressed body, but a spaceframe with welded-on panels.
As far as interior space is concerned, nothing of the same overall size can whack the Multipla. That's partly because the body sides are almost vertical, with very little tumble-home to restrict shoulder room. Other details like a fascia-mounted gearlever and right-hand handbrake help to make the cabin as unobstructed as possible.
There's plenty of stowage area for odds and ends as well as for driver and passengers, and much better luggage space than looks likely from the outside. All the seats are individual, and the rear ones can be folded and/or removed as required.
If you think three people abreast in the front row must make the driver's left arm movements a bit awkward, the design team was there before you. The centre front seat is a little behind the ones on the outside.
However ingenious it is inside, surely a car like this, with its unconventional relationship between wheelbase and track, must be unwieldy on the move? Come on, we're talking Italian designers here. Not only does the Multipla avoid feeling too bulky out on country roads; it handles quite sportingly, with not much roll from that wide-track body, and it certainly isn't slow.
Sitting high, with massive glass area all round and eight-jet windscreen washers, the driver has a fine view of the road in dry weather or wet. At night, you see the effect of another of the Multipla's most unusual features - high-beam lights, dipped-beam lights and foglights all at different heights.
There are SX and ELX specification levels, each available with a choice of engines. The 1.6-litre petrol engine is a 103bhp affair which lets a lightly laden Multipla get to 62mph in a quite sprightly 12.6 seconds.
But Fiat also offers the car with a 1910cc version of its JTD common-rail turbo diesel - the same type as in the Alfa Romeo 156. Now there's a combination!
It transforms the performance and nimbleness of the Multipla. The 0-62mph time may be trimmed by only a fifth of a second, but there's far better low and mid-range torque: 148lb ft down at 1500rpm. And the JTD Multipla, despite not being what you might call sleek and wind-cheating, manages 51.4mpg extra urban and 44.1mpg combined.
The prices appeal too. On the road, the 1.6 SX costs £13,380 and its turbo diesel counterpart costs £14,380. The 1.6 ELX is in the catalogue at £15,080, while the JTD ELX comes in at £1000 more.
Fiat decided to move ahead of, or maybe off at a tangent from, its immediate rivals when it gave the Multipla the go-ahead. This is a stalwart effort, and it's not all wacky styling.
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