| Launch Report Fiat Panda |
||
 |
||
|
Money No Object One faction within Fiat liked the idea of reviving Panda, but another argued that the 21st-century car was away ahead of the kind of basic, budget-class specification offered by its predecessor, and suggested the name Gingo instead. Many observers felt this made-up name was hopeless, not least because outsiders would have to be educated to pronounce it to rhyme with Jingo rather than with . . . um, something like Gringo without the "r". Anyway, Gingo it was going to be. Fortunately, a French spanner was then thrown into the works. With just a few weeks to go before the international launch last year, Renault gave official notification that it was going to take action because the name was too close to its own Twingo. Legal opinion seemed to agree - and Panda was given the last-minute nod. Whew!
One Of Fiat’s Neatest Designs The five-door body seems to me to look better in the metal than in photographs. In particular, the C-pillar treatment doesn’t appear awkward in real life, especially when you take into account that the rear cabin is unexpectedly roomy. Due to the fact that cars at the UK launch were substantially outnumbered by the journalists who turned up to drive them, my own motoring was committed three-up, and I wouldn’t say that either I or my companions qualified as modestly proportioned in all dimensions. We fitted in fine. Our tallest driver (6’2" or so) managed to conduct the machine without scraping his head along the roof lining, and, with a certain amount, but not too much, of the usual give-and-take about front passenger seat positioning, the rear cabin was a lot roomier than we’d been expecting. |
The new Fiat Panda goes on sale on Saturday January 17, and it turns out to have been a very close-run thing that it didn’t continue with the model name of the pre-production version.
