History of the Fiat Panda - Part 4: Rebirth of the Panda

17 Oct 2018

First of all, i want to apologise for beign so late with part 4. It was supposeed to be uploaded 3 days ago, but school stuff kept me from working on it. Now, though, i’m free, so enjoy part 4 of History of the Fiat Panda!

The first-generation Panda went out of production in September 2003, after a 23 years long run and over 5.000.000 units sold. But a new car was ready to take its place.

A nice car with a not so nice name

At the 2003 Geneva Motor Show, Fiat unveiled the concept of a car meant to replace the recently disconotinued first-gen Panda. This car was called the Fiat Gingo.
The concept was very sucessful, but many people didn’t like its name, for various reasons: in first place, the Gingo name didn’t have an history behind it, but most importantly it sounded way too similar to Twingo, a name already used by French car maker Renault for a small 3-door hatchback. This led to Renault suing Fiat, who was the forced to change the name of the concept.
The name chosen was Panda.

The time of change

The second-generation Panda was very different from its predecessor.
First of all, the 3-door hatchbak body style was abandoned, in favour of a 5-door hatchback body that took styling cues from mini MPVs and mini SUVs, such as Fiat’s own 2nd-gen Multipla.
Most importantly, though, the Panda was no longer conceived as a simple and spartan car, but as a practical, youthful and trendy car thanks to numerous accessories and options for customizing interiors and exteriors. The Panda in fact featured the most modern and widespread safety devices, ESP, power steering, manual air conditioning or automatic single zone with LCD screens, particle filter combined with turbodiesel engines and the navigator satellite with color liquid crystal screen. The front suspensions are configured according to the MacPherson scheme, while at the rear we find the twisting bridge, simple, economical and reliable solutions.
The line is spread over a length of 3.54 meters, ideal for tackling the city streets, thanks to the reduced turning radius and the help of electric power steering (equipped with the City function, which makes it even more effective and light during the most delicate maneuvers). This, together with fairly limited consumption, a good habitability for four people (thanks to a height of 1.54 meters) and not very expensive prices, have decreed the success for the second series of the Italian subcompact.
The limits of the Panda must be sought in the reduced autonomy of the tank (which varies from 30 to 35 liters capacity) and in the luggage compartment of modest capacity (from 206 to 860 liters with the fixed rear sofa, from 176 to 786 liters with the sliding rear sofa ). All this did not prevent the Fiat Panda from being named Car of the year in 2004.
The Panda scored a total of 3 stars in the EuroNCAP crash test.

Panda Van

A van version for goods transport was introduced a few months after the launch. The Panda Van offers a load capacity of 1,000 liters of volume and 505 kg of capacity. The load compartment has retaining hooks and for the 2-seater versions there is a bivalent bulkhead. The Panda Van is available with 1.1 and 1.2 FIRE petrol engines and with the 1.3 Multijet diesel.

The return of the cheap, cute, small offroader

In 2004, Fiat unveiled the Panda 4x4, successor of the original Panda 4x4. Unlike the normal Panda, the 4x4 uses a raised and strengthened platform characterized by the presence of permanent all-wheel drive with a viscous joint. Thanks to this completely mechanical system, in normal conditions the traction is distributed almost completely on the front wheels, but if these start to lose grip, in a few seconds and without any manual intervention by the driver will insert the four-wheel drive. The chassis has been revised in the rear area with independent wheel suspensions configured according to the scheme with arms pulled in order to allow the housing of all-wheel drive components. The bodywork retains the same shapes but features brand new front and rear bumpers reinforced and equipped with non-painted bumper shields able to give a typical off-road appearance. The Panda 4x4 is available with two engines: the 60 hp 1.2 combined with a 5-speed manual transmission and the 1.3 Multijet diesel. It was produced in two versions:
1) The basic version, which featured a decidedly poor endowment consisting of electric windows, power steering, height-adjustable steering wheel, steel rims without wheel trims, unpainted bumpers and dual airbags
2) The Climbing version, which added painted bumpers with shields, wheel covers or alloy wheels (on Multijet versions), side and rear guards. Among the optional features are the panoramic sunroof Skydome glass, and the electronic stability and traction control combined with the ELD locking system, through the braking system of the axle differentials and activation of the central locking. The 4x4 Panda are 1.63 meters tall, while only the Climbing versions are slightly longer (3.57 meters against the original 3.54). The Panda 4x4 was the best-selling off-road vehicle in Italy from 2006 to 2008. In July 2008 the viscous joint was replaced by the Haldex electrohydraulic joint.

Panda joins the SUV family

Presented during the 2005 Bologna Motor Show, the Panda Cross or SUV was the response of the Turin-based company to the remarkable growth of the Sport Utility Vehicle market. Based on the chassis of the Panda 4x4, of which maintains the mechanics, the Cross is characterized by a completely new front endowed with a new bumper design and new circular lights, while the tail has unpainted protections in the bumpers and around the new circular headlights. The only engine available is the 69 hp 1.3 Multijet while the traction is AWD. The standard equipment includes the ESP and ELD system, manual climate and alloy wheels, but it is not possible to homologate the car for 5 seats, unlike the basic versions.

A sporty Panda

At the end of 2006 the Panda 100 HP was presented.
It was a small “warm hatch” that recalled the Italian sports tradition applied to small cars such as the Mini De Tomaso and Autobianchi A112 Abarth. It has been slightly lowered compared to the normal Panda, and it has been modified in the bodywork, in the suspension, in the steering calibration and in the aerodynamics. Aesthetically it has a large front honeycomb grille, side tails, side skirts, an exclusive rear bumper, chrome exhaust tailpipe. It is powered by a naturally aspirated 1.4 FIRE 16 valves.
In the passenger compartment, characterized by seats and instruments of a new, more sporty design, the Sport key replaces the City one: it ensures a faster throttle response and a heavier and more honest steering, to ensure a sporty and fun ride on the road.
The car weighs only 975 kg, has four disc brakes, a 6-speed manual gearbox and mounts 15-inch alloy wheels; so equipped, it is capable of going from 0 to 100 km/h in 9.5 seconds and reaches the remarkable speed of 185 km/h. The Pandemonio package was an optional that included red brake callipers, white adhesive side strips (or red in the case of the white body), the frosted mirror caps and chrome shadow rims.
A slight facelift was carried out in November 2006, simultaneously with the release of the new Natural Power and 100HP versions. The new features are limited to new colors for the body, black plank and new upholstery for the seats.
In October 2009 Fiat presented another facelift with adjustments to both the bodywork and the interior. On the outside, the new features introduced are the new body colors, new roof bars with a satin silver center part, larger rear-view mirrors in the body color and body color mask. Inside, there are changes to the graphics of the instrumentation, new fabrics and the introduction of the system that signals the connection of the seat belt. As for the engines it is worth mentioning the arrival of the Euro 5-approved 69 hp 1.2 petrol which according to the house emits only 113 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometer.
The 2nd-generation Panda was joined in 2012 by the 3rd-gen model, remaining in production with a reduced price as the Panda Classic, and then finally going out of production in 2013.
End of Part 4. The History of the Fiat Panda will continue soon with Part 5: Special Versions Vol.2!
Stay tuned!