Das Panda!
The Fiat Panda is an icon of Italian automotive history, let's have a not too serious look at the greatness of the Pandino.
Many years before James May fell in love with the little hatchback made by Fiat, there was the Pandino. The original and mythological ancestor of the Fiat Panda on sale nowadays. Sold globally, in more than 4,5 million units only for the first two series, the old, original and true Panda is a legend, let’s have a look why.
Some say the Pandino’s engine magically produces an uncanny amount of power, Panda drivers swear to have overtaken Porsches and Mercedes on the motorway with their, small and tough Pandas. Some say the emissions out of the Pandino’s exhaust have melt more glaciers than all the factories built since the begin of industrial revolution.
Other says what it's indestructible, tough like a Land Rover and resistant as a Volvo, it can go off road, literally, or roll over a ditch and get out unharmed, you don't need a tank if you had a Pandino.
edits by me, original photo credits unknown
The Pandino is an institution, it's an Italian pride, anyone had at least a mate or a relatives who owned a Pandino, it was the first car of many young Italians, maybe inherited by parents or grands, first relentless drive and first place for love encounters, a comfortable bedroom on wheels.
That's mainly thanks to the brilliant design of Giorgetto Giugiaro, the same man who gifted automotive world with the DMC 12 DeLorean, the Alfa Romeo Giulia sprint or the Maserati Ghibli. The Pandino is masterpiece of practicality, simple but functional. The seats can be arranged in seven different ways, the lines are neat and squared, made for get the better use of space.
Giugiaro said in an interview with Italian newspaper “La Stampa"
“ The Panda is like a pair of jeans, that simple, practical, no frills, piece of clothing. I tried to bring into this car the spirit of military machinery, especially helicopters, that means light, rational, built-for-purpose vehicles.”
That's exactly what the Pandino is, there's no frills, except the seats removable covers, usually featuring patterns which looks designed by some color blind chap on acid trip. The only trim on the proper Pandino is the holy picture glued upon the dashboard, with the favorite holy of the owner’s mom or granny, watching the driver with a glaze of judgment, remembering to drive carefully, a default optional, as the plush dice hanging from the rear-view mirror.
The cassette player is an useless optional in the Pandino, why listen to the music when such a pleasant melody arrive from the engine? The driving is delightful with the constant rattling shaking the seats and massaging the back of the lucky Pandino’s owner, who is always fit, because the steer is without power assistance, combining health and financial vantages all in one.
Legends narrate what the wheels of the Pandino are made by aluminium foils like the ones for wrap food up, the bumpers are in asbestos cement, tough but deadly and the engine works at impoverished uranium. The lights are usually broken by default, the most popular colour available is the expired eggnog paint.
photo credits - memescan.it
Despite all the Pandino is fun to drive, capable of amazing things and moved mostly by willpower, stubborn and plucky this car is a children of the eighties, released in February 1980, it is a proof that Fiat made great cars, there's many still around which works magnificently, still showing off the bright colours of the first and second series, like green alps or red. As the Eighties it is rowdy, raw and exuberant, not classy or sophisticated, rough but fun, not perfect but epic.
You can't not love the Pandino, as you can't not love the eighties.
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Comments (58)
I've always loved it for having a grille that looks like an evaporative cooler vent, sitting off to one side.
It has such a great design ;)
I don't think the piece of metal with slots cut in it, that featured on the original is actually sophisticated enough to be classified as a 'grill' :P
I had the Seat version of this for my first car - it was awful! drivetribe.com/p/my-first-car-what-was-yours-O3KyscKNToSDxHGgEKK_cw
Hahaha the Seat Marabella!
Mine was utterly attrocious!
cc
I supposed he would have appreciate it ;)
Yes, yes and more yes.
Hahahaha thanks for reading James :D
In a car magazine i read a story about a panda. A very special one. An elettra.
Oh yess! An electric panda, and not an after market mod.
Id featured lead batteries and an motor that looks suspiciously like the ones found in forklifts. This combined with a 4 speed manual gearbox meant it did not go very fast nor did it go very far but for that era it was quite impressive.
The dude that ownes it works a teacher at a college for car technology so he decided to swap the gearbox for a 5 speed so it can go a little faster. He also upgraded to lithium ion batteries for an upgraded range.
It would be fun to see the reaction of a tesla driver when he sees the panda in the only charging space for kilometers.
Hahahah that's a scene I would love to see! Thanks for reading and for had shared this story Kars :D