Road Test

Your Say

Fiat Panda 1.2 Eleganza

Test Date 17 February 2004 Price When New £9,600

Verdict

Anyone expecting a return to real small-car innovation from Fiat — past masters at this genre with cars like the Topolino and Nuova 500 — can’t help but feel a tinge of disappointment about the new Panda. Ideally, as car enthusiasts, we would have loved to have seen Fiat come out of its corner fighting with a revolutionary small car that silenced critics and wowed consumers.
But despite the lack of innovation, a Car of the Year gong and a healthy order book tell their own story. By taking a more conservative route — and you can understand Fiat being nervous considering the high stakes involved with this car — Fiat has produced the most desirable city car currently in the marketplace. One that brings the kind of solid feel and multitask durability from a class or two above. Although it offers nothing special in terms of packaging or performance, the Panda has an elusive ‘polished feel’ that’s so hard to engineer into cars at the bottom end of the market.
That the Panda is a pleasing, if slightly pedestrian, drive is a bonus, but we suspect that fine equipment levels, keen pricing, good safety and smart styling will be the real reason for its success. And for Fiat, that will be mission accomplished, and the first mile down the long road to recovery.