The 80s is again: Fiat reveals a brand new Panda
- The new Grande Panda will be a compact urban car measuring just 3.99 metres
- It’s got design nods to the original and shares the boxy silhouette and features
- It’s the first model from Fiat’s new multi-energy STLA Smart platform
To celebrate Fiat’s 125th anniversary, the Italian brand has revealed a new Panda – the first of a fresh range of models designed after the much-loved 1980s model.
The original 1980 Panda was a sensation – a compact two-box hatchback with a disproportionate amount of room inside. The ‘box on wheels’ took the world by storm selling over 7.5million units globally.
The new ‘Grande’ Panda of today is – as the name suggests – a little bigger, shifting from eighties supermini to a family-friendly motor that’s ‘perfect for today’s urban mobility’.
It’ll launch in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and will be available both as a hybrid and fully-electric vehicle.
To celebrate 125 years making cars, Fiat’s revealed a new Grande Panda – the first of a new family of cars designed after the much-loved 1980s model
The Fiat Grande Panda is ‘designed in Italy [Turin] for the world’ with a compact shape of just 3.99 metres long – below the 4.06-metre segment average and the same length as the new Alpine A290 hot hatch that’s just been unveiled.
Like the 1980s model – which was just 3,380mm long – every inch of practicality is squeezed out of the small shape, with the new Grande Panda carrying five people, and offering ‘well -organised space […] that’s ‘perfect for comfortable family living and contemporary urban mobility’.
There’s a lot for the new model to live up to.
The Panda of old had immense versatility with a rear bench, hammock-style seats and seven different position settings.
Designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani, it was a two-door, front-wheel drive car that was unfussy and functional and made optimum use of space.
It was built around the design brief of a ‘container’, could carry 1,000 litres and weighed just 650kg.
A spiritual successor to the original Mini, Citroen 2CV and Fiat 500, the character and function over form of the Panda made it a triumph to a huge and diverse range of drivers.
It stayed in production for 23 years and was a sales triumph. Now it’s one of those iconic cars everyone coos over.
The Fiat Panda became a legend after its 1980s release – selling over 7.5million units globally. Now, according to the latest MOT data there are 88,331 Fiat Pandas left in the UK with an MOT – 0.2580 per cent of all UK vehicles
The functional little car that made optimum use of space and was built around the design brief of a ‘container’. It could carry 1000 litres and weighed just 650kg
The new 2024 Grande Panda promises the same ‘Italian personality’ as well as the boxy silhouette that generated so many fans of the original.
The square-edged body is certainly distinctive, as are the bright body colours – in the case of the reveal car a zingy yellow.
The profile lines are heavily pronounced, and Fiat says they’ve gone for ‘a special exterior look that combines structured lines with soft and bold surfaces that highlight the chunky and robust wheel arches’.
The front is a mix of orthogonal lines and a square mesh arrangement, with a glossy black funky grille punctuated by a wave of pixels.
There are also opal cube headlights that apparently ‘reflect the windows on the façades’ of the Lingotto factory in Fiat’s home city of Turin.
The sunshine-Italian look is continued in the lower bumper skid plate and the daytime running lights turn into indicators and illuminate into a cheeseboard pattern.
The rear of the car is equally bold and chunky with big wheel arches which protect 17-inch geometric X-design diamond-cut alloys, an flat rear window, and tall boxed-in headlights that are a nod to the original.
Fiat’s thrown in a glossy black bezel with three-dimensional Panda spelt out – keeping that 80s feel alive
Fiat’s also thrown in a glossy black bezel with three-dimensional Panda spelt out. Even the doors have three-dimensional ‘Panda’ lettering.
The passenger compartment takes the attention with a defined cabin, sloping roof racks and a drop to the rear end.
There’s another play on the senses too: Fiat says to ‘generate a lenticular effect, a black square badge is connected to the graphics of the greenhouse [passenger compartment], creating a striking effect in which the four ‘FIAT’ letters turn into four bars which walk around the vehicle’.
The side doors also have three-dimensional ‘Panda’ lettering – this time in bas-relief, which reflect the environment and bring some life to the car
The Fiat Panda supermini has always been cheap, very fuel economic and practical – with some quirky looks
There have been many happy Panda owners over the years, with 40 years and three generations of the car
The Grande Panda is the first product in Fiat’s new family, and will be followed by the launch of a new vehicle every year until 2027.
All models will be manufactured on the same global and multi-energy STLA Smart platform ‘which works in every region of the world, allowing the brand to create many different vehicles’.
No launch details or pricing has been announced, but Fiat says the family car ‘is designed for the needs of customers worldwide’.
Olivier Francois, Fiat CEO, commented: ‘The best way to celebrate Fiat’s 125 years is to start writing the first pages of our future, starting with the new Grande Panda.
‘With the Grande Panda, Fiat now begins its transition to global common platforms that cover all regions of the world, passing on the resulting benefits to its customers worldwide.
‘In fact, the Grande Panda is perfectly suited for families and urban mobility in every country… a real Fiat!’
