Description
The Fiat Panda is a city car produced and marketed by Fiat since 1980 and is currently in its third generation.
The first generation Panda (Mk1 1980-1986 & Mk2 1986-2003), introduced in 1980, was a two-box, three-door hatchback designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani of Italdesign and produced until model year 2003 – with a four-wheel drive variant in 1983. SEAT of Spain marketed a variant of the first generation Panda under license from Fiat, initially as the Panda and later as the Marbella (1986–1998).
The second generation (Mk3), which came on the market in 2003 as a five-door hatchback, was designed by Giuliano Biasio of Bertone, and won the European Car of the Year award in 2004.
The third generation (Mk4) Panda debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show in September 2011, was designed at Fiat Centro Stilo under Roberto Giolito and remains in production in Italy at Pomigliano d'Arco.
In 40 years, production of the Panda has increased to more than 7,8 million, of which approximately 4,5 million were of the first generation. In early 2020, its 23 years of production was counted by Autocar magazine as the twenty-ninth longest-lived single-generation car in history. During the initial design phase, Italdesign referred to the car as il Zero. Fiat later suggested the name Rustica. Ultimately, the Panda was named after Empanda, the Roman goddess and patroness of travelers.
First generation Mk1 – The Panda was introduced at the Geneva Motor Show in March 1980, internally designated Type 141 and designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani of the newly founded Italdesign. From the start, the Panda was designed as a cheap, easy to maintain, utilitarian and robust simple car. The car was presented to the press in December 1979; the first generation went on sale in Italy at the end of February, before the premiere in Geneva. Fiat launched right-hand drive models for the British market in May 1981.
The Panda 4×4 was launched in June 1983, powered by a 965 cc engine with 48 hp (36 kW) derived from the Autobianchi A112 or Fiat 100 series engine. This model, known simply as the Panda 4×4, was the first small, transverse production car with a 4WD system. The system itself was manually selectable, with an ultra-low first gear. Under normal conditions (on the road) starting was from second gear, with fifth gear having the same ratio as fourth in the normal Panda. The Austrian company Steyr-Puch supplied the entire drivetrain (clutch, gearbox, PTO, three-piece propeller shaft, rear axle including differential and brakes) to the Termini Imerese factory where it was mounted on the reinforced body.
In November 1984, the trim levels were named “L”, “CL”, and “S”. Specifications and detailing were changed across the range, using the Fiat corporate grille on all versions. Mechanically the range remained largely unchanged.
