I read in the evening standard that the Fiat Panda had been awared the car of the year award for 2004 (and according to the fiat website), beating off competition such as the new VW Golf.
Quote from site "With 281 votes, the Fiat Panda beat the Mazda3 (241), Volkswagen Golf (241), Toyota Avensis (219), Opel/Vauxhall Meriva (213), BMW 5 Series (144) and the Nissan Micra (111)."
Has anyone driven one and why is it so good ?
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Oh dear...another car receives the curse....
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Actually I think it does look an attractive package, especially in Broom Yellow!!
Fiat should remember they ARE good at building small cars. (even though this is a Suzuki!!)
Now why are they bothering with a croma replacement, again shared Epsolon floorpan, with GM & co??
VB
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The croma was fantastic. Enormous boot and regularly high 30s mpg were had out of mine. Could easily get 40 + on a long run which for an old fashioned 2 litre carb engine in a car with the aerodynamics of a brick it was pretty good going! Handling was boring but safe and the brakes were really good. Huge amounts of rear passenger leg room ( I have yet to see another car that is as good for this) too. It was squeaky and rattly and with the seats folded down you could feel the hatchback flex but as you could fit a washing machine inside ( including packaging) and get the tailgate shut I could forgive it. If the new croma replacement is like the new 156 but with a hatch on it with plenty of space then it would be fantastic.
I could quite go for a panda when they bring out an abarth version with 150 bhp min , a turbo and 4 wheel drive :-)
teabelly
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Its a bit early to say though signs are optimistic. Orders for the new Panda were already above expectations, even before the award, and the new Punto, especially with the new 1.3JTD engine is also selling well, to the point that they are reopeneing the factory in Sicily far before they ever planned to. They still have a long way to go though!
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COTY, Talbot Horizon. Nuf said
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I belive the new panda's are being built in poland in place of the 'FIAT SEICENTO'.
Autumnboy
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I had a look around a Fiat Stilo estate JTD 115 Active, today and was quite impressed with the integrity of the build quality. I had a "TEMPRAmental" in the 90's and although it was a nice car to drive it developed a whole host of technical problems and to be quite honest I loved the driving position etc of the Stilo but after being bitten once I feel quite schitzofrenic about Fiats, nice cars, but would I ever trust one again? Yet surveys show reliability is now "above average" (whatever that means). In the same breath the salesman was a bit shocked I was comparing a Stilo and a Ford Focus. Feeling the Focus was way superior.
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Can vouch for the fact that any small Fiat with the new Multijet 1.3 diesel deserves to sell well. I've got a new-model Punto with that engine and it is first class. Goes far better than anything with a 1248cc (*not* 1251cc, despite what the motoring press think), 70 bhp engine ought to. Oh, and does 60+ mpg and has road tax of £85 per year.
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I'm back, well I hate to say this but this week I've seen and drove the new Fiat Panda. And I have say that the Rover has not got a chance!
The Panda is far better with its refinements ie: Electric sunroof on certain models, fitted radio/cd (not a retro fit), climatic heater controls on certain models, for less money.
Autumnboy
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