Fiat 500s are everywhere. In the UK they outsell all other Fiats put together, thanks to an irresistible blend of compactness, chicness and retro appeal.
The practical but puritanical Panda, meanwhile, has faded into the background - yet, objectively, it has always been more of a car for doing the things cars should do.
Three decades ago the original Panda was a kind of Italian, updated Citroën 2CV, with its flat windows, aura of simple utility and fabric-trimmed, open-plan cabin. Its 2003 replacement was more sophisticated but kept to the functional ethos. Now, here's a new one.
Its shape is clearly derived from the previous cars', as are the structure and mechanical make-up - much of which the 500 also shares. So it's a tall car with a near-vertical tail, five doors and a high driving position - almost a small MPV. But the angular rationality has been softened with curvaceous flanks, a wider stance and rounded extremities.
And the whole look has been recast in a smiley-face, cartoonish way, with rounded-edge squares and rectangles as the motif outside and in. You'll find them on the air intakes and the shapes of the wheel arches, in the outlines of the instruments, the switch panels, the centre of the steering wheel and even, if you follow the line of the seam thereon, the steering wheel itself. Don't worry, the rim is circular, not a reprise of the Austin Allegro's much-mocked Quartic helm.
More squares, embossed and varied in size, adorn the faces of the seats' backrests to help air circulate between your back and the seat, while the open storage bin in the dashboard is meant to hark back to the original Panda “pouch”.
The practical but puritanical Panda, meanwhile, has faded into the background - yet, objectively, it has always been more of a car for doing the things cars should do.
Three decades ago the original Panda was a kind of Italian, updated Citroën 2CV, with its flat windows, aura of simple utility and fabric-trimmed, open-plan cabin. Its 2003 replacement was more sophisticated but kept to the functional ethos. Now, here's a new one.
Its shape is clearly derived from the previous cars', as are the structure and mechanical make-up - much of which the 500 also shares. So it's a tall car with a near-vertical tail, five doors and a high driving position - almost a small MPV. But the angular rationality has been softened with curvaceous flanks, a wider stance and rounded extremities.
And the whole look has been recast in a smiley-face, cartoonish way, with rounded-edge squares and rectangles as the motif outside and in. You'll find them on the air intakes and the shapes of the wheel arches, in the outlines of the instruments, the switch panels, the centre of the steering wheel and even, if you follow the line of the seam thereon, the steering wheel itself. Don't worry, the rim is circular, not a reprise of the Austin Allegro's much-mocked Quartic helm.
More squares, embossed and varied in size, adorn the faces of the seats' backrests to help air circulate between your back and the seat, while the open storage bin in the dashboard is meant to hark back to the original Panda “pouch”.
