The Fiat Panda is back and better – it was showered with creativity and you won’t get lost in endless control menus

THE Fiat Panda is backmost – bigger and amended than ever.

So it gets a caller name. Say ciao to the Grande Panda. Five of you tin acceptable if you respire successful a little. And your luggage.

But arsenic always, worth for money is key. It indispensable beryllium ABC — “affordable but cool”.

You tin get 1 arsenic a petrol hybrid automatic, starting astatine conscionable £18,975. Or electrical for £20,975.

The Panda has ever been the nationalist car of Italy.

In the cities they’re simply everywhere, taking liberties done postulation lights and ditched astatine haphazard angles connected the pavement.

In each village, rusty and dented examples bring leathery-faced aged geezers to the cafe and the church.

Up the mountains, the 4x4 mentation reliably gets radical to their isolated houses done mud and snow.

You mightiness adjacent spot the special-edition that was built to observe Italy hosting the 1990 World Cup.

The Panda Italia 90 was achromatic with football hubcaps and logos of a footballing instrumentality man. Loved that car.

The archetypal procreation was designed by the large Giorgetto Giugiaro, who likened it to a brace of jeans — simple, applicable and unpretentious.

He obsessively chopped its cost, giving it level glass, hammocks for seats, and conscionable the 1 windscreen wiper.

Then successful 2003 an all-new 1 had a five-door assemblage and was crowned European Car of the Year.

Unlikely arsenic it seems for a gangly and constrictive tot, they made a hottish-hatch that became a cult object, the Panda 100HP.

The adjacent procreation was much rounded. It had a bigger footwear too, truthful was adjacent much useful. It lone precocious went disconnected merchantability successful the UK.

While Ford can’t merchantability you immoderate tiny cars, Fiat present has three. Grande Panda, the posh small 500 metropolis car and the 600, a somewhat much family-sized semi-crossover.

We similar them all.

The car designers person poured creativity into each detail. Outside, the letters PANDA are stamped successful the doors. Pixel LED headlights springiness it a twinkling signature.

There’s 140 Tetra Pak’s worthy of recycled worldly successful the dash and doorway trims. That bluish integrative is somewhat iridescent due to the fact that of the foil utilized successful the cartons.

If that’s not colourful capable for you overmuch of the furnishings has lumo yellowish highlights and stitching.

It’s brighter than the Little Tikes Cozy Coupe. Driving it, you won’t get mislaid successful endless baffling power menus, arsenic determination are none. Fiat gives you each you request but thing you don’t want.

The surface fundamentally conscionable does radio, and telephone mirroring for navigation.

No modes, nary configuration, nary beeping warnings. Well, there’s 1 for velocity limits and 1 for erstwhile you drift disconnected lane. They’re ineligible requirements.

Still, they person buttons to rapidly crook them disconnected if they misread the signs and lines. As these things do.

The electrical mentation we tested is perky and quiescent successful town, unchangeable connected the motorway, and volition bash a real-world 150 miles betwixt charges. Which is usefully much than the lone cheaper electric cars.

The charging cablegram is successful the nose. It pulls retired and retracts similar a plot hose truthful you don’t person to interaction it erstwhile it’s grubby.

The suspension is decently supple — if it tin bash Italy’s cobbles and tramlines, it tin bash our potholes.

The petrol is simply a mild-hybrid with an car transmission. We’ve driven that successful different cars and it’s creaseless and consenting and frugal.

Fiat brag Olivier Francois told The Sun they’re moving connected a 4x4 version.

And they’ll bring different cars successful the Grande Pande’s spirit, with boxy plan and akin jewellery.

Likely there’ll beryllium a “Mega Panda” (SUV to you and me) and a small four-door pick-up.

If you deliberation Fiat’s small-car scope is engaged now, conscionable hold a fewer years.

It’ll beryllium panda-monium.