Think Italian cult cars. A Fiat Cinquecento may spring to mind. Jigging along cobbled streets, a bella signora at the wheel on her way to glitz and the fizz of an Aperol Spritz. It’s unlikely we envision a mud-splattered 1980s Fiat Panda parked in front of a barn. The calloused hands of a weathered farmer unloading a wicker demijohn from the boot – as a cat pounces onto the bonnet and settles down for a snooze.
Yet we’d be wrong to dismiss this image because, in Italy, just like a Serie A football team, the first-generation Fiat Panda comes with its own legion of loyal fans.
Panda Design; from Box to Squircles to Beef
The first-generation Panda was lean, mean and boxy. When it appeared on the scene in 1980 it came with the edginess of a rebellious teenager. When the second-generation Panda launched in 2003, it softened into a conscientious young student as the body’s angles melted into gentler curves. But change was on the horizon when, in 2012, the third-generation Panda bounced into adulthood. This new model flaunted the snazzy ‘squircle’ design element and the half-round, half-square squircle was incorporated into a multitude of design elements.
All this changed once more, when the Fiat Grande Panda was unveiled in 2024. With an overall aesthetic veering towards the boxy first-generation, this fourth-generation, mature ‘Big Panda’ appeared decidedly bulky – as if it had been secretly beefing up towards middle age with strength training and protein powder.
Proud To Be Panda
All generations of the Fiat Panda famiglia have their own distinctive character, but it’s the first-generation that carries cult status. To such a degree that across the country, Italians celebrate the first-gen Panda through dedicated clubs, road trips and rallies.
Possibly the most iconic event takes place in the aptly named town of Pandino, some 55 kilometres east of Milan.
Going by the name of ‘Panda at Pandino’, every June sees Pandisti – Panda fans – arrive from all over Europe. Since the event started in 2017, participation has rocketed and in 2024, more than 1,000 Pandas rolled up to Pandino, braving grey skies and wet weather. And although the three-day festival is open to all Fiat Pandas, the first-generation model is ultimately the star of the show.
Sketching in Sardinia
It was back in 1976, a time when Italian TV was still in black and white, that car designer Giorgetto Giugiaro – just about to go on his summer holidays – was approached by the newly appointed CEO of Fiat, Carlo De Benedetti.
Fresh from having designed the Volkswagen Golf, Giugiaro was intrigued by De Benedetti’s brief: to develop an idea for a vehicle that was compact, functional and economical. Something not too dissimilar from the concept of the Golf.
Fiat wanted a car that could sit alongside its own mini hatchbacks, the 127 and the even smaller – soon to be discontinued – 126. This would be a project that would be in stark contrast to some of Giugiaro’s previous work, which included designs for Aston Martin, Maserati, Lotus, Ferrari, De Tomaso and Alfa Romeo. Now he was being called upon to develop a car along the lines of the Golf, the Citroën Dyane, and the Renault 4.
The project was tempting. But so was a month-long holiday in Sardinia. There was only one way forward. Giugiaro accepted the brief and set off on holiday with his sketchbook in tow.
Oh Those Beach Vibes
Further down the line, reflecting on that summer, in an interview with Roberto Lanzone for Fiat’s in-house magazine –IllustratoFiat (n.02, Febbraio 1980) – Giugiaro says, “Maybe that’s why it has such a young, non-conformist spirit. The Panda was the first and only car I designed while on holiday.” And although aspects evolved, the car that went into production stayed true to Giugiaro’s initial design.
“The majority of the changes were in the car’s interior set-up: I’d made it much more spartan. This idea came to me while observing military vehicles and helicopters, where everything is reduced to the bare essentials.”
Inspired by his surroundings, Giugiaro goes on to say, “For the seats, I stole the idea from a deckchair I had on the balcony of the beach house.”
In fact, the first Panda prototypes featured a seating system that was fairly rustic, comprising of a frame of sturdy pipes and toweling – reminiscent of collapsible deckchairs. Later on, although simplistic, the folding idea was maintained, and once produced, the back seats could be adjusted into seven distinct positions, including fully reclined. However, a small amount of padding was included for comfort.
Slamming on the Brakes
Giugiaro, on fire with innovative ideas, sketched away the summer and completed the brief. Only to discover, once he returned home, that De Benedetti, the man in charge at Fiat, had been replaced. And despite Fiat’s ongoing labour disputes, the new CEO, Nicola Tufarelli, eventually approved development. Production, inevitably, was delayed, and it would take a lengthy four years for the Panda to get off the drawing board and onto the roads.
Finally, in February 1980 – on the grounds of the Palazzo del Quirinale in Rome – the car that Giorgetto Giugiaro himself is said to have likened to a fridge made its grand entrance into the world, when the silvery haired Gianni Agnelli, Head of Fiat, presented the Panda to Sandro Pertini, the President of Italy.
Small Screen, Big Impact
Perhaps the first-generation Panda did resemble a container on wheels. The flat glass used across the windows accentuated its rectangular shape. With a simple, frugal design, spacious boot and fully reclining seats, this was a car that could be marketed as the vehicle to satisfy the needs of a nation. The car not only looked useful – it was useful. A concept that was successfully narrated in a series of TV ads devised by creative duo Luis Ciccognani and Sandra Mazzucchelli.
“Fiat Panda, you’re great!” ran the slogan from an ad in 1981, as a selection of ‘buyer persona’ proceed to answer the voice-over’s query: “Excuse me, why did you choose the Panda?”
“Because it’s a real godsend!” exclaims a nun, in a Venetian accent, while loading crates of fruit and veg into the boot of a white Panda.
“Because we can make a saving, what with the price of hotels!” a man says to the camera, his partner smiling in agreement beside him in their honeymoon-festooned Panda.
“Because it’ll never betray me!” declares a sharp-suited man in front of a black Panda. His Sicilian accent and a Coppola hinting at mob connections.
For nationwide appeal, Italian regional accents, everyday situations and famous Italian landmarks feature throughout the Ad. The message hit home that this was a car for everyone – and sales took off.
Furthermore, in the Fiat Panda came second at the European Car of the Year Awards in 1981, missing the winning spot by a mere 18 votes (it lost to the Ford Escort Mk III).
’80s Off-roading and Adventure
The idea of the Panda as a car suited to whatever life threw at it became reality in 1983, when Fiat introduced the Panda 4×4. Now, as a four-wheel drive, it could tackle rough country roads, scale muddy mountains, navigate snow and ice, and plough through sand. Two years later, it was selected by Italian adventure tourism specialists Safariland for their inaugural expedition; Raid Del Coraggio – the Rally of Courage.
Going by the name of Africa Insieme – Africa Together – the expedition led a fleet of 54 Pandas from Rome to Abidjan on the Ivory Coast – and back. One hundred and twenty people signed up to the experience that set out to replicate the sense of freedom usually reserved for prestigious events such as the Paris Dakar Rally. Now the same adrenaline rush was available to everyone, even in a four-wheel drive Fiat Panda. This was the first Safariland adventure holiday in a series, and in the 1980s and 90s, the Raid Del Coraggio would take thrill seekers – and Pandas – to Iceland, Australia, Brazil, Egypt, Canada, Mexico, China, Zambia, Kenya, Argentina and India.
Once more, in 1985, three Panda 4x4s took part in another epic journey, the Marco Polo Expedition, from Venice to Beijing. This enterprise was led by Beppe Tenti from Trekking International and sponsored by Venice’s Ligabue Foundation. Fiat provided three unmodified Pandas, along with an Iveco truck for supplies. The itinerary was set to take the team across Yugoslavia, Greece, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, India, Nepal and China, covering just under 20,000 kilometres.
In an article from IllustratoFiat (n.07, Luglio/Agosto 1985), Beppe Tenti says, “I challenge anyone, even with different vehicles, to replicate our route. Several people present at our departure feared that standard vehicles wouldn’t make it, when, in fact, they fared well on all sorts of terrain.” Not even the Himalayan Mountain pass of Tanggu La, at an altitude of 5,231 metres, could deter the feisty Panda.
On reaching Xining in China, the crew were required to clean the well-travelled Pandas, as dirty vehicles were subject to fines. The cars also had to be handed over to Chinese drivers for the final 1,000-kilometre stretch towards Peking, as, at the time, foreigners were not allowed to circulate in certain cities. And so the car-less crew had to take a 40-hour train journey to the finish line, where they were eventually reunited with the Pandas.
Space Panda
Fast-forward to the age of social media and the first-generation Panda continues to be central to adventure.
In 2018, when the second- and third-generation Fiat Pandas had already been trundling around Italy for several years, Italian YouTuber Jakidale (@jakidale) set about launching a Panda into space.
Jakidale’s model Panda hits the skies
Following Elon Musk’s stunt of blasting the chassis of his cherry red Tesla Roadster into orbit, Jakidale – real name, Jacopo D’Alesio – was contacted by Lorenzo Bianco and Nicola Giardino, two engineer undergraduates, with the idea of sending a weather balloon up into the stratosphere. The YouTuber, however, wanted something more interesting than a plain balloon to feature in the project and, after some thought, the trio settled on a first-generation Panda. Not life-sized, but a palm-sized blue model Panda.
After weeks of careful planning, juggling bureaucracy and applying for permits, lift-off was scheduled for Sunday 27th May. The chosen site was to be in the middle of a ploughed field just south of Milan.
The Panda ‘spacecraft’ essentially comprised of a control panel, the balloon and the model Panda. The control panel was housed in an A4-sized white polystyrene box and to keep it light, instruments were kept to a minimum. These included GPS trackers, action cameras, an altimeter, a barometer, an accelerometer, a thermometer and power banks. Basic handwarmers padded out the instruments and acted as temperature stabilisers. The mini-Panda was screwed onto a short rod which stuck out of the box. Finally a four-metre-tall high-altitude balloon was attached to the craft and inflated with helium. And the model Panda, was launched up into the sky towards space, where it managed to reach the stratosphere at an impressive 27 kilometres.
With the aid of a flight path predictor, the trio were able to accurately estimate touchdown. And after 2 hours and 10 minutes, the blue model Panda landed, unscathed (except for a missing wheel), in a field not far from the launch site.
Fly Panda, Fly!
In the summer of 2020, the Panda was destined to take to the skies once more when Italian car modifier collective and YouTubers Carmagheddon (@Carmagheddon) attached a full-size hot air balloon to a full-size first-generation Panda. Hailing from the outskirts of Bologna, Rudi Cocchi (Rudos), Nicola Guadagnin (Guada) and Matteo Marzetti (Matte) named the project Pandolfiera (mongolfiera, meaning hot air balloon in Italian).
One of the best ways to see Italy
They set out to adapt the car, sawing a large square opening into the roof of a burgundy Panda, removing the seating and, in its place, fitting the balloon’s steering basket. Steel cables were fitted around the car and sticky tape (yes, you read that right) was used to keep the windows closed. And for good measure, the crew scribbled a quote by Jim Morrison onto the bonnet of the car: “Each of us has a pair of wings, but only those who dream learn to fly”.
The car was attached to an enormous yellow balloon, but windy conditions meant that the launch was delayed numerous times throughout the day, until late afternoon and the wind settled. And as hot air was released into the balloon, the burgundy Panda – which had been lying tipped onto its side in the middle of the field all that time – slowly straightened up, and miraculously began to inch off the ground, slowly rising to another adventure.
Another Panda-themed Carmagheddon project saw the trio convert the inside of a Panda into a swimming pool. They also concocted the shortest ever Panda, at just over two metres long. And of course, Italians are never far away from food, and inevitably Carmagheddon came up with a Panda foodie experience where they substituted the steering wheel for a cooking pot full of spaghetti in a tomato sauce.
Never go hungry again, just make sure your pasta is ‘al dente’.
Wheels also came under scrutiny and Carmagheddon managed to devise and fit a Panda with cement tyres, one with tyres that were essentially round metal frames fitted with trainers, and another with tiny wheels the size of oranges. All were perfectly functioning.
In 2023, Carmagheddon set about creating the world’s lowest car. They started by horizontally sawing through a Panda and removing the bottom part, and in its place fitting a go-kart driving mechanism. Yet it the driver had to crawl inside and drive lying down. At 59.5cm tall, it remains unclear whether the low turquoise Panda holds the actual world record. But it proved so popular in Italy that it was chosen to appear in the music video Sesso e Samba by Italian singers Tony Effe and Gaia, where it lazily circles a scrapyard with Tony Effe stretched out on the roof surrounded by dancers.
Who knows what Giugiaro would have made of all this while packing his suitcase for his Sardinian holiday back in 1976. That summer he’d set out to devise a car that was simple, straightforward and practical. In this he’d succeeded, but the car that emerged had so much more. It was simpatico – a term (with no direct equivalent in English) that blends the concept of fun, cute, friendly and charming.
This unassuming, hardy little car has united Italians from the 1980s to the present. It has crossed continents and risen into the space, yet it has also carried passengers through their daily lives. Going to that job interview, going out on that first date, and dropping off a child on their first day of school.
And simply – just going for a spin – because it’s a Panda.
