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The Fiat Panda is the Perfect Off-Road Toy





The Fiat Panda:

The Fiat Panda is a small and fearless off-roader that will most likely be able to take you anywhere that you want it to. Not quite as vintage as some of our other articles but I am sure that this 90s creation will impress you and, by the end of this article, I am sure that you too will want one. The Fiat Panda is extremely capable but also an extremely small off-roader. So, lets dig a little deeper and find out why I think that the Fiat Panda is such a cool car!

The Fiat Panda was originally conceived in 1980 and was designed by the Italian design firm Italdesign. They had previously designed similar cars that focused on a very utilitarian sense of design and function. The car was supposed to be an easy to use, go anywhere, small sized car that was also supposed to be inexpensive. I am excited to say that not only did the Panda check all those boxes but it also went above and beyond. While the car was originally designed as a car that you could use for all sorts of activities, it was never strictly designed to be a tough off-roader. However, it was soon found out after its release in 1980 that you could use the car very well off road. 

It didn't take to long for this news to spread and soon everyone was snatching up these little cars to use them for off-roading. In the later models of the Panda, the car was equipped with two dials on the dashboard that would alert the driver of the tilt angle of the car. This allowed drivers to tell when the car was about to tip and made it even better to drive off road. To add its growing coolness, the car was quite inexpensive to purchase and to run. And on top of that, the car had a cool name with a cool look. Yes, it was a small Fiat. However, it definitely did look cool! The design was basic but that was what gave it its coolness. 

The car was released in 1980 and got its first facelift in 1986. While I think that all models of this car are pretty cool, my favorite it the 1986 models. These models had a clean look and where equipped with an updated engine. Originally, the Panda was equipped with the two cylinder engine from the older Fiat 127. However, after the facelift they were equipped with Fiat's new 770cc water cooled, four cylinder engine. These new four cylinder engines created a whopping 34 hp. It doesn't sound like a lot because, well, its not. But, it didn't matter because it was enough for the cars to still be a lot of fun to drive. 

So, now we are getting to the part where I usually talk about current price and offerings. I will say, I have good news and bad news when it comes to this section for the Panda. The good news is that most of these are now selling in the $3,000 to $5,000 range. The bad news, at least for people in the United States, is that I was unable to find any on the American market. I believe that there were very few, if any, that were originally sold here and so if you want one you will have to purchase it and then have it shipped to the US. Personally, while it is expensive, I think that the pros out weigh the cons in this situation. However, that is for you to decide! If you enjoy the blog and the articles, it would really help if you could share my site with your friends and family! Also, if you want updates, click the subscribe button on the top of the screen!


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