The World Wildlife Fund initially balked at Fiat using the Panda name - until Fiat paid up. Local custom allowed writing a check on any surface, so Fiat wrote the payment directly on the hood of an actual Panda.
Lead trim: 30 (652 cc air-cooled two-cylinder) · up to 51 hp
Fiat Panda 141141 · 1980–2003
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Nobody in Burbles has spotted a Fiat Panda 141 yet. See one on the street, point the app at it, and the first card is yours — with your @handle permanently credited on this page.
FactThe World Wildlife Fund initially balked at Fiat using the Panda name - until Fiat paid up. Local custom allowed writing a check on any surface, so Fiat wrote the payment directly on the hood of an actual Panda.
Introduced at the March 1980 Geneva Motor Show (press drives December 1979, on sale in Italy in late February) as Type 141, designed by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani of the newly formed Italdesign, the first time Fiat had entrusted a high-volume model to an outside company; the two spent 15 days in the summer of 1976 in Porto Cervo, Sardinia drawing it under the working name Zero. Designed to be inexpensive, easily maintained and robustly simple, with a rear solid axle on leaf springs, a 652 cc air-cooled twin in the Panda 30 and a 903 cc water-cooled four from the 127 in the Panda 45 at launch, later the 843 cc Panda 34 (September 1982) and the Panda 4x4 of June 1983 (catalogued separately). Right-hand drive reached the UK in May 1981. The January 1986 141A facelift brought the FIRE four-cylinder engines and an "Omega axle" rear suspension, a 1301 cc diesel followed in April 1986, the all-electric Elettra arrived in 1990, and a 1991 facelift added the Selecta CVT and a 1108 cc engine. The Panda was discontinued in the UK in 1995 and the final car was built on 5 September 2003; 4,491,000 were made, and SEAT sold a version as the Marbella.
Collectors Spotted in the Fiat Panda Lineage
No member has published a public street spot of the Fiat Panda yet — the First · Worldwide stamp is wide open.
Trims & Figures
6 published trims in the catalogue. A blank is a figure not recorded, not zero.
| Trim | Years | Engine | Power | Torque | 0–60 | Drive | Gearbox | MSRP |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.3 diesel (37 PS) | 1986–1989 | 1.3 L Inline-4 | 36 hp | 52 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| 1000 999 cc FIRE (45 PS) | 1986–1992 | 1.0 L Inline-4 | 44 hp | 58 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| 1100 1108 cc FIRE SPI catalyst (51 bhp) | 1991–2003 | 1.1 L Inline-4 | 51 hp | — | — | FWD | — | — |
| 30 (652 cc air-cooled two-cylinder) | 1980–1986 | 0.7 L Inline-2 | 30 hp | 30 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| 45 (903 cc FIAT 100 series) | 1980–1986 | 0.9 L Inline-4 | 44 hp | 46 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
| 750 769 cc FIRE (34 PS) | 1986–2000 | 0.8 L Inline-4 | 34 hp | 42 lb-ft | — | FWD | — | — |
Owning one
We don’t estimate running costs for a car like this. What it costs depends on its condition, its specialist and how it is driven, and an average would mislead.
Owners’ builds
Nobody has claimed one yet.
Photographs
Fiat could have built this Panda cheaper in Poland — it chose Italy instead, after Prime Minister Mario Monti personally struck a deal with Fiat to keep its Italian plants open.
Fiat didn't kill the Panda 100HP for slow sales - tightening EU emissions rules simply made the pocket hot-hatch impossible to keep building after 2010.
This Panda almost launched as the "Fiat Gingo" — Renault objected because it sounded too close to its own Twingo, and Fiat renamed it just days before release.
This Panda 4x4 was the first small, transverse-engined production car ever built with a 4WD system.
The World Wildlife Fund initially balked at Fiat using the Panda name - until Fiat paid up. Local custom allowed writing a check on any surface, so Fiat wrote the payment directly on the hood of an actual Panda.
Rivals
Same body, same money, other badges — tap any card to flip.
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