Earlier this year, we had several Irish new car launches, and looking back, a few of those events stand out in the mind. During the fuel protests in April our task was to drive the new Fiat Grande Panda from Gowan’s headquarters in Citywest to the Team Ireland offices in Abbotstown.
The reasons for that relatively short trip was to sample the new car and also to highlight the fact that Fiat are sponsoring the Irish Olympic team and are providing the Irish athletes with Fiat cars. However, the fuel protests meant we had to try and avoid any possible ‘slow convoys’ on the M50 and that meant some people trusting Sat Nav a bit too much and getting lost!
Fiat produced their first version of their famous Panda in 1980, and we have had a few upgrades since then. At the launch of the electric and hybrid versions of the new Grande Panda, John Saunders, MD at Fiat Ireland, said that there is a lot of homage to the original Panda in this Grande Panda.
Irish drivers have waited a long time for the new car; the wait was caused by production problems with right-hand drive versions. But I think the car was definitely worth waiting for.
The mild hybrid and EV versions are similar. Fiat are very proud that one of their designers came up with the idea of a 4.5-metre retractable charge cable for their EV version; it’s discreetly located at the front of the car. So, in the Grande Panda no more issues with charging cables scattered around the boot.
My test car came in a 1.2-litre mild hybrid, Luna Bronze colour. But you will see a lot of Fiat’s attractive Limone Yellow in the interior of other car colours. You get few nice touches of yellow on the dash and around the area between the front seats where you would normally find an old-style handbrake and gear-lever. You now get an automatic handbrake and mobile phone charging point.
The interior is really colourful, light blue seats with yellow stitching and a Bamboo-style glove compartment. Apparently, the Bamboo look is a nod to the real Pandas, who live almost exclusively on Bamboo. The only dark part of the interior is the roofline, and my female passengers said to mention that are no vanity mirrors provided.
The car doesn’t have an old-style handbrake, but it does have an old-style ignition key which is rare nowadays. At nighttime it’s really attractive with those pixilated lights at the front and back.
Externally, the car looks impressive, and normally when I am driving new cars, I get people coming up to me in supermarket car parks asking what brand of car it is. But in the new Grande Panda the word Fiat is printed on the front and back and there are Fiat badges and logos on both sides of the car. Also, on the side doors the word Panda is embossed across both doors, and Fiat is also printed on the alloys; so, no doubt about it, it was a Fiat. Two roof-rails add to the rugged look.
The boot is small and no room for a spare wheel with the Hybrid technology taking up that space. I liked the high driving position; there is a little bit of road noise, but not too much.
Prices start at €25,800 for the Hybrid version, while the electric version starts at €22,995. Fiat cars used to be assembled in Ireland, in a factory in Ballyfermot and for a while Fiat was the best-selling brand in Ireland. I was very impressed and I think the new Grande Panda should help revive the Fiat brand in Ireland and elsewhere.
I haven’t driven the EV version yet, but Orla Flynn in Gowan’s assures me that I’m on the list.
