Panda in the wind
Richard solves his breeze issues with a stylish Polish solution
1993 FIAT PANDA 1.1 SELECTA
When I was a young whippersnapper, growing up in a Bournemouth, I always associated car window wind deflectors with vehicles generally driven by more, um, mature drivers. Not for those in otherwise heavilyaccessorised boy-racer 1.1- and 1.3-litre Ford Fiestas, these bulgy bits of transparent plastic tacked onto doors; they were instead likely on otherwise unmodified Wolseley Farinas and Vanden Plas Princess 1300s driven by Dorset’s older generation.
Of course, I’ve come to appreciate the benefits of holding onto as much hair as possible as I’ve got older. So when I drove another Fiat Panda for a Chasing Cars piece, I was quite
February 2016 // 59,066 //
OWNED SINCE TOTAL MILEAGE impressed by its effective and natty tinted wind deflectors. I assumed they were an older, hard-to-find accessory, but no – a Polish company called Heko still manufactures them, presumably for all the first-generation Pandas still pootling around in Italy.
A quick check on the internet and a week – and £27.39 later – I had a pair for the front doors. Fitting, with a bit of manipulation, bending and loosely secured by adhesive strips, was straightforward and aided by a helpful YouTube video. Two clips per door were forced into the window apertures using a screwdriver, and the windows raised to push them fully home and lock the deflectors in place. Even I couldn’t screw it up.
They do their job well. The Panda wasn’t exactly Giugiaro’s sleekest creation, and there’s usually a lot of wind noise and buffeting with the windows open. That’s mostly gone now. And I like the slightly different look they give the little Fiat, too.
MILEAGE SINCE LAST REPORT LATEST COSTS
£27.39 1177 //