Fiat Panda 4x4

TIPPED BY: JAMES MITCHELL

‘It’s as much of an engineering achievement as the first Mini,’ says James. ‘Everything is reduced to ultimate simplicity and a Panda can be looked after by anyone, in any setting. And mechanically speaking, they’re pretty durable. We found one advertised on ebay for our mechanic and it hadn’t been started for years. He set off for the north-east of England with a distributor, fitted it to the car on the vendor’s driveway and it was running immediately.’

This is the second Italdesign car in the sub-£25k section (the other being the Maserati) and shows Giugiaro’s instinct for a simple shape with a straightforward function – he once compared it with a pair of jeans. When the 4x4 was added to the range in June 1983 it took the Panda’s capable, practical role to its logical conclusion. Fiat used its own engines but Steyr-puch provided the gearbox and drivetrain, sending power to a live rear axle via a three-piece propshaft. It’s brilliantly simple, with no low-range gearbox to add weight, but rather a five-speed ’box with an ultra-low first for off-road use; normal on-road driving uses second through fifth.

‘You still sometimes see them turn up on ebay as rusty projects for less than £1000,’ says James, ‘but they’re scarce now at that price. They already have a serious following and a perfect one is probably going to cost you £15,000 to £20,000.

‘If that sounds expensive for a utility car, you have to understand what they can do – they’re nearly unstoppable off-road, as shown on the Panda Raid, where they drive 3000km across Morocco. They cost pennies to maintain but you can still fit four people and their luggage into one.’

A packaging miracle, a characterful economy car and an efficient, appreciating, go-anywhere fun machine – this could be the most on-point classic of them all in 2021.