Ugly
02-19-2014, 07:16 AM
#1
Thread Starter
Ugly
I have always been a big fan of Fiat cars and owned what many people considered to be one of their ugliest vehicles; a Fiat Multipla. But the Multipla is a visual delight compared to one of Fiat's latest offerings... the 500MPW.
I had the misfortune to see one in the flesh recently; it really is a pig of a car.
I can only imagine that they must be very cheap to buy, once an appropriate discount is applied to the RRP.
EDIT: Paradoxically, the mooted 500 Giardiniera looks fantastic...
I had the misfortune to see one in the flesh recently; it really is a pig of a car.
I can only imagine that they must be very cheap to buy, once an appropriate discount is applied to the RRP.
EDIT: Paradoxically, the mooted 500 Giardiniera looks fantastic...
02-19-2014, 09:52 AM
#3
It makes one realise what a great job they did with the C untryman - and that's still ugly.
The 500L has completely lost all the surfacing depth, which gave the 500 its charm, so it does look like a cheap rip-off.
The original Nuova 500, 600 & Multipla all had a corporate surfacing and so looked related. One wonders what these designers are thinking. Even the New Panda's lost its cuteness. I'll be surprised if they continue to sell well.
I can foresee them only making the 500 in another decade. Probably a good job they reversed into Chrysler when they had the chance.
The 500L has completely lost all the surfacing depth, which gave the 500 its charm, so it does look like a cheap rip-off.
The original Nuova 500, 600 & Multipla all had a corporate surfacing and so looked related. One wonders what these designers are thinking. Even the New Panda's lost its cuteness. I'll be surprised if they continue to sell well.
I can foresee them only making the 500 in another decade. Probably a good job they reversed into Chrysler when they had the chance.
02-19-2014, 10:38 AM
#4
This thread prompted me to go back to some recent slides of my grandfather that I've been working on. I scanned everything and then split out the keepers, and although this one (taken in Milan, Jan 1959) failed to make the grade and so hasn't been digitally cleaned up, it's worth it for a view of a car that looks like it's going backwards. Anyone care to ID?
02-19-2014, 10:45 PM
#7
Thread Starter
It makes one realise what a great job they did with the C untryman - and that's still ugly.
The 500L has completely lost all the surfacing depth, which gave the 500 its charm, so it does look like a cheap rip-off.
The original Nuova 500, 600 & Multipla all had a corporate surfacing and so looked related. One wonders what these designers are thinking. Even the New Panda's lost its cuteness. I'll be surprised if they continue to sell well.
I can foresee them only making the 500 in another decade. Probably a good job they reversed into Chrysler when they had the chance.
The 500L has completely lost all the surfacing depth, which gave the 500 its charm, so it does look like a cheap rip-off.
The original Nuova 500, 600 & Multipla all had a corporate surfacing and so looked related. One wonders what these designers are thinking. Even the New Panda's lost its cuteness. I'll be surprised if they continue to sell well.
I can foresee them only making the 500 in another decade. Probably a good job they reversed into Chrysler when they had the chance.
Fiat have very sadly lost-the-plot.
The original Panda, of which I had two - an original 903cc in Beige with mult-adjustable hammock back seats and leaf-spring rear end, and a later 1000S with the 1050cc FIRE engine and Omega coil spring rear suspension - were brilliant (aside from the factory-fitted blocked drain holes in the doors...).
Giorgetto Giugiaro, who designed the first generation Panda is attributed as saying it was "the most enchanting work of his life". Praise indeed.
Importing a late, and rust-free, LHD Panda from Italy is quite high on my wish-list.
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02-19-2014, 11:09 PM
#8
Thread Starter
When I visited Torino some years ago (and coincidentally stayed in the hotel in the old Lingotto factory, and ran around the test-track on the roof..), the Italian National Automobile Museum is only some 5 minutes walk away.
The museum has masses of Fiat concept cars on display, but sadly photography is prohibited. The Fiat Ecobasic was on display and whilst definitely quirky and 'challenging' from a design perspective, it looked remarkably good in the flesh.
1.2 litre direct-injection turbo-diesel engine, with 61 bhp @ 3,500 rpm. Electronically limited 99.5 mph. Mooted fuel economy was over 94mpg, with CO2 emissions of just 80g/km. And 756kg. Apparently Euro crash regulations killed the project but I suspect it was Fiat management that lost its bottle.
There's now too great a reliance on focus groups and exhaustive market research to suggest to manufacturers and designers what people 'think' they want.
Joe Public is 99% visually illiterate; they know what they don't like when they see but to get them to credibly articulate what they would like to see is an exercise in futility.
Sadly mavericks and visionaries such as Bert One, Giugiaro, Harley Earl, et al are casualties of the corporate liquidiser.
I guess I ought to add Paolo Martin in the list, who designed one of the most elegant cars ever, the Fiat 130 Coupé.
The museum has masses of Fiat concept cars on display, but sadly photography is prohibited. The Fiat Ecobasic was on display and whilst definitely quirky and 'challenging' from a design perspective, it looked remarkably good in the flesh.
1.2 litre direct-injection turbo-diesel engine, with 61 bhp @ 3,500 rpm. Electronically limited 99.5 mph. Mooted fuel economy was over 94mpg, with CO2 emissions of just 80g/km. And 756kg. Apparently Euro crash regulations killed the project but I suspect it was Fiat management that lost its bottle.
There's now too great a reliance on focus groups and exhaustive market research to suggest to manufacturers and designers what people 'think' they want.
Joe Public is 99% visually illiterate; they know what they don't like when they see but to get them to credibly articulate what they would like to see is an exercise in futility.
Sadly mavericks and visionaries such as Bert One, Giugiaro, Harley Earl, et al are casualties of the corporate liquidiser.
I guess I ought to add Paolo Martin in the list, who designed one of the most elegant cars ever, the Fiat 130 Coupé.
02-20-2014, 10:20 AM
#9
Which in turn led to one of the most elegant and influential prototypes in 1974:
Influenced everything from the Ford Eva (Granada II) to various Preludes for a decade.
Mind you, when you look at some of the dross turned out by Pininfarina et al in recent years, it's unsurprising the Carrozzerie all went tits.
Influenced everything from the Ford Eva (Granada II) to various Preludes for a decade.
Mind you, when you look at some of the dross turned out by Pininfarina et al in recent years, it's unsurprising the Carrozzerie all went tits.
