You can just image the theory lecturer at some stuffy design college looking purse-lipped at the rear of a Panda and saying, "This will never do."True, the various styling elements at and around the C pillar look as if they'd been hastily assembled from two or three completely separate student projects. But the curious thing is that they work OK together in real life, once you've grasped the fact that this city car gets its decent rear seat room mainly by being quite high set, and the possibility that the design team didn't want to give it the semi-estate look it would have had if the upper line of the side windows had continued with the same clearance to the top of the rear door, rather than dipping down towards the back.Anyway, the important thing about the Panda is that it has the jaunty and rather wacky looks which go quite well on a 21st-century city car, and you won't mislay it in a crowded parking area. In any case, we should welcome the fact that Fiat has gone back into the small-car sector, where so many of its past designs occupied a congenial position.Fiat offers the Panda in some very bright exterior colours, and with dark-glasses interior colour schemes too, but that seems to go with its intended young family market. Up front, the fascia, console and upper door trim material is pretty hard, but it's grained to look quite acceptable. There's a console-mounted gear lever, very consciously styled heating, ventilation and other switchgear, and a generally up-to-date approach which doesn't copy any other manufacturer's line.It's a fact that many Pandas have children as their regular rear-seat users, but the back of the car can accommodate larger adults quite easily, being in this case well ahead of some earlier city car designs. While there's nothing like a laid-back rear seating position, the height of the body and the sensible amount of foot room mean that the front seats don't have to be shunted all that far forward to allow a six-footer to get comfortable. And this is one of the best city cars for easy access to and exit from the rear seats.The rear seat backs fold down to provide extra load space, but, although no city car on the planet has generous luggage volume with all the seats upright, the Panda does offer more than many of its rivals, the height of the bodywork meaning that the space below the security cover isn't quite as restricted as theirs, in terms of volume rather than floor area.In the catalogue, the entry-level model is the 1.1-litre Active, with a meagre power output and probably a better than the usual entry-level specification. One stage up, the 1.2-litre Dynamic comes as standard at £6895, adding the likes of body-coloured bumpers, ABS, ABD and a trip computer, then moving on to various sub-models like the Aircon as here, the sunroof-equipped Skydome, and the Sound with its uprated Blaupunkt radio/CD player, all of them with the same £7495 price tag.Right from Active level, the Panda comes with Fiat's handy Dualdrive electric power steering which allows the driver to choose more assistance for town motoring, less for out on the open road. The various Aircon/Skydome/Sound models also have roof rack rails, probably more for styling than for anything else, plus remote locking with an electrically operated tailgate handle.All the Pandas feel quite lively in local motoring, and the Dynamics can be pushed along smartly on city-fringe roads, with the inevitable but controlled body lean which comes with the high stance.I've read test reports which suggest that they're acceptable as long-journey cars, but there are definite limits. You wouldn't want to do too many lengthy motorway trips - but then, these are designed and marketed as city cars, and although they're bigger than many of their rivals there's an element of horses for courses here.Fuel consumption is modest. for a high-built 1.2-litre with no great pretensions to being wind-cheating, at not far short of 60mpg on the extra urban cycle and just over 50mpg combined. If you want really impressive economy, however, as well as the strongest performance in the range, consider the 1.3-litre MultiJet turbo diesel which Fiat introduced several months after establishing the petrol-powered models here. Engine 1242 cc, 4 cylinders Power 60bhp @5000 rpm Torque 75.2ib/ft @2500 rpm Transmission 5 speed manual Fuel/CO2 50.4mpg / 133 g/km Acceleration 0-62mph: 14sec Top speed 96 mph Price From £6843.00 approx Release date 14/01/2004
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