Thursday 3rd April 2014

Fiat Panda 100HP: Spotted

Another red Italian sports car for the price of a 512 TR service

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In April 2014, £9,995 doesn't buy an awful lot of car. It buys the very cheapest Ford Fiesta in fact, all 60hp and 94mph of a 1.25 Style. It makes the launch price of the Fiat Panda 100HP look even better value, even if it did creep above £10K fairly soon after it came out. With used prices dropping to around £3,000 now it's something of a secondhand bargain.

Panda keeping good company in this garage

Rumours of a TwinAir replacement for the original 100HP haven't come to anything just yet, making the funky 4x4 version the most PH-worthy Panda at present. Furthermore, though a TwinAir Panda flagship will surely gain some two-cylinder novelty value, it will inevitably lose some of the revvy effervescence that made the 1.4-litre original so beguiling.

The 100HP is just a giggle, pure and simple. Adopt an Italian mentality to conserving momentum (i.e. flat out, everywhere) and the Panda will have you hooked. Having six gears in a car with a relatively low top speed means keeping the Panda in its powerband is easy, and the shift is fairly quick too. Peak power is at 6,000rpm and it will happily rev to 7; grab another gear, repeat and enjoy.

Sport mode adds a bit of welcome weight to the steering, and the wheel-at-each corner stance makes the Panda an eager, darty car to hustle along. It won't be that fast but it will be massive fun. The 100HP will probably still return 40mpg too.

Ignore cheap interior, watch the tacho!

The original Swift Sport (now available from £4K) is of course the natural rival for the Panda but it will never match the little Italian for style or cool. The 15-inch wheels sit perfectly with the boxy body and in red it really can be seen as a modern Cinquecento Sporting (the Abarth 500s are arguably a little too plush against the old Cinq, the Panda's basic interior more fitting).

The rear dampers seem susceptible to wear on the 100HP and the cambelt must be seen to every three to five years. But on something so tiny the other consumables will be cheap, plus the bulk of the car's depreciation will be done now. Keep a look out for a Shed in a few years' time...

This particular Panda 100HP is recently serviced (with the cambelt and dampers) and clearly faster than all others because its red. At just over £3K it looks like the perfect PH runabout. Now hurry up with the replacement Fiat!

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FIAT PANDA 100HP
Engine: 1,368cc 4-cyl
Power (hp): 100@6,000rpm
Torque (lb ft): 97@4,250rpm
MPG: 43.5
CO2: 154g/km
Recorded miles: 44,000
Year registered: 2007
Price new: £9,995
Yours for: £3,200

See the original advert here.

[Dafuq]

Lovely little roller skate, always fancied one of these as a cheap runabout

[BeirutTaxi]

Are they fun to drive though?

Power really isn't everything. Although a lot of members of PH come across as only interested in BHP and being a straight line hero.

[mjdriver]

I had one of these a couple of years ago and it was without doubt one of the most fun cars I ever owned, still miss it to this day.

[Dr G]

I test drove one of these when they were new and still rather fancy one.

I often see a PH'ers grey one in Uxbridge on my way to work but never been directly next to to say hello!

[ghiblicup]

Loved mine. Brilliant fun and better steering feel than an Abarth!

[Dale487]

This looks good value for £3200 with 44k on the clock, I've only seen 'em at £4k with 80k+ (too many miles for an older Fiat in my opinion).

I'd have bought one of these instead of my old clio at that kind of price.

I gather they're a fun little steer.

[gweaver]

I test drove one a few years ago and wasn't impressed with the power steering or the ride. It felt like the steering mechanism had a lot of inertia and very little feedback. My cousins Honda Civic Type S (also electric power steering) was much better. The Fiat system is also known for breaking..
A shame, because otherwise it was quite a fun little car.

[Regiment]

Hideous exterior and even worse interior.

I do agree that horse power isn't everything though, got a brand new Clio as a courtesy car with the TCe90 900cc turbo engine in, beat my 1.2 Corsa in terms of how fun it was.

[gweaver]

ghiblicup said:

Loved mine. Brilliant fun and better steering feel than an Abarth!

Glad you liked it. Given that I really didn't like the steering, I'd best not try an Abarth!

[Arun_D]

Had mine for a just over a month now, bought from a fellow PHer. Perfect runabout car to go alongside my Exige, it's just fab.


IMG_0190 by Arunweb100, on Flickr

[Highway Star]

BeirutTaxi said:

Are they fun to drive though?

Yes, lots. The fact that they aren't powerful is where the fun comes in. They corner very well and feel quite planted for a small car - would love to track it.

We got ours at the end of last year and are loving it so far. It was a little more than the one in the ad here, but was newer and came with the big pano roof, which really makes it feel airy and surprisingly spacious inside. Getting the belts done next week and being used to expensive belt changes on larger cars, was pleasantly surprised with the quote for this.

[ghiblicup]

gweaver said:

ghiblicup said:

Loved mine. Brilliant fun and better steering feel than an Abarth!

Glad you liked it. Given that I really didn't like the steering, I'd best not try an Abarth!

You really shouldn't!

[Whiters]

BeirutTaxi said:

Are they fun to drive though?

Power really isn't everything. Although a lot of members of PH come across as only interested in BHP and being a straight line hero.

They are huge fun to drive. I absolutely adored mine for 45k miles. I'll have another one day.

[Arun_D]

Whiters said:

They are huge fun to drive. I absolutely adored mine for 45k miles. I'll have another one day.

As you can see from my previous post and photo, she's certainly being enjoyed.

[AyBee]

Love these

[RenesisEvo]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't these have an obscure tyre size that can be hard (read expensive) to sort out? I always smile when I see one out and about, but it would not be suitable for me as I do too many long slogs on the motorway. A little more depreciation and I could see it being a great track toy.

[LeighB]

RenesisEvo said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't these have an obscure tyre size that can be hard (read expensive) to sort out? I always smile when I see one out and about, but it would not be suitable for me as I do too many long slogs on the motorway. A little more depreciation and I could see it being a great track toy.

Yes, not a common size being 195/45/15 but only around £75 a corner for Toyo Proxes, soft but very grippy

[chelme]

Arun_D said:

Had mine for a just over a month now, bought from a fellow PHer. Perfect runabout car to go alongside my Exige, it's just fab.


IMG_0190 by Arunweb100, on Flickr

Nice one!

[r11co]

I have absolutely no need for this car, but it is just down the road from me and I am sorely tempted.....

[CampDavid]

LeighB said:

RenesisEvo said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but don't these have an obscure tyre size that can be hard (read expensive) to sort out? I always smile when I see one out and about, but it would not be suitable for me as I do too many long slogs on the motorway. A little more depreciation and I could see it being a great track toy.

Yes, not a common size being 195/45/15 but only around £75 a corner for Toyo Proxes, soft but very grippy

Same as a '99 onwards Saxo VTS.

I test drove one when new, it was utterly crap in detail but enormously desirable as a whole.

Still kinda fancy one