Monday 16th February 2004

Fiat Trepiùno

It's a retro looking car but it's not a retro car ok?

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At the 74th Geneva Motorshow, Fiat will introduce the 'Fiat Trepiùno', the concept car designed by the Fiat Style Centre to represent the theme of 'back to the future'. yep, it's another motor harking back to yesteryear, this time the cutesy Fiat 500.

Working with a total length of 3.3 metres, the designers lengthened the passenger compartment gave it a very short bonnet and minimal wheel overhang. The bonnet is wrapround type and folds over the sides.

Despite the retro styling, no specific styling cues have been reproduced exactly, with Fiat claiming that the car should be judged on its modern merits rather than any heritage.

An example of this reworked style is the canvas hood found in some superminis of the past that has been interpreted by a "Sky-dome" on the Fiat Trepiùno. .

The appointments include front seats of minimum thickness that are said to offer more comfort than seats with conventional padding. They are made out of a layer of soft polyurethane that is complemented by a more rigid polyurethane structure to create a flexible, comfortable three-layer structure able to absorb all loads and, above all, not detract from the volume and space.

Fiat have experimented with the seating to give a 3 + 1 plan. That's 3 decent seats and an emergency seat for that extra bloke who insists on scrounging a life home from the pub.

[JumJum]

Excellent

[roop]

Back to what Fiat does best - small, light weight and cheap runabouts. I like it.

[PetrolTed]

Ooops.... left the pictures off!

[crankedup]

Could be ideal as a third car, get you to uni or papershop sort of car. Its what we need, innovative thinking as the way forward. Mind you I would'nt swop in my Griff for one.

[DennisTheMenace]

That looks fantastic very retro ooh sorry fiat

[tuffer]

That is so cute, I want to take it home and wrap it in a blanket.

[agent006]

Great, another bloody design cop-out.

Just stick it on the shelf between the Rover 75 and the Jaguar S Type.

[Twin Turbo]

I like it. It's a cheeky little thing. Just imagine an Abarth version

[Derek Smith]

What's so good about retro? All it says is that they have run out of design ideas. Fair enough, Renault have come up with some dreadful designs laterly, but at least they tried (and failed, I suppose).

Where are the new young designers? Certainly not at FIAT. The old Italian coachbuilders must be turning in their stylish graves.

[lightningghost]

looks like a slightly updated Ford Ka to me.

[v8thunder]

I quite like it, and yes I can imagine a cranked-up Abarth version. Only problem with it is that I can just tell it'll be vastly overpriced for what it is. The fact that cars consisting of four wheels and some seats cost upwards of six grand nowadays is crazy when you look at the second hand market. If Fiat wanted to make this little car truly groundbreaking they should do the unthinkable - charge £3000 for it.

[cinqster]

Oh dear...might have to stick a turbo on one!

[Road_Terrorist]

they should make it a rear engined, rear wheel drive, if they are going to be truly retro at least go the whole hog and not the vw beetle cop out.

[smele]

No quite sure that I understand where the bloke from the pub is supposed to go. I mean 3+1 in an emergency? Is that 2 in the front, 1 in the back and 1 in the boot?

[neon_fox]

smele said:

No quite sure that I understand where the bloke from the pub is supposed to go. I mean 3+1 in an emergency? Is that 2 in the front, 1 in the back and 1 in the boot?

Yeah, and what exactly is he "scrounging a life home from the pub" for? Don't think he's gonna find a life in the back of the 2+1 Fiat Trepanno! With a name like that, you would have thought the top would come off...

[Farmer]

I love the 500 and I love the KA, this can do no wrong , other than increase demand for the orriginal 500 before I get round to buying one . Drat

[MEMSDesign]

Looks great to me.