Fiat Panda mk1 1980-2003!

Now lemme tell y’all somethin’ ‘bout this lil’ ride right here. This here’s one of them cars that’s low-key badass as hell, but I ain’t gotten ‘round to writin’ a proper piece on it yet, ‘cept way back when I mentioned her cousin, the SEAT Marbella.

We talkin’ ‘bout the one and only Fiat Panda, y’all. This tough lil’ critter rolled off the line all the way from 1980 clear through to 2003. And lemme tell ya, they made all kinds. You got yer low-slung city slicker version, then you got yer high-clearance four-wheel-drive son of a gun that’ll crawl up a mountain like a goat with nitro.

Yeah, she’s a small fry, sure, but she had grit! They even made an electric version called the Fiat Panda Elettra — way ahead o’ her time, like a Tesla’s great-grandmama in orthopedic shoes.

But them four-wheel-drive models? Oh lordy. That’s where the magic happened. They had all kinds o’ wild trims — one called the Rock Moretti that was open-air and ready to party, and one they used as a dang van. Then they went full hillbilly with a tough-as-nails version called the Country Club, with a spare tire strapped up top like it was fixin’ to cross the Mojave with no GPS.

And don’t even get me started on the Val D’Isère edition — that one was slicker than a bullfrog in a butter churn, built for snowy peaks and mountain towns where folks drink wine but still haul firewood in the backseat.

So yeah — don’t let her boxy lil’ shape fool ya. That Panda’s got more personality than half the folks at a family reunion in Waco.

That ol’ Fiat Panda Larel — now that there was one helluva electric car hootenanny pulled off by Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen, Paal Waaktaar, and that Bellona fella Frederic Hauge back in the tail end of the 1980s. Them boys spent a dog’s age wranglin’ with the Norwegian car bosses just to get that contraption approved, and once they finally did, they went right ahead and drove clean illegal through the toll ring like they owned the damn road.

Didn’t take long ‘fore the fines started stackin’ up higher than firewood in November. Tickets, reminders, more reminders — and them fellas just flat-out said, “Nope, ain’t payin’.” So the authorities done seized the little buggy, figured that’d be the end of it. But Bellona don’t spook easy.

Sure enough, them boys got the last laugh. Not long after, the big wigs decided electric cars could pass through the toll ring free of charge, and Bellona went right back and bought the car again. Yep, Morten Harket just wanted to roll through them tolls for free, like he wasn’t already sittin’ on a pile of cash big enough to heat Norway for a winter.

Anyhow, ‘bout twenty years back that ol’ Panda finally got hauled off to the scrapyard, and she ain’t roamlin’ this earth no more. Just a rusted-out legend now, tellin’ tales of stubborn men, loud ideas, and one electric car that raised more hell than it ever made noise.




(First-gen Fiat Panda, early ’80s — built like a tin shed on wheels and proud of it.)


Bellona og Aha med Norges første elbil i 1989

That Fiat Panda Larel thing? Yeah, that was a real backwoods electric-car stunt pulled by Morten Harket, Magne Furuholmen, Paal Waaktaar, and that Bellona boss man Frederic Hauge way back in the late eighties. Took ‘em forever and a day to sweet-talk them Norwegian car inspectors into sayin’ that thing was road-legal, and once it finally was, they went and drove it straight through the toll ring like the law was just a friendly suggestion.

Before you knew it, fines started rainin’ down like summer mosquitoes — tickets, warnings, nasty little letters — and them boys just shrugged and said they weren’t payin’ a dime. So the authorities finally snatched the car up, figured they’d put an end to the foolishness right there.

But Bellona ain’t the quittin’ kind. In the end, them fellas got exactly what they wanted. The rules got changed, electric cars were suddenly allowed to pass the toll ring for free, and Bellona marched right back and bought that Panda again. Yep — Morten Harket just wanted to cruise through for free, like he wasn’t already makin’ more money than most folks see in a lifetime.

Anyways, ‘bout twenty years ago that little electric troublemaker got scrapped for good, and she ain’t breathin’ no more today. Just a dead car with a loud story, rattlin’ around in history like an old moonshine legend.


Fiat-elbil gjennom bomringen med Harket og Hauge

(Fiat Panda, Country Club)

(Fiat Panda, siste utgave av den første modellen. Ca 2003)



(Fiat Panda 4x4 van)


(Fiat Panda Elettra, den elektriske utgaven)

(Fiat Panda i en bakgate et sted på Frogner i Oslo)




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