I was born in 2000. That year my parents bought a Panda. Today in 2023 I drive everyday that 23 years old Panda to go everywhere, perfect for the city because it's small, perfect for the montain... also funny to drive, every year me and my friends love to make donuts on the snow! And from my point of view it has quite a good look! If now you look at an old fiat 600 it looks like an old car, if you look at an old fiat panda it looks quite iconic! Great video by the way😊
Family friends used to take a Panda from Dublin to Tuscany for their holidays. 2 adults, 3 kids, and all their stuff. No probs. They even managed to keep us with us, same trip, biut in much bigger FIATs, or Lancias.
My parents went from Cinquecento through Punto to Brava (a liftback version of Marea) within 3 years in the late 1990s. The Brava stayed with us until 2008 or so, and the only issue was doorhandles basically disassembling (a known issue with this car). My parents then bought a Stilo and kept the Brava for my dad to commute to work. One time we had both of them next to each other on the driveway and I remember my dad saying that Brava is 10 years older than the Stilo but looks much better -- hard to disagree! PS. When you opened the door to the Marea, I got an almost physical sensation of how this car used to smell :)
We had a Fiat Marengo (Fiat Marea Weekend for commercial use) with the 1.9L JTD engine and it was impressively reliable, we used that thing to carry around stuff for decades with almost no maintenance, in the end pretty much nothing inside was in working conditions, but still the car refused to die, it reached the scrapyard on its wheels.
In Poland till '00 you could buy a car from '70 - Fiat 126p, giving the dealer a possibility to sell at the same time Fiat 126p, Fiat Uno, Fiat Cinquecento/Seicento and Fiat Marea. The funniest part of it is that all these cars were produced in the same factory.
Thanks for the video. Another 3 cars we didn’t get in Australia. My grandfather had a Fiat 2300, new, in the early 1960, here in Aus, that he then traded on a new Mercedes 280s in 1968. He had the Merc until his death 30 years later.
The Marea also has vents under te front seats. In Brazil we had 2 exclusive version like the 2.0 5 cilinder turbo, from the Coupe but with 180hp, and we also had a 2.4 5 cilinder petrol with 160hp.
Also from Brazil,the Uno just kept going in its original form until 2013,and it got a new generation which lasted until 2021. We didn't got the 90s Cinquecento however. Closest thing we got was the korean version aka the Daewoo Matiz(in case you don't know,the Matiz is basically a design proposal for the 90s Cinquecento from Bertone that Fiat rejected,but Daewoo picked up the project and it became this car).
In europe 20vt wasnt in BBM models. We had only 2.0 20v. I actually have Marea with 2.0 and in couple days should be run with 2.4 from Stilo. Love the 5 cylinders engine sound
The Panda is an S-version, with a two-speed fan, engine temp, windows in the back that open, seatbelts in the back, speaker pods, so quite luxurious :) My Fiat Uno 45 is a 1989 one, and it has none of these options. It looks more modern, but it’s a *very* Spartan car. But I love those basic cars, they’re extremely easy to maintain, drive reasonably OK and have become quite rare these days.
Excellent video sir! It was a 98 Fiat Cinquecento 799 that got addicted to Fiat. My favourite car. I now have a Panda 169 eco 1100. Nice car.. but I'd take a Cinquecento every time..if they didn't rust so badly. The 799cc pushrod engine is excellent and so easy to work on.
We had them all, at the same time. My mom a Panda, i drove a yellow Cinquento Sporting and my dad a Marea ELX (sedan) Looked nice on the drive way. Later on a traded de Spoting for Bravo GT JTD. Nice times. Greeting from the Netherlands
The Marea despite being outclassed in some respects by other cars like the cavalier and mondeo was certainly more fun to drive than those cars. Predictable and stable handling which was far better than the Stilo that replaced it. The 2.4 petrol five cylinder engine is a joy to thrash and let's not forget the 2.4 five cylinder turbo diesel torque monster (which I have) sadly these are super rare cars and you'll have an easier time finding a classic 80s panda than a Marea 130HLX weekend.
I've never driven a Marea but personally I also found the Stilo very fun to drive, same thing for the panda (both old and new); I'm curious was that so different?
@mick1467 with the stilo they went cheap on the platform. It uses a suspension set up more economically and the concensus is that it was poorer for it.
Tge Merea is an odd car. People say it was supposed to be in the same class as the Mondeo but a Renault Megane Classic was just as big as the Merea and yet it was in the same class as the Peugeot 306 and Toyota Corrola. It was also and much better car in most ways bar maybe engines to the Merea. To me the Merea was in the same class as the 3 cars above that I just mentioned. The Megane Classics boot was even bigger than the one in the Merea.
I brought a Fiat Marea Weekend HLX 20v (150bhp) for £200 in 2010 with a usual failed clutch slave cylinder. I had endless fun with that car! Unfortuantly, being at uni, I couldnt afford to keep it going and stupidly, I scrapped it. I now realise how rare it was. I now have the same engine in a Fiat Coupe..................as that is all that is left!
We had Cinquecento, Punto mk1, Punto mk2, Grande Punto and Fiat Panda. All great cars. Not fast or anything. But OMG they were unkillable. My grandma drove Cinq for 19 years!!
Interesting video thanks and good to read other people's stories. Didn't quite get the Marea I wanted to buy (couldn't get its cambelt changed for less than £1,500 by anyone after ringing all day long) and was put off by the Cinquecento after seeing one squashed on the motorway by a non-attentive lorry driver (both front-seat occupants killed after it broke down in the middle lane). However, earlier on I did have a red Panda 750 which was very basic but all you actually needed to run around. The phrase cheap and cheerful was invented for it. It was like a biscuit tin on wheels. I survived it and it made me appreciate all the cars I have had subsequently.
Here in brazil the marea was sold from 1998 to 2007, he was the luxurious sedan in the fiat range, so the car had to have a good engine and power. The marea is famous here because the bad reability and the incredible 2.5 5 cilynders turbo engine ( the fault wasn´t the car, he was just to modern for the era and people just don´t have the knowlege to maintain ). Today the majority was used and abused, what lefet became rare and expensive, but only the turbo version, the 1.6 is the most easy to repair, the 1.8 and 2.0 people just hate.
Thanks for your video.The Marea is for me an excellent car in its class and time period,no wonder so many of them are still surviving in Italy and used daily.It’s biggest problem was the super plastic dashboard.The exterior on the other hand,is excellent.
The Panda was more rugged than the Seicento, you can literally use it as an off roader/tractor & it will happily take it, & had more room inside when you fold the rear seat down, the Cinquecento is more of a town car, & it also handles sublimely well compared to the Panda (as its centre of gravity is lower & has a better suspension setup).
I loved this video! A '93 Cinquecento was my first car and I loved it... I just believe that the comparison would be much fairer with a Punto instead of a Marea, as you said...
Bravo would be better for comparison! I believe that Bravo - Brava - Marea were true Italian design cars, I owned Bravo, my brother also owned Bravo, and Brava. Its so sad not to see unique designed cars on the road these days, they all look the same, i.e. VAG group, from distance you cant tell which model is which. In the past, you could look in the tail lights at the night and tell, oh, its Peugeot 206 and so on...great video btw!!!!
Great Vlog Sion 👍🏻... I never really liked fiats, I thought they were quite ugly, but cannot deny they have a certain charm, love the panda door release, how cute! Marea is quite modern, I bet there isn't many left on the road now!
We like the Panda. Our first new car was a top of the range 1 litre 1984 model. Clever, practical and frugal. I moved on to BMW cars, but my wife stuck with Pandas. Never a breakdown, never a serious fault. I enjoy driving her new hybrid 2022 model. I consider them honest, straightforward cars.
Well the Panda is a classic and is still as useful today as it was way back in the 1980s! In fact the original shape model Panda was the first car I ever drove on the road and my current weekend warrior is the latest generation Panda model in 4x4 guise. Has there ever been another car model that has lasted so long? I can't think of one? It still does everything I need from a car in 2023, gets me from A to B reliably, in comfort and relative style, it's economical, quirky and above all a lot of fun to drive. The most useful feature for me is it's a huge spacious interior in a very small compact car, makes it a breeze in a busy city but also perfect for weekend adventures, the 4x4 model is a little mountain goat that will literally go anywhere!
I did appreciate the Marea and there were several beautiful six-year old examples in metallic deep blue and deep green with the bigger petrol engine which took my fancy. However, I soon realised they all needed a cambelt change and this was why they were cheap. I wasn't prepared to do this myself, the main dealer wanted £1,500 for the work, my mechanic had done one and said never again and other garages also declined so I couldn't move forward. I ended up with a Nissan Primera Sport for only £200 more than a Marea which had the reputation of being the best large family car at the time in the UK and the US so was a sensible choice. It looked great in silver with tasteful colour coded bodykit and had a chaincam that never needed attention in the car's lifetime. It did the job for me and my family.
My best friend's GF had a Cinquecento just like this one but no license, so i'd drive her around sometimes. Loved that car, so tiny and raw, I could touch the passenger side window from the driver's seat. Getting back in my Clio afterwards felt like climbing into an S class.
I've got 3 seicentos and an old panda from 94...the fire engine is one of the most reliable engines ever made imo..truly the last car fiat made than you can easily diy everything. Seicento is my daily and has been 100% reliable. I do a 300 mile round trip weekly in it.pity they don't make them anymore.
I found my 600 "Fire" bought new in 2002 irreplaceable, for which I only changed the oil, brake pads and one muffler. A car as simple as a Vespa, small on the outside, big on the inside, good road holding, zero consumption. Two years ago I wanted to swap it for a new car but couldn't find anything comparable on the market. So with patient research I found a farm car from a German dealership, with very few kms and bodywork like new. Imported and re-registered as a new car. Sold the old one in a week to an elderly lady who uses it with satisfaction
Such a great video Sion which I enjoyed watching many happy memories for me as I also had a Panda 1000S and mine was red with a beige check interior (they changed the upholstery I believe) but was identical to that one Remember all of those cars well and my parents and brother had the earlier Tipo a 1.7 diesel S 5 door a 1994 model both were excellent cars and we always travelled to north Devon to our caravan and dad thought the fuel guage was broken but it didn’t move off full in the 200 mile run from the west Midands! And the coolest dashboard ever! I liked the marea and bravo and brava and was a total change after the Tipo and tempra My dads friend had the cinquecento sporting and was a hoot! I remember loads of pandas and Uno on holiday in Italy on holidays and was envious of their scrapyards when trying to get a pair of good doors for my panda! Keep up the great work Daniel
For some time there were as many as 3 Fiat supermini cars in production: 126, Panda, Cinquecento. And for over 30 years there have been 2 superminis at the same time (first 126 and Panda, then Panda and Cinquecento/Seicento, finally Seicento and New Panda). There are several reasons for that. Fiat had numerous factories in Italy (those in the South were richly subsidized by the state) and there was a need to keep them in business. The Panda was still in great demand in Italy, the 126 was equally in great demand in Poland, the Cinquecento was supposed to replace both but arrived very late and, above all , with a higher price. It was also the reason why the Cinquecento was initially received rather coldly in Italy (and even more in Poiand). So in the end, for all the reasons mentioned, Fiat was forced to keep THREE superminis in production at the same time, until the 126 went out of production in 2000. There was no market logic in this, but only "logistic" ", so to speak. P.S. the engine of the Cinquecento was still the pushrod 100 series, the Panda in the video already has the modern FIRE (Fully Integrated Robotised Engine).
The steering wheel in the Cinquecento doesn't seem to be original to me, looks like one from the Seicento. A nice comparison between these three cars, all three of which I have driven a lot. If I could choose one it would be the Panda, so many happy memories of that :)
Thanks for the correction, I live in the Netherlands and I don't think we had this version, maybe we got the seicento a little earlier than the right-hand drive countries.
I found it quite funny that, as you’ve said while showing the interior that the Cinquecento is a very basic, budget car, a Blaupunkt head unit appears on screen, ironically to match the budget, functional theme!
In the early to mid 1990's, new and nearly new budget Fiat buyers were spoilt for choice. 126, Panda, Cinquecento, Uno, Punto. In fact in 1991 and 1992 all but the 1994 onwards Punto were (just about in the case of the 126) still available to buy new. How many other manufacturers have ever sold 4 budget models at the same time? Not many I bet.
Glad you like the Cinq, a very practical car, willing and fun. We've had several and my son has built fast cinqs for years. His latest is just like your white car, but over 100hp from a tuned 1.4 8 valve. Surprises a lot of AMGs....
@@MorselsAndMotors Car has brakes amd supension to match, mainly swapped around FIAT parts. The thing about cinqs is that they are basically Puntos under the skin, ver-specced in a very light shell. Watch ruclips.net/video/tLaOj_dx_Z4/видео.html
Funny than you mention a covered fuel cap in Cinquecento. First production years (91-93), quite rare these days are especially sought for in Poland by collectors as they slightly differ from later cars. They are badged by FSM only, with no Fiat logo anywhere, they have a black dashboard with a different cluster and a few other changes to name the most obvious ones. Outside you can differentiate them by a fuel cap without cover door:) Historical fact from polish perspective: almost all lady drivers kept their purses on this big storage space in the dash. It was then rounded up and very much tightened in Seicento and almost completely disappeared in the ones that had passenger airbag. Many of these ladies are still remembering this feature these days that no other car after cinque/seicento had:)
I had a Bravo with the 103PS Fiat DOHC 16v, for 8 years, drove that thing as a Grand Tourer all over Europe, from Scotland down to Italy, terrible interior but it was a fantastic car really, independent rear suspension, cornered like it was on rails, and that revvy oversquare engine was a delight. Where I live it gets down to -20°C and it survived that (minus the roof rubbers) the temperature sensor was good to -5°C and then gave up after that, tested in Turin. It's one of those cars that I wished I'd never sold.
Hahah I love that about the temperature sensor!! This car is the same, revvy engine etc, but I find it tiring on long trips as it is very noisy. Did you find that with your Bravo?
@@MorselsAndMotors yes, the ride was a little too hard on long journeys as well, it did get tiring after an hour, although fine on a motorway with a good stereo. It would actually exceed the stated top speed on the autobahn too, GPS measured it topping out at 192kmh!
In those days I dreamed of having a Marea Weekend JTD105; the back of the car particularly looked gorgeous, and I wanted a medium sized car with good luggage capacity. I know they did a more powerful JTD130 but that was not for normal people! For various reasons never got one, but I suppose in some ways the KIA Ceed Sportswagon CRDi is similar though much less adventurous.
over here in Denmark we got doubble airbags in the Brava/Bravo/Marea I think it got sideairbags (Marea) when it was facelifted in 99 as far as I remember we didn't get aircon though
I remember being young in Poland and seeing 126p and Cinquecento all the time. Occasionally you'd see a Seicento but more 126p or Cinquecento. Not as many around these days
A Panda would really be fun to drive as a simple delivery vehicle. I imagine the fuel economy on them is amazing, but taking one on American highways would probably be terrifying.
I had an Uno, theoretically the first supermini. Hated it. The gearbox and the engine (can't remember the exact configuration) didn't like each other.; so much so that I had to pull onto the hard shoulder once because I could not engage any gear. The Panda was a much better car.
Drove so many pandas I never had to think about where the indicator stock was, once u know it there’s no skill required IMO. Tho I can understand it’ll be better the other way around
For the time the Cinquecento was already dated when it was launched. The Seicento, Punto and Bravo all suited one another in style and should have all been launched together.
I own a 2001 ford transit mk5 minibus with chassis developments bodywork but at the time that bus was built you could get a older mk6 its very weird the ford transit mk5 was built from 1995 to 2001 M reg to Y reg the transit mk6 was built from 2000 to 2014 X reg to 63 Reg
Drove a cinquecento soleil, bright lemon green with open roof, very special car, funny nobody that time understood cinquecento means 500, they should written the name on the newest cinquecento, when you learn how to pronounce it right it sounds so good
Not quite right on the Panda - it was at odds with late 70s / early 80s design trends, in that Giugiaro deliberately designed it to feature flat glass, to reduce build costs. I’d love to see a true successor to the original Panda from FIAT, as an EV (if we must!). It was a great design concept, spoilt by crude rear suspension, and in early models, tragic rust proofing.
I was told that the cinquecentos with steering wheel airbags had the two column mounted stalks, like my sporting had. Those without had the panda stalks
and by the time I got a new fiat... it's lost most of its Italianness. I do have a soft spot for 98-2004ish cars. so I'd probably choose the Marea. It reminds me a bit of the Chrysler cloud cars.
The Panda was overall more robust than the 500 (didnt have the Fire engine i believe, something you could get on the Panda). The Marea was ok, but as a whole an average car.
Ye your right the Mègane was so much more refined than the Merea. We had a Megane Classic in the family in in 1997. It could have been a Merea but for the stupid Irish Tax system we had then. The Mègane had a much more modern much nicer dash than the Merea's do not that there is anything wrong with the style of the Merea's dash it was just very plasticy that's all where as the Mègane dash had soft touch surfaces on it and cool electrical vents and curves :) .
Reliable cars from my experience. I drive a twelve year old punto, and it's as reliable as clockwork. I'd get something better, but it's got pas/ac/ew etc and never let's me down, so what would be the point?
Haha, its incredible to see the Bomb Car be said as a reliable car. In Brazil this car has a fame of literally exploding it's engine! (Fiat Marea). With that, the car is compaired with an atomic bomb. It has a fame of being extremely unreliable. Nice video and cool cars! I wish we had the Panda in Brazil, seems to be a great vehicle.
From what I`ve read numerous times, the Brazilian made Fiats were always built badly (same with the Mexican built American spec Fiat 500, as well as the South African & Indian built Fiats). Italian & Polish made ones are built properly! I don't know if its the quality of materials, or workers practices, or a combination of both..
Purtroppo la Marea che hai guidato è un allestimento base. Io nella mia collezione di auto ho una marea 2.4 hlx, ti assicuro che è molto meglio come qualità della versione base che hai provato, gli interni sono diversi, sono presenti migliori finiture esterne e il motore è meraviglioso. Guarda qualche foto su internet. Purtroppo questi esemplari full optional sono pochi, ma è tutta un altra macchina.
Original Fiat Panda had 903cc (I don't think we got the smaller engines) and the facelift had 999/769 FIRE engines an engine technology I think Fiat still use. Fiat Cinquecento Sporting is the one to test drive. As much fun as the original mini!
The Panda might be more cramped because of its original packaging : the earliest versions were available with the 'conventional' transversal engine layout with an in-line engine, but also with the inverted layout of the 126 (and 500) with a longitudinal engine and gearbox. Which would take a little bit more space, even in 'conventional' versions because of standardisation.
@@gabrielenitti3243 Yeah, the air cooled fiat 126 engine was longitudinal in the early cars. Its the only car that has FWD, RWD, Transverse, longitudinal water and air cooled petrol and diesel engines
@@gabrielenitti3243 Yes, basically the the two cylinder from the Nuova 500 and the 126 and used - for some markets - in the Panda 30 and even the Cinquecento.
I was born in 2000. That year my parents bought a Panda. Today in 2023 I drive everyday that 23 years old Panda to go everywhere, perfect for the city because it's small, perfect for the montain... also funny to drive, every year me and my friends love to make donuts on the snow! And from my point of view it has quite a good look! If now you look at an old fiat 600 it looks like an old car, if you look at an old fiat panda it looks quite iconic! Great video by the way😊
Family friends used to take a Panda from Dublin to Tuscany for their holidays. 2 adults, 3 kids, and all their stuff. No probs. They even managed to keep us with us, same trip, biut in much bigger FIATs, or Lancias.
Wow! That's a great memory to have 😀
The Panda was a great car, took a lot of punishment a
Sei il mio eroe adesso! From now on you're my hero!
Panda is always the answer
My parents went from Cinquecento through Punto to Brava (a liftback version of Marea) within 3 years in the late 1990s. The Brava stayed with us until 2008 or so, and the only issue was doorhandles basically disassembling (a known issue with this car). My parents then bought a Stilo and kept the Brava for my dad to commute to work. One time we had both of them next to each other on the driveway and I remember my dad saying that Brava is 10 years older than the Stilo but looks much better -- hard to disagree!
PS. When you opened the door to the Marea, I got an almost physical sensation of how this car used to smell :)
We had a Fiat Marengo (Fiat Marea Weekend for commercial use) with the 1.9L JTD engine and it was impressively reliable, we used that thing to carry around stuff for decades with almost no maintenance, in the end pretty much nothing inside was in working conditions, but still the car refused to die, it reached the scrapyard on its wheels.
1.9 jtd is a really good engine from what I've seen and heard
1.9 is a giant (well, a Gentle Giant!)
In Poland till '00 you could buy a car from '70 - Fiat 126p, giving the dealer a possibility to sell at the same time Fiat 126p, Fiat Uno, Fiat Cinquecento/Seicento and Fiat Marea. The funniest part of it is that all these cars were produced in the same factory.
Thanks for the video. Another 3 cars we didn’t get in Australia. My grandfather had a Fiat 2300, new, in the early 1960, here in Aus, that he then traded on a new Mercedes 280s in 1968. He had the Merc until his death 30 years later.
I moved to Australia 7 years ago now and I would love to have a panda here. Such a fun little nugget it is
The Marea also has vents under te front seats. In Brazil we had 2 exclusive version like the 2.0 5 cilinder turbo, from the Coupe but with 180hp, and we also had a 2.4 5 cilinder petrol with 160hp.
Did Brazil get the 2.4JTD 5 cylinder motor?
@@FullBoostJ4 No, we can't have diesel engines in regular cars, just 4x4 or work vehicles like vans and pick-ups
Also from Brazil,the Uno just kept going in its original form until 2013,and it got a new generation which lasted until 2021.
We didn't got the 90s Cinquecento however. Closest thing we got was the korean version aka the Daewoo Matiz(in case you don't know,the Matiz is basically a design proposal for the 90s Cinquecento from Bertone that Fiat rejected,but Daewoo picked up the project and it became this car).
In europe 20vt wasnt in BBM models. We had only 2.0 20v. I actually have Marea with 2.0 and in couple days should be run with 2.4 from Stilo. Love the 5 cylinders engine sound
The Bomb Car haha
The Panda is an S-version, with a two-speed fan, engine temp, windows in the back that open, seatbelts in the back, speaker pods, so quite luxurious :) My Fiat Uno 45 is a 1989 one, and it has none of these options. It looks more modern, but it’s a *very* Spartan car. But I love those basic cars, they’re extremely easy to maintain, drive reasonably OK and have become quite rare these days.
Excellent video sir! It was a 98 Fiat Cinquecento 799 that got addicted to Fiat. My favourite car. I now have a Panda 169 eco 1100. Nice car.. but I'd take a Cinquecento every time..if they didn't rust so badly. The 799cc pushrod engine is excellent and so easy to work on.
899cc 🤗
We had them all, at the same time. My mom a Panda, i drove a yellow Cinquento Sporting and my dad a Marea ELX (sedan) Looked nice on the drive way. Later on a traded de Spoting for Bravo GT JTD. Nice times. Greeting from the Netherlands
I spotted the little brother to the Marea weekend the Brava on Car and classic, I'm very tempted
I donr know how i came across this video but i thoroughly enjoyed it well done
Well that’s nice to hear!
The Marea despite being outclassed in some respects by other cars like the cavalier and mondeo was certainly more fun to drive than those cars. Predictable and stable handling which was far better than the Stilo that replaced it. The 2.4 petrol five cylinder engine is a joy to thrash and let's not forget the 2.4 five cylinder turbo diesel torque monster (which I have) sadly these are super rare cars and you'll have an easier time finding a classic 80s panda than a Marea 130HLX weekend.
More fun to drive than a Cavalier 😂
@Stephen G well mine is, with Fiat Coupe 20VT roll bar and front struts. Let's not forget the Coupe and Marea are the same platform.
I've never driven a Marea but personally I also found the Stilo very fun to drive, same thing for the panda (both old and new); I'm curious was that so different?
@mick1467 with the stilo they went cheap on the platform. It uses a suspension set up more economically and the concensus is that it was poorer for it.
Tge Merea is an odd car. People say it was supposed to be in the same class as the Mondeo but a Renault Megane Classic was just as big as the Merea and yet it was in the same class as the Peugeot 306 and Toyota Corrola. It was also and much better car in most ways bar maybe engines to the Merea. To me the Merea was in the same class as the 3 cars above that I just mentioned. The Megane Classics boot was even bigger than the one in the Merea.
I brought a Fiat Marea Weekend HLX 20v (150bhp) for £200 in 2010 with a usual failed clutch slave cylinder. I had endless fun with that car! Unfortuantly, being at uni, I couldnt afford to keep it going and stupidly, I scrapped it. I now realise how rare it was. I now have the same engine in a Fiat Coupe..................as that is all that is left!
We had Cinquecento, Punto mk1, Punto mk2, Grande Punto and Fiat Panda. All great cars. Not fast or anything. But OMG they were unkillable. My grandma drove Cinq for 19 years!!
Yeah, so unkillable there's barely any left on the road. They all rusted away in no time.
@@miskatonic6210 depends where you live man, in italy every 5 car ya see there's one of this three
Interesting video thanks and good to read other people's stories. Didn't quite get the Marea I wanted to buy (couldn't get its cambelt changed for less than £1,500 by anyone after ringing all day long) and was put off by the Cinquecento after seeing one squashed on the motorway by a non-attentive lorry driver (both front-seat occupants killed after it broke down in the middle lane). However, earlier on I did have a red Panda 750 which was very basic but all you actually needed to run around. The phrase cheap and cheerful was invented for it. It was like a biscuit tin on wheels. I survived it and it made me appreciate all the cars I have had subsequently.
Here in brazil the marea was sold from 1998 to 2007, he was the luxurious sedan in the fiat range, so the car had to have a good engine and power. The marea is famous here because the bad reability and the incredible 2.5 5 cilynders turbo engine ( the fault wasn´t the car, he was just to modern for the era and people just don´t have the knowlege to maintain ). Today the majority was used and abused, what lefet became rare and expensive, but only the turbo version, the 1.6 is the most easy to repair, the 1.8 and 2.0 people just hate.
Thanks for your video.The Marea is for me an excellent car in its class and time period,no wonder so many of them are still surviving in Italy and used daily.It’s biggest problem was the super plastic dashboard.The exterior on the other hand,is excellent.
The Panda was more rugged than the Seicento, you can literally use it as an off roader/tractor & it will happily take it, & had more room inside when you fold the rear seat down, the Cinquecento is more of a town car, & it also handles sublimely well compared to the Panda (as its centre of gravity is lower & has a better suspension setup).
Another great video loving the content 👍🏻
Aww, thank you
I loved this video! A '93 Cinquecento was my first car and I loved it...
I just believe that the comparison would be much fairer with a Punto instead of a Marea, as you said...
We had a Marea 1.6, it was great fun to drive and fairly nippy for the time. Did a lot of hassle free miles.
Bravo would be better for comparison! I believe that Bravo - Brava - Marea were true Italian design cars, I owned Bravo, my brother also owned Bravo, and Brava. Its so sad not to see unique designed cars on the road these days, they all look the same, i.e. VAG group, from distance you cant tell which model is which. In the past, you could look in the tail lights at the night and tell, oh, its Peugeot 206 and so on...great video btw!!!!
Great Vlog Sion 👍🏻... I never really liked fiats, I thought they were quite ugly, but cannot deny they have a certain charm, love the panda door release, how cute! Marea is quite modern, I bet there isn't many left on the road now!
We like the Panda. Our first new car was a top of the range 1 litre 1984 model. Clever, practical and frugal. I moved on to BMW cars, but my wife stuck with Pandas. Never a breakdown, never a serious fault. I enjoy driving her new hybrid 2022 model. I consider them honest, straightforward cars.
When form follows function in the quintessence of practicality
Well the Panda is a classic and is still as useful today as it was way back in the 1980s!
In fact the original shape model Panda was the first car I ever drove on the road and my current weekend warrior is the latest generation Panda model in 4x4 guise.
Has there ever been another car model that has lasted so long?
I can't think of one?
It still does everything I need from a car in 2023, gets me from A to B reliably, in comfort and relative style, it's economical, quirky and above all a lot of fun to drive.
The most useful feature for me is it's a huge spacious interior in a very small compact car, makes it a breeze in a busy city but also perfect for weekend adventures, the 4x4 model is a little mountain goat that will literally go anywhere!
Not looking to far away from panda there is fiat 126 that was produced 1972 - 2000. There is more
Great video,I’ve subscribed so looking forward to your new videos
I had a White Marea 2.4 HLX in 2005. 'Damn thing was an absolute rocket; beautiful car. I wish people had realised its potential at the time.
I did appreciate the Marea and there were several beautiful six-year old examples in metallic deep blue and deep green with the bigger petrol engine which took my fancy. However, I soon realised they all needed a cambelt change and this was why they were cheap. I wasn't prepared to do this myself, the main dealer wanted £1,500 for the work, my mechanic had done one and said never again and other garages also declined so I couldn't move forward. I ended up with a Nissan Primera Sport for only £200 more than a Marea which had the reputation of being the best large family car at the time in the UK and the US so was a sensible choice. It looked great in silver with tasteful colour coded bodykit and had a chaincam that never needed attention in the car's lifetime. It did the job for me and my family.
Was it the saloon or estate you had?
@@sharonec5419 It was a Weekend. :) Absolute powerhouse.
Great video! Really calm explanation
I had 3 Cinquecentos....Great cars.When FIAT was an affordable brand...
My best friend's GF had a Cinquecento just like this one but no license, so i'd drive her around sometimes. Loved that car, so tiny and raw, I could touch the passenger side window from the driver's seat. Getting back in my Clio afterwards felt like climbing into an S class.
I've got 3 seicentos and an old panda from 94...the fire engine is one of the most reliable engines ever made imo..truly the last car fiat made than you can easily diy everything. Seicento is my daily and has been 100% reliable. I do a 300 mile round trip weekly in it.pity they don't make them anymore.
I found my 600 "Fire" bought new in 2002 irreplaceable, for which I only changed the oil, brake pads and one muffler.
A car as simple as a Vespa, small on the outside, big on the inside, good road holding, zero consumption.
Two years ago I wanted to swap it for a new car but couldn't find anything comparable on the market. So with patient research I found a farm car from a German dealership, with very few kms and bodywork like new.
Imported and re-registered as a new car.
Sold the old one in a week to an elderly lady who uses it with satisfaction
FIATs have always had brilliant mechanics and good driving dynamics
In Poland, Cinquecento was a replacement for 126p, but production of 126p ended 2 years later than production of Cinquecento 😆
Oh yes, I almost forgot that!!
My father had two Fiat Uno the MK1 in the late 80's and MK2 in the early 90's. He said they were about £3000 new and very reliable cars.
Love the back end of the Marea. High-mounted taillights are always a win in my book.
Fiat pandas one my favourite all time cars. So capable and functional
Fantastic. The quintessence of functionality in an attractive form
@@studiocalder818my daughter has just returned from Madrid. Her hire car a panda hybrid she loved it
Nice video! I think all 3 have their charms. Cinquecento would be a lot better as 1.1 with Punto gearbox.
BTW Euros came in 2002 😉
Yes, I should have checked that date and put it on-screen!
Euro was launched 1. january 1999.
@@andersnielsen6044 certainly not, physical currency was available firllrom) from Jan 1st 2002
@@fhwolthuis Accounting and electronic payments etc it was introduced 1. january 1999.
The Panda was designed by Giugiaro
Such a great video Sion which I enjoyed watching many happy memories for me as I also had a Panda 1000S and mine was red with a beige check interior (they changed the upholstery I believe) but was identical to that one
Remember all of those cars well and my parents and brother had the earlier Tipo a 1.7 diesel S 5 door a 1994 model both were excellent cars and we always travelled to north Devon to our caravan and dad thought the fuel guage was broken but it didn’t move off full in the 200 mile run from the west Midands! And the coolest dashboard ever!
I liked the marea and bravo and brava and was a total change after the Tipo and tempra
My dads friend had the cinquecento sporting and was a hoot! I remember loads of pandas and Uno on holiday in Italy on holidays and was envious of their scrapyards when trying to get a pair of good doors for my panda! Keep up the great work Daniel
Thank you very much! And I appreciate you sharing the memories
For some time there were as many as 3 Fiat supermini cars in production: 126, Panda, Cinquecento. And for over 30 years there have been 2 superminis at the same time (first 126 and Panda, then Panda and Cinquecento/Seicento, finally Seicento and New Panda). There are several reasons for that. Fiat had numerous factories in Italy (those in the South were richly subsidized by the state) and there was a need to keep them in business. The Panda was still in great demand in Italy, the 126 was equally in great demand in Poland, the Cinquecento was supposed to replace both but arrived very late and, above all , with a higher price. It was also the reason why the Cinquecento was initially received rather coldly in Italy (and even more in Poiand).
So in the end, for all the reasons mentioned, Fiat was forced to keep THREE superminis in production at the same time, until the 126 went out of production in 2000. There was no market logic in this, but only "logistic" ", so to speak. P.S. the engine of the Cinquecento was still the pushrod 100 series, the Panda in the video already has the modern FIRE (Fully Integrated Robotised Engine).
The steering wheel in the Cinquecento doesn't seem to be original to me, looks like one from the Seicento. A nice comparison between these three cars, all three of which I have driven a lot. If I could choose one it would be the Panda, so many happy memories of that :)
The runout ones had that wheel from factory
@@jamesdorrell9134 exactly what I was about to say, you beat me to it!
Thanks for the correction, I live in the Netherlands and I don't think we had this version, maybe we got the seicento a little earlier than the right-hand drive countries.
I found it quite funny that, as you’ve said while showing the interior that the Cinquecento is a very basic, budget car, a Blaupunkt head unit appears on screen, ironically to match the budget, functional theme!
I love how basic the Blaupunkt radio is!
In the early to mid 1990's, new and nearly new budget Fiat buyers were spoilt for choice. 126, Panda, Cinquecento, Uno, Punto. In fact in 1991 and 1992 all but the 1994 onwards Punto were (just about in the case of the 126) still available to buy new. How many other manufacturers have ever sold 4 budget models at the same time? Not many I bet.
👍🏼
And you can add the Lancia Y
@@studiocalder818 Yep. Forgot about that one.
The panda was our first family car back in the 80s.
Glad you like the Cinq, a very practical car, willing and fun. We've had several and my son has built fast cinqs for years. His latest is just like your white car, but over 100hp from a tuned 1.4 8 valve. Surprises a lot of AMGs....
Oh wow! The stock engine is actually pretty nippy and keeps up with traffic, so I’d be amazed to feel that kind of power in a Cinq!
@@MorselsAndMotors Car has brakes amd supension to match, mainly swapped around FIAT parts. The thing about cinqs is that they are basically Puntos under the skin, ver-specced in a very light shell. Watch ruclips.net/video/tLaOj_dx_Z4/видео.html
I just clicked for the Marea ngl
Funny than you mention a covered fuel cap in Cinquecento. First production years (91-93), quite rare these days are especially sought for in Poland by collectors as they slightly differ from later cars. They are badged by FSM only, with no Fiat logo anywhere, they have a black dashboard with a different cluster and a few other changes to name the most obvious ones. Outside you can differentiate them by a fuel cap without cover door:)
Historical fact from polish perspective: almost all lady drivers kept their purses on this big storage space in the dash. It was then rounded up and very much tightened in Seicento and almost completely disappeared in the ones that had passenger airbag. Many of these ladies are still remembering this feature these days that no other car after cinque/seicento had:)
Thank you for that; I definitely didn’t know that about the purses!
I had a Bravo with the 103PS Fiat DOHC 16v, for 8 years, drove that thing as a Grand Tourer all over Europe, from Scotland down to Italy, terrible interior but it was a fantastic car really, independent rear suspension, cornered like it was on rails, and that revvy oversquare engine was a delight. Where I live it gets down to -20°C and it survived that (minus the roof rubbers) the temperature sensor was good to -5°C and then gave up after that, tested in Turin. It's one of those cars that I wished I'd never sold.
Hahah I love that about the temperature sensor!! This car is the same, revvy engine etc, but I find it tiring on long trips as it is very noisy. Did you find that with your Bravo?
@@MorselsAndMotors yes, the ride was a little too hard on long journeys as well, it did get tiring after an hour, although fine on a motorway with a good stereo. It would actually exceed the stated top speed on the autobahn too, GPS measured it topping out at 192kmh!
In those days I dreamed of having a Marea Weekend JTD105; the back of the car particularly looked gorgeous, and I wanted a medium sized car with good luggage capacity. I know they did a more powerful JTD130 but that was not for normal people! For various reasons never got one, but I suppose in some ways the KIA Ceed Sportswagon CRDi is similar though much less adventurous.
over here in Denmark we got doubble airbags in the Brava/Bravo/Marea I think it got sideairbags (Marea) when it was facelifted in 99 as far as I remember we didn't get aircon though
Love seeing all these Euro cars that we did not have in the US.
I remember being young in Poland and seeing 126p and Cinquecento all the time.
Occasionally you'd see a Seicento but more 126p or Cinquecento.
Not as many around these days
A Panda would really be fun to drive as a simple delivery vehicle. I imagine the fuel economy on them is amazing, but taking one on American highways would probably be terrifying.
Loved my Marea back in the day
Great 90's Fiats here I owned 2 Uno's and 3 Punto's from 1992 to 2012 great driving memories
I had an Uno, theoretically the first supermini. Hated it. The gearbox and the engine (can't remember the exact configuration) didn't like each other.; so much so that I had to pull onto the hard shoulder once because I could not engage any gear. The Panda was a much better car.
One of my co-workers recommended a fiat bravo. I refused because it does not have side curtain airbags. My 2014 Fiat Panda has them
i love how he shows 3 panda in italy, and all of them are badly parked
Drove so many pandas I never had to think about where the indicator stock was, once u know it there’s no skill required IMO. Tho I can understand it’ll be better the other way around
Liking the way you open the doors from inside the Panda. Same way to manually open the door of a Tesla. Ahead of it's time!!!
I'd give Fiat Punto a chance. Fiat Doblo Safeline with thick tires and good ground clearance is a cool van. I prefer the 1.6litre gas engine.
The steering wheel in the Cinquencento is different.
I had the 1995 model
For the time the Cinquecento was already dated when it was launched. The Seicento, Punto and Bravo all suited one another in style and should have all been launched together.
You’re probably right. Trouble is I guess car companies have limited resources they have to spread out a bit over time
Good video!
Keep it up!
You just need more experience, the subs will come.
Thank you, that's very kind 😊
The Panda is the only one of them with a character - I wish we still could buy a car this versatile and charming, yet retaining a distinct design.
2:35 Saul Goodman everywhere
remember that fiat 126p was also sold at that time :)
You know you're old when he calls the Seicento stocks "traditional" and in your mind the "traditional" ones are the Panda ones.
All of them, great cars
I own a 2001 ford transit mk5 minibus with chassis developments bodywork but at the time that bus was built you could get a older mk6 its very weird
the ford transit mk5 was built from 1995 to 2001 M reg to Y reg
the transit mk6 was built from 2000 to 2014 X reg to 63 Reg
Drove a cinquecento soleil, bright lemon green with open roof, very special car, funny nobody that time understood cinquecento means 500, they should written the name on the newest cinquecento, when you learn how to pronounce it right it sounds so good
what about polish fiat 126p? they finnished production around 2000
Not quite right on the Panda - it was at odds with late 70s / early 80s design trends, in that Giugiaro deliberately designed it to feature flat glass, to reduce build costs. I’d love to see a true successor to the original Panda from FIAT, as an EV (if we must!). It was a great design concept, spoilt by crude rear suspension, and in early models, tragic rust proofing.
Did you know that as no one made flat glass in any quantity in Italy at that time so it didn't actually save any money....
I was told that the cinquecentos with steering wheel airbags had the two column mounted stalks, like my sporting had. Those without had the panda stalks
and by the time I got a new fiat... it's lost most of its Italianness. I do have a soft spot for 98-2004ish cars. so I'd probably choose the Marea. It reminds me a bit of the Chrysler cloud cars.
The Panda was overall more robust than the 500 (didnt have the Fire engine i believe, something you could get on the Panda). The Marea was ok, but as a whole an average car.
Ye your right the Mègane was so much more refined than the Merea.
We had a Megane Classic in the family in in 1997. It could have been a Merea but for the stupid Irish Tax system we had then. The Mègane had a much more modern much nicer dash than the Merea's do not that there is anything wrong with the style of the Merea's dash it was just very plasticy that's all where as the Mègane dash had soft touch surfaces on it and cool electrical vents and curves :) .
Don't forget the cinq has spare wheel in the boot unlike the panda.
Some say the Marea was a greatly designed vehicle... interesting to see that in its mother country its the opposite
Is the Fiat Cinquecento a 5 seater?
Amazingly yes!
@@MorselsAndMotors 5 seats and 39 BHP 🤣🤣🤣. Can’t imagine how slow the 30 BHP one is with 5 people in it let alone the 39 BHP one lol.
Reliable cars from my experience. I drive a twelve year old punto, and it's as reliable as clockwork. I'd get something better, but it's got pas/ac/ew etc and never let's me down, so what would be the point?
Yup, I entirely agree
What’s the orange button on the dash?
Probably hazard switch
On which car?
@@MorselsAndMotors Cinquecento
@@angrymuffinsb Then it's the hazard switch, which seems to have faded orange
You forgot Maluch aka 126 1973-2000
Haha, its incredible to see the Bomb Car be said as a reliable car. In Brazil this car has a fame of literally exploding it's engine! (Fiat Marea). With that, the car is compaired with an atomic bomb. It has a fame of being extremely unreliable.
Nice video and cool cars! I wish we had the Panda in Brazil, seems to be a great vehicle.
From what I`ve read numerous times, the Brazilian made Fiats were always built badly (same with the Mexican built American spec Fiat 500, as well as the South African & Indian built Fiats). Italian & Polish made ones are built properly! I don't know if its the quality of materials, or workers practices, or a combination of both..
why im i finding that panda's interior a lot better/cleaner than most modern cars? i dont even like pandas
Agreed
This Marea Is Very Famous In My Country: Brazil !!!, here he is reputed to be explosive, in addition to being compared to an atomic bomb lol
Haha so true!
A cinquecento that isn’t yellow. Nice
Or even worse, yellow with a red door 🤣
What about the Croma ?
Yes, the Punto and Croma are missing from the full lineup, but I didn't have access to those!
@@MorselsAndMotors where are you ?
I have 1991 fiat 126 BIS I love to drive it but driving it sounds like a engine running in your head at any speed :)
Haha yes I bet it does!
Purtroppo la Marea che hai guidato è un allestimento base. Io nella mia collezione di auto ho una marea 2.4 hlx, ti assicuro che è molto meglio come qualità della versione base che hai provato, gli interni sono diversi, sono presenti migliori finiture esterne e il motore è meraviglioso. Guarda qualche foto su internet. Purtroppo questi esemplari full optional sono pochi, ma è tutta un altra macchina.
That's a very low end Marea. The 2.0 HLX was a lot nicer.
Enters the Cinquecento and automatically goes
BUS WANKERS!
Original Fiat Panda had 903cc (I don't think we got the smaller engines) and the facelift had 999/769 FIRE engines an engine technology I think Fiat still use. Fiat Cinquecento Sporting is the one to test drive. As much fun as the original mini!
And all of them are only to be found in the scrap yard..
Yes indeed ...thus us like a localised top gear review
Fiat 126 sold in Poland untill 2000
Northern Ireland registered panda
The Panda might be more cramped because of its original packaging : the earliest versions were available with the 'conventional' transversal engine layout with an in-line engine, but also with the inverted layout of the 126 (and 500) with a longitudinal engine and gearbox. Which would take a little bit more space, even in 'conventional' versions because of standardisation.
what? Pandas with a front longitudinal engine? are u sure?
@@gabrielenitti3243 Yeah, the air cooled fiat 126 engine was longitudinal in the early cars. Its the only car that has FWD, RWD, Transverse, longitudinal water and air cooled petrol and diesel engines
@@gabrielenitti3243 Yes, basically the the two cylinder from the Nuova 500 and the 126 and used - for some markets - in the Panda 30 and even the Cinquecento.
A Panda is meant to be driven with open Windows and Arms out.
Haha good point!
3 stalks was actually the traditional way of arranging controls in Fiat. It dates back to the 50's at least (600/500/850/128/127 and so on).