What's the news?
Fiat has created a one-off 'Monster Truck' version of the Panda to promote its newest model, the Panda 4x4. Previous mad incarnations of Fiat's sensible small car include the Panda 'Scooter' and the Panda 'Cargo Plane'.
Exterior
Honestly, you'd be hard pushed to miss it. Sitting on tractor wheels measuring 1.5 metres in diameter the car stands 3.9 metres tall and 3.8 metres wide. The Panda's body itself looks to be untouched, although round-town manoeuvrability is likely to have been affected.
Interior
Being a promotional piece, we don't expect Fiat to have changed the interior found in the standard Panda 4x4. However, as this has been dubbed as a 'Monster Truck', we would have liked to have seen a switch for rear-wheel steering, and a hatch in the floor to aid access.
Mechanicals
Underpinning the Panda's body is the chassis from a Jeep CJ7 4200. The morphing only took two weeks to complete, and the finished car is fully functional. We haven't been told what engine powers the beast, however performance and fuel economy figures are likely to be down compared to the showroom model.
Anything else?
Crazy vehicles aside the Panda 4x4 goes on sale this month with prices starting at £13,900. Enormous tractor wheels will not be an optional extra.
James Giddings - 18 Dec 2012