I've been a bit quiet for a while, but my recent encounter with a blown head gasket on my 2004 Fiat Panda has inspired me to start writing again!
The clue should have been the presence of water in the oil when I checked it recently, but at the time my mind was completely elsewhere - so I was kicking myself a few days later when the car completely died.
Initial prices from garages, including a Fiat dealership, were close to the £700 mark, including towing it to the garage. Luckily by shopping around, we found a reputable local garage that could do the job for close to £500.
Apparently blown head gaskets are a reasonably common problem for Fiat Panda's, so it's worth knowing what to look out for, and you may spot one or more of the following:
- Really rough running. - Oil resembling a milkshake and mixed with water. - Bubbles of air entering the radiator. - Leaking radiator. - Coolant or oil running from head. - Spark plugs may pick up the colour of the coolant. - Low compression may mean a blown head gasket (although there might be other causes) - You might see water if you put a piece of cardboard about an inch away from the exhaust (while the engine is running)
And what's the result? Firstly you'll need the head gasket sorting, which is the sort of thing that's beyond most driveway mechanics (including me). Then there's a good chance you'll also need to replace the radiator, water pump and thermostat - a reason to stop driving the car as soon as you get suspicious, and check out exactly what's happening!
On the bright side, the mighty Panda is back on the road and running as well as ever. And that's despite the fact it's also now wearing the scars of two collisions after people decided to reverse into it...
If you had to get yourself out of a big off-road hole, would you pick a £60,000 Range Rover, or would you go for a £10,000 Fiat Panda 4x4 and keep the £50,000 change? Especially as you could also get a Fiat Panda 100HP for when you're not getting covered in mud! So here's what happened when Fifth Gear pitted the Range Rover versus the Fiat Panda:
Brothers Douglas and Duncan Doig are taking part in the Africa Rally, which will see them attempt to drive 15,000 km from the UK to the Cameroon - in a 23-year-old left-hand drive Fiat Panda.
They'll drive through France, Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, the Gambia, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin and Nigeria, with the combined experience of one lesson on mechanics from a friend. Find out more about the crazy trip.
At the moment, the 270,000 Fiat Pandas which are built each year are constructed at Fiat's Polish plant. But part of proposed plans to restructure the company could see building of the Panda take place in Italy.
The proposal is to shift half of production to the Pomigliano d'Arco plant near Naples in southern Italy. It's currently used for more expensive Fiat and Alfa Romeo models.
Which means in the future you could have a 50-50 chance of getting an Italian-made Fiat Panda.
The Fiat Panda Hydrogen concept car originally appeared in 2006, but has made the trip to Copenhagen with a number of other cars ahead of the upcoming climate summit.
For those interested, the fuel cell stack sends power straight to the motor without the need for a battery, and it produces 54hp and a top speed of 81mph, with a range of 125 miles. And using Hydrogen, the only waste product coming out of the exhaust is water.
There's a long history of Ferrari bosses and sporting stars owning a Fiat 500 to get around in, but it's always been a lot rarer for them to succumb to the charms of the Fiat Panda.
But reading an interview with Luca di Montezemolo, the 62-year-old chairman of Ferrari, SpA and of Fiat, SpA, it's revealed at the end of the article, that in addition to the standard Fiat 500, and the lovely Ferrari California he owns, he also a Fiat Panda, although the article doesn't mention which specific model!
So far it's di Montezemolo and Top Gear's James May as discerning automotive celebrities who have picked up a Panda.
I'm not sure Formula 1 star Mark Webber is in the normal group of people who would buy a Fiat Panda, but having him test the car makes for interesting perspective.
It turns out that he likes the interior, but not the handling, raucous engine noise, or windscreen wipers lifting from the glass when following a truck closely.
The 2nd generation Fiat Panda has reached the 1.5 million mark for cars produced - with the notable car being built in the Tychy plant in Poland.
It's a left-hand drive 1.3 MultiJet destined for an Italian buyer. This year, 2009, a record number of 285,000 cars will be produced.
To put it in context, the VW Beetle clocked up 21 million over 65 years. The Panda has done 1.5 million in 6 years, since being introduced in 2003. So it's on track so far!
If the Fiat Panda has one design flaw, it's one that only becomes apparent when you try and use the car in Winter.
For some reason, the washer bottle and feed appear to have been routed in a way which means that it refuses to defrost, even when the car has been running for an hour or more...
Normally in the UK this wouldn't be an issues, but given recent weather it's becoming a necessity to carry a bottle of water with me to wash the windscreen every so often, or risk trying to drive whilst blinded by dirt smeared across the windscreen.
It's made me wonder whether all new-shape Pandas are similarly afflicted - and if so, surely the 4x4 model, for example, must be bought by a fair amount of people living in snowy areas?
Forgive me for mentioning the 500 rather than the Panda, but Fiat is offering 10,000 cars developed in conjunction with fashion label Diesel - and they're only available online.
Buyers can configure the car the way they want it, pay a deposit, track its production, make a final payment and organise the best dealer from which to collect it. All via the website.
And that's after 200 Abarth 500s were available for pre-order by an online desposit, six months before it was released. It sold out three months ahead of schedule.
You can see the 500byDiesel here, and unsurprisingly, it's a 1.2 Diesel!
I just stumbled on a nice blog post discussing the old style Fiat Panda, and how it has remained popular for residents of hillside towns in Italy as it's one of the few cars that can fit in the narrow streets. You can read it for yourself at 2 Italy - We moved to Italy.
Meanwhile fans of the new version might like this modified example found via Flickr: The image is by _najt, and it's used under a Creative Commons licence.
It's an update of the 4x4 model, with a new differential unit which allows the Panda to get grip, even if only one wheel can get traction.
It's down to a new viscous coupling and some clever electronics. It's also 11cm higher than the normal 4x4, and with chunkier tyres, making it perfect for rough terrain.
It's powered by the 1.3 Multijet diesel engine, and is an obvious contender for success in Fiat's homeland of Italy. - the downside is whether the type of English driver who might need proper off-road capability will be tempted by something which could fit inside the average SUV for £11995.
We might have already seen the next evolution of the Fiat Panda being tested, but that hasn't stopped a new special edition being launched in Italy.
The Fiat Panda 4x4 Glam has a pearl white finish, aluminium roof bars, and new 15 inch alloy wheels. The interior gets a denim-like covering on the seats and door panels, and the dash has aluminium trim. Very 'glam'!
You get the choice of the 60 horsepower 1.2 litre or 70 horsepower 1.3 litre engine for Italian prices of 14,800 Euros, or 16,910 Euros.
The Motor Authority site has got hold of sneak pictures of the Fiat Panda test mule - showing how the car will look when it arrives in late 2010, to go on sale for 2011.
They claim the car will have a much more rounded appearance than the current model, with either front or all wheel (4x4) versions, a new range of lightweight aluminium engines, and possibly an electric hybrid. It's expected Fiat will only offer the four door option.
Just found Novitec, as a source of parts for tuning and modifying your Fiat Panda - and they've got some great photos of their modified Pandas on the site. I'm not entirely convinced by the chrome bull bar on the front, but the other mods look pretty good - as does their work on the Fiat 100HP Panda. If you're looking for the parts they have available, the English listing of Novitec modifying parts for the Fiat Panda is here. I'm rather taken by the wheels, and definitely tempted by the adjustable suspension, although at 859EUR, I might have to settle for the 109EUR lowering kit for the moment!
Just seen that Car Magazine in the UK is running a vote for 'The Greatest Car in Film History', with all the usual suspects - Bonda's DB5, the Back to the Future DeLorean etc.
Sadly no cinematic exploits starring the Panda have made it. But having had a look at the Internet Move Car Database, I've seen some interesting info.
For a start, Pandas make 103 appearances on film and TV as a standard new or old model, with a handful extra for the 4X4 and 100HP. You can see Pandas in Film and TV here. It turns out they quite often pop-up as the automotive equivalent of a TV extra - even being used as cover in Ronin, but not making it into the chase scene.
I guess they're just not as comical as a Citroen 2CV! And yet, looking at the statistics page, The Panda gets outshone by the Punto, the 1100, and the Uno.
I mean, the Uno? More of a film star? Really? I hoped the 100HP might redress the balance, but then the new 500 came along.
With a base model like the Panda, there are some really interesting and cool special editions in existance.
One that I can't find on the official site, and that launched before this blog began, was the Fiat Mamy limited-edition which went on sale in the UK earlier this year, based on the 1.2-litre Dynamic.
It's £8200, and has some female and family focused tweaks to the colours and features, with front seat covers, orange air vent surrounds, aubergine or orange paint, and Mamy logos. It's also got special carpet mats with a high grip mat in the back, and the great idea of a second internal rear-view mirror for keeping tabs on the back seats.
But it also comes with £1000+ of valuable freebies. Air-con, Bluetooth hands-free, a 50/50 split and sliding rear seat with Isofix (for baby seats) attachments, a height adjustable driver seat, a radio/CD/MP3 player, ABS anti-lock brakes, two front airbags and remote central locking as standard.
As a Panda-owning father, I'd say the split and sliding rear seat, the Isofix attachments, and the second internal rear-view mirrors are great ideas and additions.
Unlike most green vehicles, the Fiat Panda Eco features a petrol engine, yet still gets official CO2 emissions of under 120g/km. That means it drops down a tax band in the UK, from Band C to Band B, saving £85 in annual car tax.
You can pick from the 54bhp 1.1 litre engine in the Active Eco and a 60bhp 1.2 litre engine in the Dynamic Eco. The higher spec model also has remote central locking, colour-coded bumpers (which do improve the looks of any Panda) and a CD/MP3 player.
Both engine versions claim fuel economy and CO2 figures of 56.5mpg and 119g/km, obtained by using low-viscosity engine oil and fitting low-resistance tyres - so theoretically then, something that could be achieved by any Panda owner at oil change and tyre replacement times?
The good news is that you'd soon be in profit, as the modifications are only £100 over the standard prices for Pandas - the Fiat Panda Active Eco is £7105, and the Fiat Panda Dynamic Eco is £7705.
Every so often I consider making some changes to the Panda - despite being a cheap first car to buy and insure, it seems even the 100hp has failed to inspire much in the way of tuning and modifying.
Perhaps it's the image of it as an old person's car, and the launch of the Fiat 500 and especially the Abarth model?
But the 100hp has shown that it's possible to make a much cooler Panda - and with the right modifications, I reckon it could be improved upon. Particularly by lowering it for starters, and some better wheels.
So have you modified your Panda? What have you done? And was it for speed and performance, handling, or looks?
