Background
Designed as a light off-road vehicle, the Fiat Panda 4x4, unveiled at the end of June 1983, is the elevated, four-wheel-drive version of the popular Turin-based small car. The car was produced in collaboration with the Austrian company Steyr Puch - which was responsible for the entire transmission system (clutch, gearbox, three-part drive shaft, rear axle with differential, brakes) - and assembled in the Fiat plant in Termini Imerese, Sicily. The engine was the liquid-cooled 965cc in-line four-cylinder of the Autobianchi A112 Elite: fed by a twin-barrel carburettor, it developed a maximum power of 48 bhp, capable of giving the car a top speed of 135 km/h. The special feature of this model was the famous "primino", a very short first gear ratio to facilitate starting on the steepest climbs. The simple and essential interior was finished in an intermediate way between the Base and Super versions. In 1985, the "nuova Panda 4x4" was introduced, a limited edition of 5,000 units that preceded the start of the so-called "Supernova" series, which underwent a more thorough restyling and was equipped with the new 999 cc FIRE engine that, with the help of various evolutions, would equip the car until 2003, the year in which production ended.







