Fiat Panda Freak Show: How Much Shorter, Narrower and Lower Can a Car Get?
In Italy, a spectacle unfolded that had little to do with speed or prestige and everything to do with automotive absurdity. Three very peculiar Fiat Pandas lined up, not to prove who was the best, but who could claim the title of the most bizarre.
On the grid stood a trio of heavily reworked Pandas, each vying for an extreme world record of sorts: the shortest, the narrowest, and the lowest. When the dust settled, it was the stubbiest Panda that crossed the finish line victorious.
Only the shortest of the three retained the luxury of an internal combustion engine. The other two, trimmed so drastically in width and height that a moped engine would not even fit, had to rely on tiny electric motors—more novelty than competition for petrol power.
The driver of the narrowest car just manages to squeeze inside, remarkably in a normal seated position, with a toy-like steering wheel in front of him. The pilot of the lowest machine, however, has to crawl in through the rear window and lie flat to drive, controlling the contraption via a joystick while sitting atop a chassis borrowed from a go-kart.
None of these creations carry an official “world’s most” certification. Yet staring at their surreal proportions, one cannot help but wonder: who on earth could possibly outdo them?
