/ 10 November 2003

And the beast!

Ugly can sometimes be good. Neither Winston Churchill or Mother Theresa would have won any design contests, but both managed to get the job done a helluva lot better than most. Fiat’s Multipla falls into the same category. This car just has to be the ugliest sunovabitch built, ever. And it’s superb. The bottom half of the car looks like it was intended to be a svelte cabriolet, but the whole plot was spoiled when some moron glued the upper half of a minibus on top. It’s weird, but it works.

The Multipla makes the most of all the space the unusual design offers. The gearlever protrudes from the dash rather than the floor, while the handbrake is situated to the right of the driver’s seat. That means there’s plenty of space freed up in the centre for a third seat, which can be folded away to create a handy table top, complete with cup-holders. The second row of seats is exactly the same, and because the seating arrangements can be juggled so effortlessly the vehicle can be used as a people or goods carrier with equal aplomb.

The Multipla is a wide vehicle, but the acres of glass make it a cinch to drive in traffic. All round visibility is superb. There are tons of cubby holes and stowage compartments, and the bizarre looking dash and controls actually work very well despite the comments they evoked from all who saw them. We do have reservations about the brightly coloured furry material covering the dash though – it could look very tatty in a relatively short time. Spec levels are impressive, with power steering, ABS brakes, a barrage of airbags, remote central locking with alarm, electric windows, climate control, a radio/CD player with satellite controls on the steering wheel, foglights and headlight washers.

Fiat South Africa brings in one version only of the Multipla – the 1,9 JTD turbodiesel. This engine is a lively performer, and the car gallops along without the need for many gearchanges, thanks to the wide spread of torque – 203 Nm are available from just 1 500 rpm. Power peaks at 4 000 rpm, with 85 kW on tap.

The five speed manual transmission is a slick shifter with well-chosen ratios.

Top speed is an indicated 190 km/hr, although testers have recorded a genuine top speed about 10 km/hr lower, and the 0-100 km/hr sprint takes around 13,2 seconds.

We drove the Multipla for a week and loved every minute of it. The car is extremely practical and a lively performer. And it has soul. At R209 500 it’s a contender!