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There was a surprise,
but very welcome, addition to the Ferrari Stand at this
month's 29th Bologna Motor Show: the new Fiat Panda 4x4. The
little Panda was finished in the special F1 World Champion livery of Rosso Scuderia
red, with a tricolour stripe, and a logo celebrating the years in
which Ferrari’s single-seaters have triumphed in the F1
Championships (1999-2004).
The two highly successful cars stood side
by side and represented the two opposite ends of the Fiat
Group’s products: the city car and the F1 racer.
The new Fiat
Panda has been a huge sales success for Fiat dring its first
full year of production, an fact so much so, that an
estimated 250,000 of these little cars will be sold by the
end of this year, 25 percent up on Fiat's own estimates.
The Panda has
claimed a raft of awards, including the most coveted of all:
'European Car of the Year'. It became the first ever winner
of this award to be chosen from its market segment.
The Panda 4x4 on
show in Bologna, is a 'off-road' version that seeks to
recreate the aura associated with the original 1980's icon.
It has put its credentials in place by recently undertaking
a trek to Mount Everest's base camp, which lies at 5,200
metres above sea level.
To achieve this feat, two Panda 4x4s started from Katmandu
in Nepal, and covered 110 km of gravel roads
to Kodari, on the border with Tibet.
From this point on, for another 70 km, they used the rock strewn paths and
tracks normally reserved for Sherpas and people trekking the Himalayas.
The Pandas climbed the five km-high Tangula pass to the monastery at Rongbuck.
After a few more kilometers of extremely difficult terrain, the Pandas became
the first small vehicles to reach the base camp.
Meanwhile, the Ferrari F2004 needs no introduction. Suffice
to say that this latest masterpiece from Scuderia Ferrari
sweept the opposition aside as it took Michael Schumacher to
the F1 world title, and let them casually wrap up yet
another consecutive manufacturer's title.
The two cars also symbolise how the Made in Italy phenomenon is such
a winning part of the car market worldwide too.
Photos: Carlo
Ombello
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