Cars and Design. This familiar equation, the image of Italian styling, has a new showcase today with the inauguration of the 'Fiat Café La Triennale'. The result of cooperation between Fiat and La Triennale, this original establishment will be inaugurated this evening in Milan, in the garden of the historical Palazzo dell'Arte (which will soon become the home of the Museum of Italian Design). It will be able to serve about one hundred seated guests, but the surrounding 8,000 sq m of garden allows easy access to over one thousand people. The café will be open from April to October, 10.30 am to 11.30 pm every day (closed on Mondays), and will provide cafeteria service.

Fiat is always looking for new means of communication, and it was the life and soul of this project, which was particularly dear to Lapo Elkann, head of Brand Promotion at Fiat Auto, and Davide Rampello, President of the Triennale. The design was the work of architect Michele De Lucchi, who collaborated with leading partners in the fields of furnishings, design, technology and catering.

'Collaborating with the best Italian design firms is extremely important for Fiat,' confirmed Lapo Elkann. 'Cars are also objects of design, and I think they will be increasingly so in a future in which we can imagine undertaking specific projects with great names of Italian design, developing a number of cars or their components together. Styling is one of the cornerstones of any car, as well as the prime purchasing motivation. This is why I believe it can be important for a car maker to be present at the Furniture Show, an international event where it is possible to pick up precious creative ideas from companies that operate in other sectors.'
 

The choice of the Triennale was not casual: in April 2004, Fiat chose the same setting for the world preview of the Panda Alessi. 'In recent years,' said Davide Rampello, 'the Triennale has gradually opened up to the public and is visited by thousands of people; it is at the centre of an intense debate between art, society and industry on questions that touch all aspects of the culture of design. This is why we decided to create a large outdoor café, and why we decided to do so with Fiat, the company whose design has probably had more influence on the lives of the Italians than any other.'

The inauguration of the Fiat Café La Triennale will include the presentation of the Panda 'Bigusto', which will be marketed in a limited series. Two versions of the new Panda will be presented in Milan, with two-tone bodywork and interiors: one will be blue and grey, and the other, which will soon be on the market, will be blue and black.

An extra touch of refinement which really makes the model a 'fashionable car', and also represents an element of continuity with the past, underpinned by the presence of two historical cars at the Milan inauguration: a 1963 Fiat 600 D Multipla (with light green bodywork and a white roof) and a 1968 Fiat Nuova 500 F, with special 'marble-effect' paintwork by Mimmo Laganà, the artist who is exhibiting some of his original sculptures at the Fiat Café La Triennale. And finally, during the evening, it will also be announced that the Panda Alessi concept will now be marketed all over Europe from the end of 2005.