Photos from the Cohort by Charkle the 2nd.
Related reading:
Cohort Pic(k) Of The Day: ’98-’04 Fiat Multipla – Multiple Multiplas
– Posted on January 12, 2024
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Curbside Classics Archives
Photos from the Cohort by Charkle the 2nd.
Related reading:
As noted in the linked article, these are (in my opinion as well) one of the ugliest cars ever produced. That effect hasn’t been helped in this case by the owner(s) apparently deciding to utilize steel wool as part of their detailing routine.
Right hand drive? Where were these found?
These appear to be in New Zealand. They have New Zealand license plates, and both have license plate frames from businesses in Auckland. Continental Car Services (on the front car) looks like it used to be a big Fiat dealer in Auckland, but now sells other makes – the Italian Auto Centre looks like it’s still operating as a parts and service business.
And I think the Steel Wool look actually makes these cars more endearing…
Those are in quite good nick for Kiwi cars that age, paint blistering kicks in earlier for some reason, Red is particularly susceptable in sunny climates, note the moss behind the paint protector,
this is the long term effects of automatic cars washing or not washing cars here, I saw a green Nissan Leaf on the Rawene ferry recently except it was pale blue under the growth,
I wash my car at service intervals its galvanised so rust isnt an issue but it sees a lot of gravel roads and clay sticks out on the roadgrime grey(silver) paint
I have a soft spot for these, because of their superb space efficiency. As to the quirky styling of the front end, I find it humorous. Beats the blobby predictability of 99% of the CUVs these days.
I don’t think you’re going to get that level of space utilization with something pretty, so why not just go with it and aim for peak ugly?
It kind of reminds me of those hippy school bus with a VW van pasted on the top.
Even the back of a Avantime Renault is a beauty beside this . I would also be happier to find myself in a Nissan Cube than in this horror mainly spoiled by this double decker light set-up
The rear of the Avantime is, next to the Megane, the most beautiful thing Patrick Le Q. has created. This vehicle is pretty high up in my top 10 if I ever come into a lot of money (I’ll have to travel a long way through France to find the right one, in Germany it’s only available with the wrong engine).
and yet the design of the Multipla began well in 1998 before the face-lift flop of ’04
They turned THAT into the Multipla featured here?!
It’s what DougD says about aiming for peak ugly. Seems like they had a perfectly good little van, but then went back for second servings of the Ugly Stick.
Other way around, Jeff. The blue car is the facelifted model which IIRC despite tamer styling sold worse.
This car tried too hard to look cool, and flat out failed.
I love this car.
The only detail I could never get used to is the shape of the rear indicator, the upper radius and the cut/dent in the lamp housing don’t fit well.
The rest of the car is total cleverness coupled with fresh humour.
We had two of them with the 1.9 litre diesel as production vehicles for six months.
There’s no need to talk about the exterior design. A slightly rounded cube with 4 wheels at the corners, nothing has been wasted.
The package is superb. 6 people without it getting really cramped. 4 people with endless space. The large windows mean you never feel cramped.
The area around the driver’s seat looks very playful at first glance because of the organic shapes, but everything is where it should be (instruments in view) and everything is easily accessible (storage for utensils).
The strangely shaped snout was very well thought out. All the headlights are where they need to be. The light output, especially the high beam, could only be achieved years later with other technology.
I often used one of the vehicles to drive home over a free weekend (400 km on country roads and motorways).
The engine had enough torque in every situation and the handling and roadholding were sensational. To achieve the same average speed on a country road, you would have had to have a premier league sports car. Even on record journeys, the fuel consumption was always a 5 before the decimal point (no idea how to convert this into miles per gallon, but just take the most economical vehicle you’ve heard of as a guide)
One of the best cars ever built.
I had a brief drive of one of these, and I had to admit it was a brilliant piece of design, so long as you were inside, rather than outside. These were the inspiration for the Honda FRV – but of course Honda did it better.
I took these photos in the Bucklands Beach suburb of Auckland. The front one has lived there for some years, and I’ve always noted it as I drove past (kind of watching to see if a For Sale would come up…). You can imagine my great pleasure when I saw a second one had come to roost as well!
Knowing how hard it is to source parts for rare European cars, it’s quite likely that the second one has arrived as a parts car, but it’s also possible that this is an enthusiast that has caught the Multipla bug. Either way, it makes it far more likely that the owner is an enthusiast and sees these cars for the future classics that they are, rather than just another old car.
Make mine the turbo diesel manual, I followed one thru the Manawatu gorge in my Xsara, I knew which one it was by the coal it was blowing pulling out of corners marked at 65kmh for trucks@100+, it was all in its lane too, Fun trip home again,I miss that road,
it doesnt matter here how fast you drive you may get stopped by the police, you will definitely be overtaken by something I was 25 over the limit when that Fiat overtook, so ok bro, go and he/she just did that, I just matched their speed that Multipla wasnt braking where you dont really have to they handle great, the average motorist struggles with the legal 80kmh through this event in anything, do it a few times in a truck and see who holds you up
The moniker reminds a bad desease. And so does the look.
Really strange. But strange in a good way.
I would never have thought to make a car look like this. The super-tall windows (what a great idea!) make the top look too large for the lower body, and the cowl/hood treatment reminds me of a fat guy’s waistline pulled in by his belt (looks down).
It’s odd – but wow, what an imagination! There’s originality, and then there’s stuff like this. So far outside the mainstream. Kudos to Fiat management for having the guts to say Yes to this design.
Undoubtedly super-practical. I can see why Fred loved his. But equally I can see why others would look elsewhere.
I like em, hell I drive Citroens for the ride handling and features they just throw in because its handy, you know reliable automatic selfleveling and ride height adjustment with sport function it remembers too what was going on when it was parked and returns to that as soon as you unlock it or touch it open a door whatever, the suspension is alive unless it detects a power drain like you left the lights on, then it goes into economy mode and all power diverts to start up insert the key, turn, it does a systems check and a microsecond later it starts the steerable headlights align as the engine fires and its back to normal auto lights auto wipers that roll the windows up on continuous sweep, the everday stuff.
I dont care what it looks like from the outside,
some of those features were on my previous C5 and still worked reliably at sale @408,000 kms
The basis for the Rover James, to fans of Top Gear!
I always liked this, but I love big windows and an airy interior. It reminds me of my ‘85 Honda Civic wagon. It was a wonderfully roomy and comfortable car and so easy to see out of. Although I have never had the opportunity to sit in a Multipla, it must be the same or more so. The low hood is certainly unconventional, but that in itself is not negative. Overall it is functionally driven design that is clever and shows amazing originality.
I do wonder how the front lights work. Are the lights on the cowl headlights? One article implied they were only high beams.
Yes! A big fat belly roll under the windshield is just what this car needs. I’ve pulled shit spreaders behind tractors that looked better even if they were covered in shit. This car is uglier than a bucket of assholes.
People may think it’s ugly but nobody so far has found it to be boring to look at. 25 years on from the introduction it’s growing on me. Slowly. Like a wart. Maybe a pet wart! Now I kind of like them (the Multiplae I mean), not afraid to go their own way and said to be very good at doing what cars are meant to do, i.e. transport people and stuff. If it was actually pretty, people would complain that it’s a Fiat. They don’t do that with this one.
Friends of ours who lived in France for a year in the early 2000’s leased one for a year. I rode in it – with another adult (the driver … he didn’t let me take the wheel 😢) and 4 kids, two of whom were high-school age. It was a bit cozy but still seemed to combine spaciousness with good outward visibility. It may not have been conventionally attractive, but it worked.
CC effect: saw a Multipla last week, for the first time in a year or so. They must have been semi-popular here in New Zealand when new, as I remember seeing quite a few around. 67 left now says Carjam.
Carjam also says both these are NZ-new 1.6 litre ‘ELX’ models. HSL318 was first registered on 25 March 2002 and had travelled 143,115km by February 2019. ZN3775, was first registered on 28 September 2000, and had travelled 258,931km by September 2020. Interestingly (or not!) the newer, lower-mileage one has failed more Warrant of Fitness (roadworthiness inspections) than the older higher-mileage one.
Hi I have been the very happy owner of a fleet of 3 2003 Multipla turbos and far too many speeding tickets in them. As each one died I saved all the vital parts until a very stupid woman ended my love affair by ploughing into the last surviving one that I retained for myself to both collect and embarrass grandchildren on high school collect. Better than red lipstick kisses if you toot the horn. Anyway all theses parts are still in my possession airbags, headlights, trim, all sorts of electrical parts anyone out there want them. Kathy Jarrett Manawatu