Sacrilege, Fiat Targets the Multipla!

With its Multiplay concept announced at the Paris Motor Show, Fiat evokes the spirit of the Multipla: beware, we don’t lightly touch our favorite ugly duckling!

There are sleeping monsters that should never be awakened. Take the Fiat Multipla from 1998. That duck-shaped nose, that bulge under the windshield, those proportions that seemed to have escaped any oversight… It’s hard to believe that someone looked at the design and said: “Perfect guys, let’s launch production!” And yet, luckily, someone did.

Because this monster was a gentle monster. As rich in ingenuity as it was stingy in arguments for a beauty contest. Six seats across two rows, in less than four meters in length: while others were polishing their profiles, it was busy fitting everyone in. A funny contraption that understood that automotive intelligence was not measured by the aggressiveness of a grille. And we love it, this ugly little duck.

Multipla Generation

So, of course, when Fiat pulls out the family album to announce Multiplay, we lean in. Presented at the Paris Motor Show, this concept aims to combine the open loading space of a pickup with the comfort and modularity of an SUV. A mechanism touted as ingenious would allow transition from one configuration to another with a few gestures. Family, leisure, work: the vehicle promises to change its outfit according to needs.

On paper, the lineage holds up. Since the small 600 Multipla of the 1950s, capable of carrying six people in 3.5 meters, Fiat knows how to do a lot with little. The Multiplay is also expected to inspire future accessible family models, while the Grizzly and Grizzly Fastback will also make their official debuts in Paris.

Now, it’s important to find that boldness that made the Multipla so endearing. A unique car even in its faults, but whose ideas truly served its passengers. So be careful, Fiat: between resurrecting a monster and distorting an icon, there is only a step.

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