Designed by Italian automotive designer Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Fiat Panda was intended to be inexpensive, practical, economical, and exceptionally easy to manufacture. Debuting in early 1980, the Panda gained a four-wheel-drive version in 1983, and here, being auctioned by Christie’s in New York City on November 20, 2026, is a 1985 Fiat Panda 4×4, offered at no reserve. A warm thank you to Araknid78 for the tip.
Giugiaro clearly approached the assignment almost as an exercise in minimalism. The Panda featured flat glass, simple body panels, a remarkably basic interior, and seats that could be rearranged to accommodate passengers or cargo. To add four-wheel drive, Fiat partnered with Austrian engineering firm Steyr-Puch, which had considerable experience building rugged military and off-road vehicles. The company had also partnered with Mercedes-Benz to develop and manufacture the G-Class SUV (Geländewagen), now known in certain social circles as the G-Wagon. Steyr-Puch supplied the five-speed manual transmission, rear differential, solid axle, four-wheel-drive engagement mechanism, and other bits needed to make all four wheels go. These were shipped to Sicily, where Fiat shoehorned everything into reinforced Panda bodies.
The Panda itself was something of a reinvention of the original Fiat 500 (cinquecento), only this time with the Italian countryside and vineyards in mind. Among Giugiaro’s design objectives was the ability to carry four people and 50 liters of wine (a pretty good wine-to-passenger ratio). Our featured Panda was fully restored in Bologna, Italy, in 2020, and puts out a thumping 48 horsepower and is finished in quite elegant Metallic Gray (Grigio Metallizzato), with woodgrain accents, green bucket seats, and matching green door panels and dashboard (admittedly, it’s a lot of green). It also has a full roof basket, presumably for all the stuff that won’t fit inside once you’ve loaded up the wine. As a bonus, the five-speed transmission has a low first gear, the proverbial granny gear, which the Italians more elegantly refer to as a primina. Under normal driving conditions, you’ll be starting in second.
The Panda received a substantial makeover for 1986, so this final-year example could represent the purest expression of Giugiaro’s original concept. These were never officially sold in America, and by the early 1980s, Fiat was already on the ropes here, withdrawing from the U.S. passenger-car market after 1983. You’ll probably have the only Panda 4×4 in your neighborhood, and rest assured you’ll spend plenty of time explaining just what it is to people – and a lot of time ordering parts from Italy. This one is so nice and so clean that I don’t know if you’d ever take it off-road, but these little cars also developed a stout reputation for their abilities in the mountains. I find the simplicity of the whole thing rather charming. Will you register to bid?
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