1998 FIAT Multipla 1.9L JTD 5MT (105 HP)

Vehicle Overview

Rarely in car’s history, a vehicle received so much hate about its look than the 1998 Fiat Multipla. Its questionable look was only matched, or exceeded, by the Pontiac Aztek.

It is hard to describe a car that was built around a functional concept. While the engineers burned the midnight oil to tick all the boxes from the book, the design team looks like it drew the lines with their lunchboxes during the 1994 World Soccer Cup Final when Italy lost to Brazil. But the 4 meters (13.1 ft) long car could transport six adult passengers and 400 liters (14 cu-ft) of luggage, and that was its main advantage on the market.

The short front end featured a step design. One step for the bumper, one for the hood, another one for a bar with a pair of lamps, and a steep windshield formed the car’s shape. The rest of the vehicle was a cube with rounded edges and a vertical drop for the tailgate. Its three sets of lights, for fog, main, and the stationary lamps were installed to end the vehicle’s unusual look.

Inside, there was room for up to six people on individual seats. To accommodate them, Fiat moved the gear-stick from the floor to the center stack. It was integrated into a panel that combined the instrument cluster, the HVAC, and the sound system.

Fiat left enough room for almost any kind of engine from its warehouse under the hood, but it chose to offer just two of them: a diesel and a gasoline unit. Both were paired to a 5-speed manual gearbox.