The remarkable Fiat Multipla was very well thought out and drove excellently

What did the start-up process look like??

It may not be known to everyone, but the 1998 Multipla is not the first Fiat with that name. In the 1950s, the 600 Multipla was one of the world’s first MPVs, if not the first. Based on the Fiat 600, the Italians are building a fun six-seater van with a length of barely 3.5 meters. In early 1993, Fiat’s design department was asked to design a car that could seat six people, had enough luggage space and was no more than four meters long. The first proposal, like the original Multipla, has a layout with three rows of two seats. Later in the process this will become two rows of three seats. The idea of ​​giving the driver the middle front seat is defeated, because the car would then exceed the sacred four-meter limit. The end result is a relatively wide, short and high car, which was first shown as a concept car at the Paris Motor Show in 1996. The production version follows in April 1998 at the Turin show. The design is attributed to Roberto Giolito, who later also designed the reincarnated Fiat 500.

The concept for the Fiat Multipla shown in 1996.

How revolutionary was he really?

With a bodywork from the ‘Never seen before’ category, a flexible interior with two rows of three seats, excellent practicality, different types of powertrains and a dashboard – with a kind of monkey rock of instruments in the middle – that is at least as special as the rest of the car, you can safely call the Multipla very revolutionary. Perhaps so much thought has been put into it that Fiat lost sight of the fact that the appearance also has to be somewhat appealing…

How was he received?

“Some people think it is downright monstrous, others say it is purely functional and yet others expect that you just have to get used to it,” we wrote in October 1996 after we had come face to face with the concept for the first time in Paris. -car, which hardly differs externally from the production model. Compared to a ‘monospace’ MPV such as the Renault Scénic, the Multipla has a very striking appearance with its dolphin nose, low shoulder line, straight flanks, extra lights under the windscreen and enormous glass surfaces. ‘A special child’, who continues to set tongues wagging to this day. The controversial appearance often overshadows the ingeniousness of the Multipla and the fact that it drives darn well.

What were its competitors?

In AutoWeek 1 of 1999 we subjected the Multipla to a comparative test for the first time. Until then, the Renault Scénic has more or less absolute dominance in the compact MPV segment, so it will be there anyway. Number three in the trio test is the Citroën Berlingo Multispace, an MPV-like (‘a glorified van’, we conclude). It indicates that the choice in this segment was still limited at the beginning of 1999. That changes in the years that follow, in which we welcome cars such as the Opel Zafira, Citroën Picasso, Kia Joice, Ford C-Max, Volkswagen Touran and Honda FR-V (also with three seats in the front and also not a resounding success).

What were the choices during the market introduction?

There are few cars with such a wide choice of fuels as the Multipla. The most common versions are those with the 1.6 petrol engine with 103 hp and the 1.9 JTD diesel with 105 hp. Then you have the Blupower, where the 1.6 engine produces 95 hp on natural gas (CNG), and the Bipower version, which runs on petrol in addition to natural gas. At most, a handful of the latter two versions will have been sold. In terms of equipment levels, it is clear: you have the SX and the more luxurious ELX. Multipla drivers are generally not gray mice and the color chart provides almost all colors of the rainbow. The furniture is red or blue.

How was it received by consumers?

In 1999, the first full year of sales of the Multipla, 1,295 Dutch people had the courage to choose such a multifunctional Fiat over a more conservative model from another brand. The owners are often very satisfied with their purchase, but are now tired of all the comments about their car. As a Multipla driver you constantly have to explain something, while in the meantime you are laughed out loud. After 1999, enthusiasm for the Multipla diminished rapidly. In 2000, only 761 were registered, in 2001 only 399. For comparison: at Renault the counter for the Scénic in those years stood at 15,780 and 12,564 units.

Any details during his life?

Most notable is the 2004 facelift, with which Fiat tries to ‘normalize’ the Multipla in the hope of appealing to a wider audience. The characteristic dolphin nose makes way for a much braver front and the convex Barbapapa taillights are now straight and square. In itself an understandable move by Fiat, but also a sign of weakness. The crazy shapes of the original model made the Multipla something special; now it has degenerated into a boring car with strange proportions. Fortunately, the special dashboard is largely left untouched. Remarkable fact: the facelift Multipla was also built in the period 2008-2013 by the Chinese Zotye, which first listed the model as Multiplan and later as Langyue in the brochure. The Chinese even make an electric version.

Which version appeals most to the imagination?

The Multipla itself appeals to the imagination, so go for one with a nice color, such as ‘Sunset red’ or ‘Bio turquoise’. Not so long ago, you were paid money for a first-generation Multipla, but nowadays you have to look for them with a light and you even have to bring money with you for a good one. And then: just find one! A tour of the used car websites yields only one hit, a nice 1.9 JTD from 1999 for 1,250 peak. The rest of the range consists of facelifted Multipla’s and they are of course not as crazy as the original. The supply is also extremely scarce abroad. An original Multipla 600 is even easier to find.

What has been the impact of the multipla?

Everyone knows the Multipla, but rarely for the right reasons. For years the model has been the laughing stock of the car world, no matter how well thought out the Multipla was and how well it drove. His controversial appearance earned him a reputation that he has never lost. The irony is that at the time almost no one wanted to be caught dead in it, while the Multipla is now a real cult car. A well-preserved example of the first generation is a rarity. By the way, the Museum of Modern Art in New York saw in 1999 that Fiat had done something special; it included the Multipla, along with the Toyota Prius, the Honda VV and the EV1 from General Motors, in the exhibition ‘Different Roads – Automobiles for the Next Century’.

How many were built and how many are left?

3,375 copies of the first generation Multipla (1998-2005) were registered in the Netherlands. According to the Vinacles database, there are still 244 left. After the facelift, interest in new Multipla’s is minimal: only 112 were sold in 2006, 45 in 2007…