Back in the late 70’s, the CEO of Fiat, Carlo de Benedetti, asked Giorgetto Giugiaro from the newly founded Italdesign to design a small car to replace the Fiat 126.
While Giurgetto worked on the design of the small Panda, Aldo Mantovani focused on the mechanicals.

The requirements were clear: the manufacturing costs needed to be low, while the car had to be spacious and practical, just like the rival Renault 4.

During the designing process, Giugiaro conceived the seats of the new model inspired from a folding lounge chair, as they were inexpensive to manufacture, simple and easy to maintain. The trunk needed to be big enough to accommodate two 50-liter carboys.

The project was based on a monocoque construction with a nearly flat floor, to ensure a roomy cabin.

Before the final version, Italdesign presented no less than two full-scale models and 4 different side designs. The pre-production prototypes were test-marketed at an unpublicised event where the participants were impressed by the car’s design and practicality.

The first generation of Fiat Panda was launched to the press in 1979 and unveiled to the public in 1980. The then-new Panda was a departure from Fiat’s models, featuring a front-wheel-drive system instead of the old rear-wheel drive one.

The Panda had a boxy utilitarian design, with an asymmetrical font grille that was fitted differently depending on the engine, as two different models were available: Panda 30 powered by a 652 cc engine and the Panda 45 with an engine displacement of 903 cc.

Inside, besides the rudimentary design, the cabin was fitted with a highly flexible interior. The rear seat was adjustable in 7 different ways and could be folded flat into a provisional bed. The interior mirror was simple, with no day and night adjustments.

The instrument cluster featured a heating vent, however, the small Panda was not equipped with dash outlets for fresh air. Instead, the side windows had vent windows and optional pop-out rear windows.