First Car struggle #1 Fiat Panda 100hp

Updated: 09 Dec 2024

Time to start a new series which was totally not inspired by Myrmeko’s First. Car. LIVE!
The first car that we’ll discuss is the Fiat Panda 100HP from 2007

The Panda 100HP was the “warmer” version of the 2nd-gen Panda (169 series), powered by the same 1.4L that you can find in a 500 Abarth but without the turbocharger. The small engine was paired with a 6-speed manual transmission.

Mods

The mods list is pretty short, since cash is low and extensive modifications are basically impossible to do in Italy
1) LPG implant. Petrol prices are pretty high here, so a LPG implant would make me save some cash between refills (Pro tip: try if possible to avoid buying used LPG cars with aftermarket implants, since LPG consumes the valves and you could spend a considerable amount of money to fix it)

2) OZ Racing Supeturismo WRC rims. I like those rims

3) Abarth muffler. A whole Abarth exhaust is pretty expensive, so my plan would be to get the final part of the exhaust from an early Abarth 500 (the 130hp one, possibly from a junkyard) and install it on the Panda. This would include a new rear bumper “splitter”. It should fit because the 500 and the Panda are built on the same chassis (if I’m wrong, feel free to correct me)

Costs and conclusion

After doing some research, I found that the lowest price for a Panda 100HP in good conditions is around 3500€ (3131.88£/3953.22USD), without including the change of ownership, which costs around 521.90€ (467£/589.48USD). After buying the car, the yearly tax would be around 207.32€ (185.51£/234.17USD). The insurance cost would definitely exceed 300€ (268.45£/338.85USD), but at least parts are cheap, since it’s basically a 2007 Panda with a bit of a bodykit. The mods would cost around 1400€ (around 1253£/1581USD) assuming that a used Abarth muffler from a junkyard costs 200€

Now it’s time to give the little Panda a vote from 0 to 100
Thank you for reading, have a good day/night/whatever!

Comments

Myrmeko (#CTSquad) Thank you for the inspiration!

Lol. You’re welcome. And my score would be 80 because 69 would be too childish, wouldn’t it?
It’s a cool one, can be chiptuned to 120HP, but my favourite is still the newer generation with the 2-cyl turbo.

Btw, the rear “splitter” is called a diffuser.

100/100

Good, I see you’re a man of culture as well

Insurance would kill you if that was your first car here in the UK. I hope Italy is less harsh with insurance

It isn’t. Insurance for a 1.2 Fiat Panda (the most common car here) can be around 2000€ in some places, but thanks to a law called “Legge Bersani”, new drivers can climb up to the best insurance class if one in the family it’s already there, so the price will reduce to something like 300/400€