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Fiat Multipla Gallery
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Since its launch in 1999, the Fiat Multipla has won a brace of awards from almost every quarter imaginable. It really was a groundbreaking compact MPV, with a wider-than-average, flat-sided body accommodating two rows of three people - a set-up shared only with the Honda FR-V. It also offers a practical and genuinely attractive interior, and fun, characterful manners on the move, particularly in punchy 1.9-litre diesel form, which is preferable to the 1.6-litre petrol.
A (very slightly) revised model in 2002 aimed, with body-colour bumpers and new trims, to take the edge off the oddball styling, though the deep windows and way-out face remained. Suspension was also revised, equipment was added, and safety features were boosted. Sadly, the changes weren't enough to convince many more people to buy it. But the Multipla pleases in a way few other MPVs can. All it took was bravery.
The nonconformist front-end styling was largely tempered in a mid-2004 facelift which finally did away with the round headlamps, opting instead for the Stilo/Punto family's more angular face. This will put off fewer buyers, surely, but some of the Multipla's eccentric charm has been lost. We'll have to see whether the new, blander look will tempt more people into this satisfying compact MPV.
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