Fiat Multipla: six seats in three abreast

The Fiat Multipla, Type 186, was a six-seater car produced by Fiat from 1998 to 2010. Based on the Bravo and Brava, it was shorter and wider than its rivals and had two rows of three seats, where compact MPVs normally seated two in front. Sales began in Italy in November 1998, with most other markets following a year later.

Fiat Multipla at a glance

History of the Fiat Multipla

A compact six-seater

The Multipla reused the name of the Multipla variant of the Fiat 600 built in the 1950s and 1960s. A first concept car was shown at the Paris Motor Show in October 1996, and the production car was presented at the Frankfurt motor show in the autumn of 1997. Because it was shorter than the three-door Bravo and Brava on which it was based, yet wider, the Multipla offered more seating and cargo volume than those cars. Its three-abreast layout allowed the front seats to be adjusted and the rear seats to be removed or relocated in many combinations, and luggage space of 430 litres could rise to 1,900 litres of flat floor with the rear seats taken out. The exterior and interior were displayed at the Museum of Modern Art in New York in 1999, in the exhibition Different Roads – Automobiles for the Next Century.

Gas and fuel versions

The Blupower version was the first production car built to run only on compressed natural gas, using four cylinders with a nominal total capacity of 35 kg of gas for a range of about 670 km. Unlike most later CNG-only vehicles, which use an EU exemption for cars with a petrol tank under 15 litres, the Blupower had no petrol system at all. More conventional bifuel models were also offered: the Bipower, for petrol and CNG, and the Gpower, for petrol and LPG with liquid gas injection. A 1.6-litre engine that could run on either methane or petrol was sold in certain markets.

Reception and facelift

Sales began in Italy in November 1998 and the car did well there, but sold less successfully elsewhere. It won Top Gear Car of the Year in 2000 and was voted the magazine’s Family Car of the Year four years running, from 2001 to 2004. In March 2004 the Multipla received a major facelift in an attempt to replace its original styling with a more restrained look; the change did not win critical acclaim, and The Daily Telegraph reported that designers were sad the new car no longer resembled a psychotic cartoon duck. The newspaper had placed the original at number two on its list of the 100 ugliest cars in August 2008, and readers of Car Throttle named it the ugliest car of all time in January 2014. In the United Kingdom the range started with the SX, available with petrol or diesel engines, and the ELX, which added air conditioning, twin electric sunroofs, alloy wheels, electric rear windows and wipe-clean, brightly coloured seats; in June 2004 these were replaced by Dynamic, Dynamic Family and Dynamic Plus.

Production in China

From December 2008 to September 2010 Zotye Auto assembled the Multipla from knock-down kits at Changshan and marketed it in China as the Zotye Multiplan. From October 2010 it built a version with more locally made parts, called the Langyue, in petrol M300 and electric M300 EV forms; Zotye sold 220 of the electric version in total.

Design and features

• Three abreast: two rows of three seats in a body shorter than the Bravo it was based on.
• Flexible interior: movable front seats and removable rear seats, with up to 1,900 litres of load space.
• Blupower: the first production car designed to run only on compressed natural gas.
• Bifuel options: Bipower for petrol and CNG, Gpower for petrol and LPG.

Fiat Multipla versions

• Multipla (1998): the original six-seater with petrol or diesel engines.
• Blupower: CNG only, with four gas cylinders.
• Bipower and Gpower: petrol with CNG or LPG.
• Multipla SX and ELX: United Kingdom trim levels until 2004.
• Multipla (2004): facelifted car in Dynamic, Dynamic Family and Dynamic Plus trim.
• Zotye M300 Langyue: Chinese licence version, including an electric model.

The Multipla was based on the Fiat Bravo and Brava and took its name from the six-seat Fiat 600 Multipla. More cars are in the Fiat collection.

Sources

• Fiat Multipla, English Wikipedia: design, seating, gas versions, reception, facelift and Chinese production