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At its world premiere, Fiat's new concept
car, the Fiat Trepiuno, was a pleasant surprise to public and
professionals alike, and proved to be a great success.
Created by the Fiat Style Center, the Fiat Trepiuno represents a
"return to the future", being a modern reworking of the cars of
the 1950s that symbolised the first explosion in automobile use in
Italy.
In the same way the new
VW Beetle and the Mini have a visual link to their ancestors the Trepiuno looks
remarkably like the rear engine Fiat 500 Nuova (often called the
Fiat Bambino) that was built between 1957 and 1975. But that's
where the similarity ends as this new concept car is all high
tech.
Fiat Trepiuno conveys the idea of compactness, with its side
comprised of several overlapping layers and its shell-like roof
that, on paper, is much smaller than the side. Its unusual
proportions, together with certain visual features, give the
prototype a "friendly" look, but at the same time, also a clear
feeling of solidity and sturdiness: very bright when viewed from
the side, with a very short, wraparound hood and an "omega"-style
ribbing that boldly fills the front of the car.
All these hints of the past have something in common: all the
elements recreated on the Fiat Trepiuno were analysed and
considered necessary on a modern car, albeit with a careful review
of functions and materials. For example, the rear lights operate
with LCD screens, which "graphically" display the indications
being given; the famous cloth roof found on certain super-compact
cars of the past has been transformed into the Sky Dome, which
together with the windscreen offers a linear, bright view of the
roof.
Lastly, the rear of the Fiat Trepiuno recreates the concept of a
tailgate with higher loading threshold, which incorporates the
rear window and roof spoiler, a very practical solution for
loading and unloading everyday objects.
The passenger cabin is spacious and airy, and comes with front
seats in comfortable, elastic polyurethane, without reducing
volume and space.
And it is this very idea of space that is behind the name given to
the concept car: Trepiuno actually denotes the possibility of
accommodating tall people in the rear seat, by sliding the front
seat forward towards the dashboard, which "shrinks" to leave free
space. The Fiat prototype practically links the luggage
compartment to the dashboard, with a series of transformations
that are possible depending on the car's different uses - 2 seats,
3 seats, 3+1 emergency seat - representing a concept of total
interior reconfigurability.
The dashboard is innovative in terms of both form and function: it
has two drawer containers and a central console with
touch-sensitive controls, producing a luminous signal that follows
the user’s movements and receives inputs. On the console, the user
can touch a liquid crystal display that brings up another
touch-sensitive multi-function menu, placed between the front
seats, which can be used intuitively, without taking your eyes of
the road.
Trepiuno therefore has an original design that recalls forms and
styles of the past, but with a modern feel: a mix of the past and
future, the result of stylistic and constructive research that
gets away from the mass-produced feel to become a unique object.
A new Fiat 500 based on the Trepiuno concept was
debuted in March 2007 with sales due to start late 2007. The new Fiat
500 will share its chassis and mechanicals with the next generation Ford
Ka and is expected to go on sale cheaper than retro rivals the VW Beatle
and Mini.
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