While much of the world of automotive preparation chases more power, more speed and larger dimensions, the Italian Andrea Marazzi decided to take the opposite path: he took a 1993 Fiat Panda and squeezed it until half a meter wide.
The result is a 50 cm wide car — about a third of the 1.46 m of the original Panda — that drives on its own. Seen from the side, the disguise is almost perfect: roof, doors, wheels and most of the details came from the original model. From the front, it looks like a full-scale fridge magnet.
One year of work and “99% original parts”
(Photo: Marco Caravaggi | Reproduction)
It took Marazzi about 12 months to complete the project, which was played practically by hand at the family’s junkyard, Autodemolizione Marazzi, in Bagnolo Cremasco, in northern Italy. According to the website Designboom, the Italian claims to have reused 99% of the parts of the donor car — including the four wheels, which are still there.
Bodywork, chassis and internal structure were redone to accommodate a single occupant, seated in the middle, as in a racing single-seater. The steering wheel is tiny, the headlight is only one, and the tapered rear resembles the bow of a boat.
Electric, but don’t even think about hitting the road
The original petrol engine fell by the wayside, due to lack of space. In its place came a compact electrical set, powered by two 12-volt batteries. The numbers are modest: 264 kg on the scales, 3.40 m long, 1.45 m high, maximum speed of 15 km/h and estimated autonomy of 25 km.
For comparison, 15 km/h is the pace of those who pedal a bicycle on a quiet ride. The car is also not approved to circulate on public roads: it was born as an exhibition piece for fairs, meetings and events — something between the sculpture and the functional vehicle.
Next stop: the Guinness Book of Records
Marazzi and his small team prepare the paperwork to claim a Guinness World Records record for the narrowest car ever built. So far, there is no confirmed official homologation.
The skinny Panda has already had its public debut at Panda a Pandino, an Italian meeting dedicated to the hatch that made Fiat famous in the 1980s. As expected, it stole the show.
Marazzi, who maintains the channel “Tutti Pazzi per Marazzi” on social networks, also has in his curriculum a Panda transformed into a monster truck, capable of running over other cars. In other words: the same model has already served as the basis for the narrowest and the highest of the exaggerations of a single preparer.
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