I watched this while eating lunch:
I saw these in Germany and thought:
I always figured that they modified a car to make a minivan and they did!
All that I know about Fiats is the joke about a mechanic and that they failed in the U.S.
I didn't realize they first sold here between 1908 and 1917 and then after WWII until 1982.
They are Italian.
They were here until 1917.
They returned after WWII.
Hmm...
They seem to be doing great this time around, better than most people realize, since the Dodge Journey, Dodge Dart, Jeep Renegade, and Jeep Compass are rebadged Fiats.
However, Good Car, Bad Car says that Fiat hasn't sold more than 50 cars a month since September and haven't sold more than about 100 monthly since June of 2021.
Fiat Sales Figures – US Market
I couldn't find one source for the list of badge-engineered Fiats. I searched for Fiat on
Wikipedia's List of badge-engineered vehicles and then I verified that each one was sold as a Dodge or Jeep in the U.S.
So, the Multipla was based on the 3-door Bravo hatchback and 5-door Brava fastback.
Here Mark Hammond reviewed them and interviewed Pete Davis, whose accent is as exotic as his name:
Someone please explain how they took this:
...and got this:
Those are high beams in the steel sports bra, perfect for blinding other drivers!
While I specifically searched for the 1995 Bravo, all of the pictures looked the same until 2001.
There was a facelift, but Wikipedia only mentions changing the drivetrain.
Six years seems like a long time for one generation, but the Camry had a mid-generation refresh in 2005.
The Civic had one in 1999.
So, as far as I can tell, that is how the Bravo looked in 1995, and how the Multipla looked until 2003.
So, why does the Multipla look one generation older than the Bravo?!
The bumper is clearly different. I think the front of the Multipla's bumper sticks out more.
The hood and fenders are different, there is the one tiny headlight in the Multipla and the hood is shorter to accommodate the steel sports bra, which makes it look like they stuck the front of a car on a cab-over van.
The Bravo fender goes up in front of the mirror, but the Multipla's fender cuts off straight with the top of the door.
The doors look similar, but Doug pointed out that the driver's handles stick out past the door and he said that you can grab that instead of getting fingerprints on the door, but one of the top comments is that those are bump stops because it is 121mm wider than the Bravo.
Doug said it is weird how narrow the front is and how it just keeps getting wider and wider.
I believe it, I just don't see it, but that allows it to fit 3 bucket seats in each row.
The door handles are further back in the front and presumably the back as well:
I think they are at different angles.
The dash, vents, stereo, and all of the controls are in the same part of the dash and the handle and everything on the door is in one cluster, with the handle extending above the window sill.
Wikipedia says the Saturn station wagon used the same doors as the sedan and someone on SaturnFans said they use the same taillights, but this is the Brava butt [reversed]:
This is the Brava butt:
While this is the Multipla butt:
The Bravo and Brava rear-quarter panels also include the C-pillars, while the Multipla has one long piece from above the steel sports bra until the skinny C-pillar.
Clearly the Multipla rear is wider, but they could have just angled out the same pieces.
This is the second generation:
They changed the taillights, but it still look like a fat person's belt is too tight!
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