I came across this interesting car while reading “The 50 Worst Cars of All Time” by TIME magazine. The author of that article said, “I rented one of these in Europe and it worked beautifully, but it was just so tragic to look at.” He’s right, this is an odd car like the Pontiac Aztek or Nissan Qube. Seeing one of these cars doesn’t make you turn your head and say, “What was that?” Instead, you stare and think “Why?”
Mystery Car 93 is none other than the 1998-2003 Fiat Multipla. The original Fiat 600 Multipla was a cute little people mover. But something happened between 1960 and 1998. What had been cute became quite ugly. According to Wikipedia, “the car was voted ‘Ugliest Car’ in the 1999 Top Gear awards” but later was awarded “Top Gear ‘Family Car of the Year’ for four years in a row (2001–2004).” Go figure. I guess versatility and ugliness can go hand in hand after all. Thankfully, the Multipla had a successful facelift in 2004 which did wonders for its external appearance.
