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Fiat Panda becomes a grizzly

When thinking about the Fiat Panda, you don’t picture it effortlessly traversing the world’s toughest terrain, you see what is one of the world's smallest cars with its aptly cute name.

In the latest advert for the car, however, those perspectives have been trashed and the Panda has been transformed into a monster.

BAMBOO-MUNCHER

The London Daily Mail and other media have reported that the popular runabout has been turned into a beast of the backwoods as a one-off stunt. The ad aims to illustrate the superior power and grip of the new 4x4 Fiat Panda.

Standing at 3.9m high, the Panda Big Foot is way more than twice as tall as the standard model on its Jeep CJ7 chassis and 1.5m-diameter wheels.

It took Fiat two weeks to make it fully operational, with help from Mercurio Cinematografica, set designer Andrea Faini and the Fabio Gementi Workshop. The video advert will be aired in 2013.

The commercial, created by the Leo Burnett agency, tells the story of four friends who set off for a weekend in the mountains. The group is shocked when the Panda turns into a monster truck and easily tackles a snow-covered hill leading to a hostel.

CHOICE OF ENGINE

When the driver, thinking he is in a normal Panda 4x4, opens his door and leaves the car he falls two metres on to a cushion of snow as his friends laugh.

The normal Panda 4x4 is available with a 1.3-litre MultiJet 2 turbodiesel or petrol TwinAir unit engine

The Mail reported that the car's general fuel consumption was listed as an equivalent of about 3.9 litres/100km. Standard equipment on the real car includes aircon, stability control, locking differential, smoked-finish 15" alloy rims, driver, passenger and window air bags, height-adjustable driver's seat, radio/CD/MP3 with six speakers and protective side mouldings.

Prices for the new Fiat Panda 4x4 will start at less than R190 000.

Watch the video here
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