After our catastrophic accident (see my post at https://longoio2.wordpress.com/2017/05/08/about-guardian-angels/) in which (luckily) our poor little Cinquina (FIAT 500 1967 vintage) fared worse that us, we decided upon a ‘new’ car. We opted for the best car available for steep mountainous terrain like ours around Bagni di Lucca: a FIAT Panda.
The Fiat Panda may be described in two ways. First it’s the little S (sports) U (utility) V (vehicle). Second, it’s the ‘naughty’ car. For when the great Italian designer Giorgetto Giugiaro first unveiled it in 1980 in the presence of Italian’s most popular president ever, Sandro Pertini, he described it as a rural vehicle for the youth of Italy. In fact, due to its easily convertible interior to a double bed, the FIAT Panda has been the only ‘get-away hotel for many a courting Italian couple besieged by parents, prying eyes and country gossip.
In case you hadn’t heard of the great car designer Giugiaro he was also responsible for the De Lorean seagull-winged vehicle which (apart from its Northern Ireland scandals) appeared in that iconic film ‘Back to the Future’.
There have been three series of Pandas so far. Ours is the classic version, hardly changed since 1980, apart from a few minor restylings. The first series is particularly favoured for its introduction of four-wheel drive (otherwise front wheel drive only) and its high wheel-base which is exceedingly useful in this rocky part of the world.
We shall always shed a little tear in memory of our lovely Cinquina which took us to the remotest roads of Corsica and Sardinia but we do appreciate our Panda. It’s somehow more part of the landscape than any other vehicle in Italy’s Apennine mountains.
Yesterday we did the classic circular ride which goes from Bagni di Lucca through Montefegatesi, Orrido di Botri and down the Val Fegana. We also included a walk around the lovely Prato Fiorito Mountain. Here are a few photos of that lovely drive-about or ‘scampagnata’ as they say here. It was a great off-road drive and the Panda really proved its worth:
Today I saved the day as I gave this delightful creature a handful of water she was truly grateful and seemed to quench her thirst sufficiently to not need more the heat has been so torrid. We were testing our new secondhand car on all types of road it is in a way more difficult to drive than our 500. The walk on Prato fiorito was fun saw many flowers including the original carnation flower. The sad part is that I actually found some lamponi raspberries but due to the driest of dry weather they were totally dessicated next time maybe.
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