Style is all in the family at Fiat

By DAVID LINKLATER

Fiat is an innovative company in many respects, but most of all it is known for its unique, often off-beat styling. Especially in its small cars.

That's why the new Punto has a lot to live up to. You could make a strong case for Fiat having invented the modern supermini concept with the Uno in 1983, and the newcomer is the first in that bloodline, which has not taken .a dramatically different styling approach to the car it replaces.

The Uno was a revolution compared with the old 127, and the first Punto turned the styling tables again. The new Punto is sharper and undeniably sexy, but it's still very much an evolution of its namesake.

Both the Uno and the original Punto were styled by Giorgetto Giugiaro. The new Punto, however, was designed in-house by Fiat and conforms to the Italian company's new "6x2" model development policy, which states that each platform must be used for two models, and each car will have a lifespan of six years. The two Puntos will complete that 1 2-year cycle.

Will the Punto replacement in 2005 shock the world once more? Fiat has already announced that all future models will use the spaceframe chassis technology pioneered on the Multipla MPV - a car which could never be accused of conservatism.

Following its recent financial tie-up with General Motors, it is thought that the Italian company's next supermini will share that spaceframe platform with the 2005 Opel Corsa, a model line currently rebadged as the Holden Barina in New Zealand.

At that time it might be more important than ever for Fiat to keep face by boldly going where no supermini stylist has gone before.

That's certainly what Giugiaro did with the Uno, which popularised the "short, tall and stylish" design principle at the heart of modern five-door superminis like the Peugeot 206 and Toyota Echo.

At a time when the "aerodynamic" look was in vogue - the lower and smoother the better - Fiat bucked the trend with a chic breadbox of a car. And it worked. The Uno became the best-selling Italian car of all time, and marked a turnaround in the financial fortunes of the company.

Like the just-released Punto, the Uno was also the first Fiat to wear a new corporate badge - in this case the five-bar FIAT Logo, only just replaced by the circular design which celebrates the company's centenary.

Like the Uno, the original Punto was also a complete styling departure from the Uno it replaced. The bulbous "shoulders" and smooth MPV-like profile - which have also emerged as major design features of the European-designed Toyota Echo - were two of its most striking and unusual features.

But the styling element which most captured the public's imagination y/as the high-set tail lghts - ironcally a last-rhinute addition, and still a major design feature of the new Punto.