What number of of you have got really pushed a automobile to its restrict?
Be sincere; I imply actually pushing it till you’re feeling the car transfer in methods you’re not inputting into the steering and pedals.
It may be terrifying, particularly for those who’re out of shape or uncertain about your self or the automobile. I’ve had just a few ‘moments’ driving at 10/10ths, and from expertise, it’s far much less nerve-wracking in a automobile with 200hp than one with 500.
At present, the ‘scene’ is obsessive about bragging rights and horsepower figures. As an alternative of constructing automobiles they’ll genuinely deal with, many house owners are hell-bent on creating “The one ‘X’ with over ‘Y’ horsepower in existence” or “The one Stage 75.8 ‘Z’ within the recreation…”
It’s tedious and truthfully a bit boring to see on social media.
With large energy changing into more and more accessible, it’s alarming that drivers who shouldn’t be close to a quick automobile are getting behind the wheels of short-wheelbase, 2.0L turbocharged point-and-shoot monsters.
With 0-60mph occasions similar to a Group-B rally automobile and lightning-fast computerized transmissions, it’s too simple for an inexperienced driver to create chaos on public roads.
Anyway, rant over. That’s my take, but it surely brings us again to the purpose. Regardless of the takeover crowd, there are nonetheless individuals protecting the spirit of old skool tuning alive in 2024.
Individuals like Joe Ward and his pleasant Fiat Panda – certainly one of my favorite automobiles to have featured this yr.
The Panda debuted in 1980 as a easy, boxy, no-frills automobile, embodying Giorgetto Giugiaro’s imaginative and prescient of the proper individuals’s car. It’s an unlikely alternative for a efficiency construct, however that’s a part of this little automobile’s allure.
“I purchased this Panda as a result of I had one as my first automobile. It was a rot field…” Joe reminisces. “I wished to do [these modifications] to it till my dad made me see some sense.”
Given the situation of most basic Italian automobiles on our wet island (often a pile of rust), Joe made positive to begin with a stable base. “This one popped up with 2,500 miles from new; it was the proper automobile to begin with,” he says.
Gone is the unique 1.0L engine, changed with a mighty 1.2L, 16-valve unit from a 2002 Fiat Punto. This swap has upped the Panda’s output from a paltry 47hp (in 1980) to an outrageous 79hp. And that was earlier than Joe began to fettle with it…
Neglect plug-in tunes; Joe has tweaked this engine the old style means. A ported and polished cylinder head improves airflow to the 0.4mm over-bored cylinders fitted with Mahle pistons, whereas valve timing is managed by Piper efficiency camshafts.
The consumption options particular person throttle our bodies with 3D-printed upswept trumpets fed by a ram-air consumption on the bonnet. A skimmed head and block improve the compression whereas the entire setup is managed by a standalone MicroSquirt ECU.
A Supersprint manifold and {custom} exhaust produce nice noise, whereas a 5-speed gearbox from a later Panda makes probably the most out of the powerband. And the way a lot energy? Don’t let the badges idiot you – this little beast packs 115 horses in its little secure.
Exterior, as a lot because it betrays its roots, Joe’s Panda appears each bit the half. Up entrance, a purposeful chassis-mounted splitter and air dam designed by Joe are complemented by aspect skirts and a wing atop the tailgate. Don’t underestimate home made aero elements; you’d be stunned at what they’ll obtain…
Beneath the rolled and pulled wheel arches are 14-inch Oscam cut up rims wrapped in Nankang NS2-R tyres for the street, with a separate set of ATIWE Borbets for monitor days. Different distinctive touches embrace 3D-printed blanks changing the unique door mirrors, now swapped for a single ‘overtaking’ mirror.
For design symmetry, a left-hand drive taillight has changed the reverse mild, and in an try and shed weight, Joe crafted {custom} polycarbonate home windows, full with a slider for the driving force’s door.
Behind the wheels is a ‘large’ brake equipment that includes later mannequin 240mm discs paired with Wilwood callipers and a brake bias valve. Due to bespoke LEDA coilovers with Mk1 Ford Fiesta prime mounts, Joe has achieved a 180mm drop.
Inside, regardless of being stripped out, the Panda is surprisingly nice. In spite of everything, it was designed to be minimal, so it was virtually made to be uncovered.
A full FIA-spec roll cage safeguards the occupants, custom-fabricated by ARC Autosport, who additionally crafted the mounts for the Recaro Pole Place driver’s seat and Cobra basic passenger bucket. TAKATA Racing harnesses safe either side.
As with the outside, the small print make the Panda’s inside stand out. A full respray in pastel gray elevates the cabin, courtesy of Jack Smith, aka Solid From Flake. I’ve no disgrace in shouting Jack out – his work is phenomenal.
My favorite particulars embrace the uncommon Abarth steering wheel, which rivals the leather-based bar tape on the door bars for quirkiness, and the 3D-printed gauge binnacle designed to connect to the roll bar – house is at a premium on this little automobile.
A pedal field conversion and tower brief shifter full the inside, completed off with a custom-turned wood shift knob.
However why undergo such effort constructing an Italian econobox like this? In Joe’s phrases: “I constructed it the best way I did as a result of I’ve had monitor automobiles previously and love the driving as a lot because the constructing. I didn’t need to construct a present automobile and get overly protecting over it.”
“I additionally thought it could be humorous to chase individuals down in somewhat white field on a monitor day. Think about the Panda in your mirrors; you’d have a proper giggle!” And therein lies the innocence of Joe’s Fiat, one thing lacking from so many modified automobiles these days.
The Panda straddles the road between not taking itself too significantly and taking the execution of the construct as significantly as attainable.
What a unbelievable little automobile – the quickest washer this aspect of a laundromat.
Mario Christou
Instagram: mcwpn, mariochristou.world
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