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Unusual Vintage Auto Design: The 1959 Fiat 600 Multipla Microvan

You know it's a quirky design when you can't immediately tell where the front of the car is

By Rain Noe - January 23, 2019

in Cars

Something I love: Cars that look as if the designer has never seen a car before. That's praise, not an insult. If your brain wasn't clogged with 10,000 Instagram images of what a car is supposed to look like, what would you draw?

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Designing something fresh was undoubtedly easier in the 1950s, prior to globalization and the internet. Take a look at this car that could only have come from mid-century Italy, the 1959 Fiat 600 Multipla:

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You know it's a quirky design when you can't immediately tell where the front of the car is.

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Note how the front bench seat is notched to provide room for/access to the shifter and parking brake.

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Incredibly, this car has a six-passenger capacity, with three rows of seating.

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I'm really digging the upholstery, which I assume has been restored. Whether they have been replaced or not, the fabric patterns suit the car perfectly.

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Check this out: The spare tire is stored in the front passenger footwell!

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With all of that passenger room, you may be wondering: Where's the engine?

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It's in the back, of course.

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This car currently resides in California and is being sold for $42,000.

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Donald Jones

5 years ago

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Multipla is Klingon for more Gachkt.

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Ray Jepson

5 years ago

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The 1999-2004 Fiat Multipla is also weird. Perhaps even more so than this one.

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Juan Cano

5 years ago

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"Baby, why are you sitting backwards in this car?"

- I love the roofrack; looks like wood slats arched which I imagine must cushion the load.

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- Chris Chemidlin
  
  Juan Cano
  
  5 years ago
  
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  I think it's just an aftermarket rack from an air-cooled VW Beetle.
  
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